Advice on where to start!

I_am_LOST

Hi everyone,

Complete newbie to the forum and to home brewing but thought I'd give it a shot and I'm in the process of researching this before I buy! I popped into the home brewing shop in Rathmines and been looking at their website mybeerandwine.ie and videos on youtube.

Just wondering would you guys recommend either the Coopers Micro-Brew Beer Starting Kit, or the beer starting kit here http://www.mybeerandwine.ie/index.php?cPath=50_62 or neither?!!

I was going to go for the standard beer starting kit and then buy my own ingredients and bottles. Mainly because I thought in the long run, buying the glass bottles with flip top caps would be better than the plastic PET bottles. However, I just read up that the Coopers kit includes Ox-Bar bottles which sound good. But I'd still have to replace them in a couple of years I'd say?

Also a few basic questions which I've been stumbling on despite research!:

1. Do I need a Syphon? I'd rather not have to get one/use on as they seem tricky but how else do I get a sample for quality control tasting/using hydrometer? Can I just take a sample from the tap and use the hydrometer that way? Or can I just take off the lid and stick the hydrometer in to get my OG and FG readings?

2. Looks like I'll only be doing a primary as I don't want to get another fermenting tub or keg! Is this ok or should I really look into doing a secondary too?

3. Does the home brewing process create a smell as I was going to brew inside but if it stinks I may look at using the shed?

Sorry for the long thread guys and thanks in advance for being patient with me! really interested in this and I'm still learning. Hopefully I'll get my first batch on soon and let yis know how it goes

merc230ce

Hiya lad,
let me see if I can call on my vast experience to help you out (I just bottled my second brew yesterday ;-)

1. Do I need a Syphon? I'd rather not have to get one/use on as they seem tricky but how else do I get a sample for quality control tasting/using hydrometer? Can I just take a sample from the tap and use the hydrometer that way? Or can I just take off the lid and stick the hydrometer in to get my OG and FG readings?

I got the Coopers kit and the tap does the job. No need for a syphon, just fill the hydrometer jar from it. Same with bottling - the 'Little Bottler' (autosyphon) fits onto it and away you go.

2. Looks like I'll only be doing a primary as I don't want to get another fermenting tub or keg! Is this ok or should I really look into doing a secondary too?

I don't claim to have enough experience to really answer this, but there are really experienced brewers on here and other forums who don't use secondary so that's good enough for me.

3. Does the home brewing process create a smell as I was going to brew inside but if it stinks I may look at using the shed?

Nah, my missus has commented once or twice that she could get a whiff but only if I've had the lid off the fermenter to dry hop or whatever. I do bottle in the shed though, I put the fermenter in there the day before so any gunk that's stirred up by me carrying it out can settle again. It's pretty impossible to do it without making a mess as far as I can see. One nice tip I saw though is to do it over the open door of the dishwasher.

The problem with fermenting in the shed as far as I can see is the inconsistent temperatures. You really need an old fridge in there that can hold your fermenter at a steady temp.

Best of luck, and welcome to the obsession :-)

I_am_LOST

Cheers mate!

Have another question for ya, how did you find the Coopers Lager Kit that came with the Micro Brewing Starter Kit? I'm slowly working my way through the massive 'how to' thread on here and a few people have mentioned that Lager never works very well.

Instructions seem to say to brew lager at 21-27 degrees yet people on here are saying it should be more like 16-18 degrees. Would I best be avoiding a lager for my first brew? Kinda annoyed that lager doesn't work well as that's my favourite beer to drink. I might start off with an ale if that's the case!

Also, very stupid question here but I've read people talk about 'priming' and using sugar at this stage. What does this mean? I know that once you're bottling you have to add sugar. Is this what they're talking about?

Cheers

evolving_doors

Just from reading other posts, alot of people seem to start with Coopers Canadian Blond which I did myself and it turned out fine..(maybe use about 2 litres less than the Label as it was a bit watery).

Dunno about Ox-bar but i'm generally wary of reusing plastics over a number of years due to phthalates leeching (but that's still debatable) into the liquid... Start drinking Grolsch with the fliptop,, (or flensburger beer if you can find it)..there's also manky 'Lorina' lemonade (which contains nothing but chimicals) in dunnes stores which is 750 ml but the glass is clear which lets in light .. this is not good (just wrap loads of newspaper around it or store it in the dark..

1. Do you need a syphon,, generally i just throw the hydrometer into the container and give it a spin to get rid of the bubbles.. make sure it's sterile though,,, dip in hot water (but not hot enough to burst the glass if thats possible)

But for filling the bottles a syphon is dead handy,,i got one that has a little valve on the end so that it only lets beer into the bottle when it rests against the bottom of the bottle.. some syphons have a little pump so that you dont have to suck with a germy mouth to get it flowing. Also a clip to clip the tube on to the side of the tub is very handy aswell.. otherwise the tube could start sucking in sediment at the bottom

2. A second tub is handy of you ever want to do a secondary, also for batch priming (just before bottling) it seems better to put the beer in another tub then chuck the sugar mix in rather than chucking it in with all the sedement from the primary brew still lurking around the bottom (which fairly clouds the mix if you try and lift the tub)

3. not much of a whiff with kit brewing

Just make sure you have a dedicated space set aside first that generally maintains a constant temp round 20 and wont be exposed to light...NB not the hotpress..


Priming is when you bottle the brew,,,for the fizzzzz

you can either...

A. Measure out about 4gm of brewing sugar per bottle (500ml bottles) and chuck it in before putting in the beer... this can be finicky but personally i like to mess about with different measures of sugar etc in different bottles.. (i recommend you try a few slivers of crystalline ginger with the odd bottle)

B. Batch prime.. This is when you gently heat about 160 grams of brew sugar ( approx same as 4gm per individual bottle with 40 odd bottles) in a little water untill its fairly dissolved then pour it all in gently into the beer.... if you syphon it off into a second (clean!!) tub it's easier to stir as it avoids disturbing the sediment at the bottom of the first tub.

That's what i do anyway,,I'm open to correction
Also you'll generally find that the instructions that are on the kit may conflict with what people online say...

I_am_LOST

Thank you so much Really appreciate it!

I think I'll be buying all my equipment over the next few days. Can't wait to get started! I think for my first batch I'll stick with the basic kit and just do a primary and use either the carbonation cubes or normal household sugar for the fizz. Will probably do the Canadian Blonde Kit! And then might look into buying a second tub and a syphon

The other question I have is about sugar and drymalt. Stupid question maybe and I guess it just depends on what recipe you're using, but when do you use sugar and when do you use malt for your ingredients at the beginning? Think I read somewhere that someone was gonna use 1.7kg Coopers Kit + 1kg Sugar for their brew but he was advised to use drymalt instead. I guess it's experimentation and personal taste as to whether to use brewing sugar or malt?

I'm torn over the bottles issue...might take a while for me to accumulate some decent brown/green glasses but it would be cheaper and better in the long run. The other advantage of them is I've heard you can just stick them in the dishwasher to sterilise them. Might pop into some pubs tomorrow and see will they give me some empty bottles for a good price!

evolving_doors

Ya i think it's all about flavour really,, with just the tin and sugar the taste might be pretty bland,,, with the Spraymalt it still has about 70% sugars i think but it adds a bit more flavour..

I think the kit might recommend 500gm spraymalt +300gm brew sugar but just from reading other posts,, some folk use up to 1kg spraymalt (light strength) + a bit of brew sugar just to bring up the alcohol content a bit..I could be wrong there as i;m going by memory!!!

Also i've read of people just buying 2 tins and using them only (without adding brew sugar/spraymalt)

That's the impression I get anyhow

evolving_doors

Dunno if I'd use household sugar though, never tried it.. I usually stick to the brew sugar which is basically just dextrose...

merc230ce

Armelodie wrote: »

Dunno if I'd use household sugar though, never tried it.. I usually stick to the brew sugar which is basically just dextrose...

Yeah, you'll notice the difference both in flavour and texture (or 'mouthfeel' as they say - I hate that word! *shudder* :-P ) Basically the yeasties can ferment 100% of glucose / dextrose so all that's left is alcohol, no flavour (resulting in a 'thin' beer) With malts only about 70% (I think) can be converted, leaving some in the beer to contribute to flavour and... that word.