Want to brew my own beer

beertons

Beginner here. Decided I want to brew my own beer. Where do I start? Want to end up with about 40 pints. And I don't weant it stored in bottles, I think a keg is handier. Any tips guys? Where do I get the gear and ingredients?

myk

I purchased an ingredients kit (or two) from Grape n Grain and made my own beer in a sterilised plastic bin. I bottled it in 2 litre coke bottles. I am very happy with the results. Under advice from someone else who had brewed, I didn't buy the starter kits with all the hardware. They home deliver in the Dublin area and are reasonably priced.

http://www.grapengraindublin.com/

I've made two batches now and will make a third when I have finished drinking the second batch. I made over 20 litres each time.

microgirl

Check out www.irishcraftbrewer.com for a whole craft/home brewing community to welcome you in with open arms and give you all kinds of help and advice

Also www.thehomebrewcompany.ie, set up by a couple of guys from Irish Craft Brewer, is an excellent homebrew company who can supply absolutely everything you need to brew your own craft beer. They have a starter kit for €70 that give you all the necessary equipment and a large selection of beer kits from which to choose.

Best of luck and welcome to our wonderful world

oblivious

Plastic kegs a a good way to got, I would recommend any all malt kit such as Woodfordes Kits are very good or something more Belgium the Brewferm rang. But these are generally 9-15 litres kits

Prenderb

+1 on previous 2 posts. ICB is useful, as is homebrewcompany. HBC actually do a starter kit for 70 euro + postage, then all you need is a beer kit and maybe some sugar.

I've brewed mostly the brewferm kits in my brief career as a brewer, and they're a nice size for a beginner, in that if you fluff it up you haven't wasted so much, and aswell it's just easier to handle and bottle/keg 12 litres than 23!

Bottling is a pain in the neck, but it would be cheaper to start off bottling and make sure that you get something out of homebrewing before moving on and investing in kegs.

rubadub

Prenderb wrote: »

Bottling is a pain in the neck,

For bottling I used to have 2 fermenters. I would syphon off my main one which had a tap at the bottom, then leave it in the other for a day to settle, then syphon back to the original. Now I would boil up the additional sugar in water and add in bulk to the now pretty clear beer. Now I just stirred it in and used the tap to fill the bottles. No messy syphoning into bottles or messy sugar granules all over the bottle necks.