Anybody Homebrew?

[Benson_JV]

Just wondering if anyone here Homebrews.
I do all-grain homebrewing. Much cheaper than the shops and tastes better to boot!
____________________
Willson - "If you go out on that CBR600 in the winter, you're going to do more miles on your side than on your wheels."
Riding: CBR600FW Driving: Audi A6
Previous Bikes: '96 Bandit 600, '96 GPz305

[Charlie]

I got a kit from my girlfriend, I've got 40 pints of Youngs Bitter in a drinkable state at the moment. It was my first one and I am impressed with it. This is going to be my next brew, Christmas present off girlfriend's parents.
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Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[pepperami]

Got a 40 pint kit as a Christmas present, I hav`nt got a clue and the instuctions are very sparse

where the hell am I going to get 40 resealable pint bottles
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Benson_JV]

Looks Ace charlie!

Pepperami: When I bottle brews I just use 2L and 1L pop bottles. Makes no difference to the taste and it saves sterilising and rinsing 40 bottes!

Do you have the fermenting bin? And all of the other ancillaries?
____________________
Willson - "If you go out on that CBR600 in the winter, you're going to do more miles on your side than on your wheels."
Riding: CBR600FW Driving: Audi A6
Previous Bikes: '96 Bandit 600, '96 GPz305

[LordShaftesbu...]

[pepperami]

Two big tins of gloop, a small packet of yeast?, and some instrutions that fit on the back of a postage stamp .

Now I know that I can use 2L pop bottles, that will help .
fermenting bin?????? thats a big plastic bin right?? 40 pints !
Ancillaries???? sounds like a type of antibiotic
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[pepperami]

40 bottles of Grolsh, Hmmmmm (salivates like Homer simpson)
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Poseidon]

[pepperami]

[Benson_JV]

Pepperarmi, I wrote up a rough how-to and I've listed the items you'll need to start.


https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/detailV2_8.asp?itemid=SEV20114945&catid=FER374247

https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/detailV2_8.asp?itemid=WOO20195952&catid=GEN2150855

https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/detailV2_8.asp?itemid=HYD20183229&catid=TES20124240

https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/detailV2_8.asp?itemid=TEL20182646&catid=TES20124064

IGNORE anything about putting sugar in the fermenting bin in this, I should've read that you had a 3KG brew kit which does not need additional sugar, but I'll leave it in the how-to incase you want to do a 1KG kit

You also need to buy 'Miltons Baby Sterilising fluid'
As before you do anything you need to sterilise all equipment being used for half an hour. After this time you need to throughout flush all equipment out with clean water (if not done it will result in infected beer)

After this has been done you need to open the can of beer and place all liquid (goop) in the Fermenting barrel then using boiling water, remove all goop from inside the can (just fill it up and using the spoon wipe down all the goop inside) this all needs to go into the fermenting barrel along with 1KG sugar.
Fill up about 5 litres of boiling water in the fermenting barrel and make sure ALL goop and sugar are dissolved then fill up to 23L (40 pints) with cold water, at this point put the HYDROMETER (glass stick) in and read the number on it (should be roughly 1040 for this kit) And record this number to later on see how strong your brew is.

At this point you need to put the supplied sachet of yeast into the brew, put the lid on and put it somewhere between 18-22C for a week or so.
Do not be tempted to remove the lid too often, once a day to see how the brew is going is okay, so that you can record how it looks from day to day.
It will foam and look pretty nasty on top of the beer, this is perfectly normal. Once the foam and shit has died down, take a reading with the HYDROMETER and record the number, and do the same the next day, if the number is the same (should be under 1020, if it is not then sanatise with the miltons the brewing spoon and give it a good stir) you are then ready to bottle! Just make sure the reading is the same over the two days.


BOTTLING:
I use pop bottles. Coke, or fanta etc. Just make sure they PREVIOUSLY held fizzy drink else you may choose a wrong bottle and it'll blow.
You need enough bottles for 23L so you can use 23L 1L bottles or enough 2L and 1L to make 23L I tend to use about 8 2L bottles and the rest 1L.

Sterilise the bottles as per the brewing equipment by using the miltons for half an hour (remember to use the correct ratio of miltons to water) and make sure they are rinsed several times. Also make sure to sterilise the syphon tubing.


Once each bottle is sterilised and emptied you need to add sugar (so that the brew carbonates) for a Lager I generally use 1 and a half TEASPOONS of sugar per 1L bottle and for everything else I use 1 teaspoon per L

Then using the syphon (which has been sterilised and rinsed remember) syphon the beer into the bottles and put the tops back on.
Make sure you shake the shit out of the bottles to dissolve the sugar into the beer. Then leave the bottles in the warm for about a week and then leave them outside for at least a week before attempting to drink any. The longer you leave them the nicer they'll be.

You can start drinking them after about a week after being outside, but I would suggest leaving them for about 3-4 weeks.

Hope this helps dude.
Let me know if you have any problems.



Poseidon: It is very much worth going all-grain! Tastes so much better than kits! Do it asap!
____________________
Willson - "If you go out on that CBR600 in the winter, you're going to do more miles on your side than on your wheels."
Riding: CBR600FW Driving: Audi A6
Previous Bikes: '96 Bandit 600, '96 GPz305

[pepperami]

Very much thank you Mr Benson
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Benson_JV]

[Benson_JV]

You're most welcome. Any other info you need just let me know!
____________________
Willson - "If you go out on that CBR600 in the winter, you're going to do more miles on your side than on your wheels."
Riding: CBR600FW Driving: Audi A6
Previous Bikes: '96 Bandit 600, '96 GPz305

[Willson]

Benson's Beer Goooooooood!

I think it's time for me to get another batch!
____________________
Benson: Wouldn't life be easier if we were all turtles?
Me: Pig on bread = The way forward.
Riding: '00 Suzuki SV650S. Previous: '99 Kawasaki ER5 - sold, '02 Suzuki GZ125 Marauder - sold

[AngelGrinder]

I have done 3 brews over the last 6 months, only one sucessfully. My first beer batch ended up sweet, the second batch, I bought some cheap plastic bottles off eBay and they lost pressure so ended up flat, but seemed to tase fine before that. My most recent batch...strawberry cider was drinkable, and now after a few months is really nice!

The only problem is the sugar not fully dissolving, so I can't take them anywhere. Would a keg solve this problem? I've tried using less sugar, to no avail, any tips?
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Currently Riding - 2002 Aprilia RSV1000 Mille

[hellkat]

I got given a couple of demijohns over the summer.

So I picked some tiny plums when I was waiting round for something one day, and ended up filling one demijohn.

Possibly I might not have put enough sugar in.
Or maybe I didn't stir it.

Only another 3 months or so til I find out.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=441562189690&set=a.441561464690.238231.662609690#!/photo.php?fbid=441562194690&set=a.441561464690.238231.662609690&pid=4952190&id=662609690
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[hellkat]

Arse.
Why didn't that work.

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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Benson_JV]

[Poseidon]

[Poseidon]

[AngelGrinder]

I'd not though about the fact it could be yeast actually, I do siphon from the bottom, but thinking about it, maybe I disturbed it before siphoning. Once it's all mixed in, do you never mix it again? Just leave it until it's ready, then siphon off?

Also, the reason my first one went bad, was because I forgot to add the sugar until 2 days after I'd put the yeast in...whoops!
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Currently Riding - 2002 Aprilia RSV1000 Mille

[Benson_JV]

[AngelGrinder]

Cool, cheers.

If I was to buy a plastic keg, with a co2 attachment, will I be able to just fill up bottles when I need them from it? Without it going flat, loosing flavour etc? That way the bottles will be more moveable, for partys etc! Any recommendations? On the lower end of the budget scale!
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Currently Riding - 2002 Aprilia RSV1000 Mille

[Benson_JV]

I'm going to advise against plastic kegs. They are NOT worth the money you pay.
I would far more highly recommend you get cornelius kegs (metal kegs) which are slightly more expensive in the outlay but work out cheaper and far better to own in the long run. You have the keg, a co2 tank and a tap and away you go. These you can bottle from far easier than you can from plastic kegs also.


Poseidon: Very true, I've brewed a bitter and within 4 days or so I was drinking it. I think it was at its best around a week personally!
____________________
Willson - "If you go out on that CBR600 in the winter, you're going to do more miles on your side than on your wheels."
Riding: CBR600FW Driving: Audi A6
Previous Bikes: '96 Bandit 600, '96 GPz305

[chris-red]

I've done 5 kits 3 lager 2 cider.


First Lager was undrinkable, disgusting.
Second Cider, Just about drinkable not very nice.
Third Larger, Didn't kick off
Forth Cider, Didn't Kick off
Fifth Lager, Best of the lot, but still not that great.

I CBA with it anymore, too much hassle.
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