Homebrew Beer Howto

Beau

Hey,

I have a half full bag of brewing sugar, it has been open for about a year. Reckon there is any harm is using it? Or should I just buy some glucose in the shop?

BeerNut

Should be fine.

wimbles

Hi Beer & Wine Folk......Anybody know a recipe for nice onion beer? I found online last year one from some self-sufficient type guys and it sounded cool to try...finally got around to getting stuff....can't for life of me find the recipe....can anyone help....(ahem) Cheers

slayerking

wimbles wrote: »

Anybody know a recipe for nice onion beer?

Is this a typo or serious?!

wimbles

Hi Skylarking

I'm afraid i'm deadly serious!! I've already tried a number of beer kits over past couple of year and to great success...tring to go a little more organic....i remember last year seeing recipes for nettle beer...just about coming into season to try that now...then thinking might be also near time to try onion beer. One website i remember last year gave recipe and raved about its tastiness tho claimed tasted nothing of onions....me mad to try but can't find darn website

I may keep searching

wimbles

oops forgive dyslexic tentency but read ur name wrong Slayerking ... must've been too many beers for me last night Sorry!!

DeadSkin

Howdy folks,

I have a 3kg kit in the fermenter for the past 5 weeks. Hoping to get around to bottling this weekend.

I know the rule of thumb here is approx 3 weeks in the fermenter, should I have any concerns that it's been there for 5 weeks?

Thanks.

Shiny

Nope, you shouldn't have any issues. If anything it will taste better.

DeadSkin

Good schtuff!!! Just after finished bottling it there

stuchyg

hoping to get into home brewing in the summer, was planning to brew in my shed, would this be too cold in the winter

oblivious

stuchyg wrote: »

hoping to get into home brewing in the summer, was planning to brew in my shed, would this be too cold in the winter

A lager cardboard box to contain the fermentor, some old blankets and a daily change of a hot water bottle got me through most reasonable Irish winters

stuchyg

@oblivious - thanks for the advice, hoping to get a real ale kit in the next couple months

stuchyg

Ordered my kit last night went for this http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmarter-starter-beer-kit-with-caps-and-capper-531-p.asp. Decided on this as I wanted a capper as well.

It comes with a Coopers Canadian Blonde and I also picked myself up the Coopers IPA. Cant wait for it to arrive

stuchyg

Ordered my kit last night went for this http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmarter-starter-beer-kit-with-caps-and-capper-531-p.asp. Decided on this as I wanted a capper as well.

It comes with a Coopers Canadian Blonde and I also picked myself up the Coopers IPA. Cant wait for it to arrive

Degsy

Shiny wrote: »

Nope, you shouldn't have any issues. If anything it will taste better.

5 weeks is a long time to leave sitting on a bed of dead yeast,no?

stuchyg

will be making my first kit tomorrow morning, wish me luck

Westwood

Coppers can of pilsner with boiled saz hops. didn't sieve the hops dropped right into fv. leave for a week and put into second fermenter on top of some dry saz hops for another 2 weeks at low temps. this sound good?

stuchyg

just finished my brewing, bin is now in the shed. Do i remove the red cap from the airlock or leave it on

stuchyg

Fermenting bin been sitting in the shed now for 5 hours with airlock in with red cap still on, still no sign of any air bubbles, should I be seeing any signs of fermentation yet

Donny5

stuchyg wrote: »

Fermenting bin been sitting in the shed now for 5 hours with airlock in with red cap still on, still no sign of any air bubbles, should I be seeing any signs of fermentation yet

Nope, that's normal. Give it a day or two and check back.

stuchyg

Grand job, thanks Donny

stuchyg

wort has been in the shed now for 22 hours, no bubbles yet but i think it may be a bit cold out there. Would I be able to move the bin into the house at this stage

stuchyg

checked the temp in the shed, was 11 degrees, so have moved bin to upstairs wardrobe where themometre shows 21. Head was foaming in bin so i presume the brew should be ok.

stuchyg

stuchyg wrote: »

checked the temp in the shed, was 11 degrees, so have moved bin to upstairs wardrobe where themometre shows 21. Head was foaming in bin so i presume the brew should be ok.

Following on from this,had a taste of a sample last night,slightly cidery to begin with followed by a nice larger finish,hoping to bottle next weekend, will the beer taste become stronger with longer fermentation

slayerking

stuchyg wrote: »

Following on from this,had a taste of a sample last night,slightly cidery to begin with followed by a nice larger finish,hoping to bottle next weekend, will the beer taste become stronger with longer fermentation

Not really, taste at this stage will primarily be affected by fermentation temperature.
Try keep the temperature between about 18-22 degrees if possible. On the lower end of the scale is usually better if you want cleaner flavours (depending on yeast strain). If you can keep it fairly level temp wise, just leave it do its thing. Leave it for at least 2 weeks and measure gravity then. If the gravity remains constant over 2-3 readings, shes ready to bottle. I'd imagine lager kits will probably finish around 1.008-1.013 depending on fermentables used i.e. sugar vs malt extract.

stuchyg

not saying who but someone broke my sample jar(twas the missus) can i just use a standard glass to take my SG

Ratsathome

stuchyg wrote: »

not saying who but someone broke my sample jar(twas the missus) can i just use a standard glass to take my SG

I'm sure you can as long as the hydrometer is floating freely.Some people take their reading in the fermenting bucket.

sharingan

Ratsathome wrote: »

I'm sure you can as long as the hydrometer is floating freely.Some people take their reading in the fermenting bucket.

I do this sometimes. You have to ensure that your hydrometer is kept sterile. I usually store my hydrometer in a sanitising fluid.

kierank01

sharingan wrote: »

I do this sometimes. You have to ensure that your hydrometer is kept sterile. I usually store my hydrometer in a sanitising fluid.

is it not difficult to get a reading?

rubadub

stuchyg wrote: »

not saying who but someone broke my sample jar(twas the missus) can i just use a standard glass to take my SG

The glass will have to be tall enough. You could use something tall like a spirits/wine bottle but its hard to get the hydrometer back out. A tall tomato pasata jar

might be tall enough and has a wider opening.

I used to leave mine floating in the bucket, it had red & yellow markings where the important bits were so I did not need to read it carefully. Another trick would be to take a photo of it floating with a high res camera and zoom in to see the reading. Maybe have a clear photo of it before it goes in so you can count the lines and compare the 2 photos.

I have done similar in dark store rooms in work, stuck my hand behind stuff and took photos with a flash to see whats there.