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Hi Stevie thanks for the heads up about the Solomon Grundy kits, they do seem to get very good reviews. Since I posted this thread I’ve actually come across a really good deal for the Make You Own Wine kits, I got a red and a white kit for under £30 total which is ace (if they turn out ok) so I...

Hello all, just wanting to introduce myself, I am just about to start up brewing again after giving up the first time to do lack of spare time. A couple of years back I actually managed to fashion a fruit press and made myself a load of proper cider with fizz from about 3 black bags full of...

Oh dear I was not aware of this, the lager has already been in the cold garage for 5 hours now and the cider has been straight into the cold for a couple of weeks so do you reckon I am gonna be stuck with 70 flat pints of lager and cider? DOH! :oops:

Hi all, thanks very much for the replies I shall give all my bottles a couple of tips upside down tomorrow and again in a week or 2. Kentmark, To carbonate Is it necessary to store the bottles in warm first and then transfer to cold? I only ask because my lager and my 2 cider brews i made a...

Hi All I just bottled up my first lager, which tasted bloomin' lovely even when flat! I added half a teaspoon of normal sugar to the bottom of each 500ml bottle but I am wondering do i need to mix/swill this sugar around inside the bottles or is it just best left be, will it blend naturally...

Thanks very much marska, i wont add any water and I have moved Fv into garage until I csn bottle on Saturday, hopefully it will be ready for Christmas and New Year!

Thanks very much RPT, you were dead right, I have checked the SG today and it is at 1.004 so it is ready to bottle. I have another question (shock horror I know) but after reading lots of reviews about lager brewing I only brewed to 21ltrs instead of 23ltrs, however, I tasted it this morning...

Hi Ceejay and everyone else, I have not disturbed the lager at all and it has been at around 20-22 degrees now for a couple of days. The lid of the FV has been swollen up for a couple of days but as yet no bubbling through airlock, do some brew kits not actually bubble much through the airlock...

Thanks ceejay that has given me some peace of mind. I will just leave it do it's thang but I do have a couple of sachets of cider yeast if adding any of that will help fermentation? I did only fill FV to 21ltrs mind so that should mean more yeast in the mix, if you know what i mean. :hmm:

Back again, I made the lager up yesterday avo going by the instructions (pouring and stirring in yeast, not making a yeast starter) and the kit has been at around 16 degrees overnight and today but no sign of the lid bulging or any bubbles through the airlock yet, is this normal? Should I be...

I just finished making the lager to 21ltrs, I added a tiny bit of golden syrup (probably not enough to make a difference) just because I have read a few pages saying this helps. The SG was 1.042 does that sound about right? The instructions say FG should be under 1008, do you guys agree? I...

Hi NickW, yes I am actually brewing this to drink at Crimbo and New Year so that is a good month away. I will try a bottle or 2 along the way to taste the difference as this is my first attempt at a lager so it will be interesting to taste the changes. Cheers

Thanks Ceejay, NickW and itbrvilla for great answers again. I am actually making this lager as my girlfriend will only drink Corona when we are out so it is more for her than me (however I do drink about 10 times as much as her so it is probably more for me but you know what I mean!) so it...

Hi All Bought the kit and plan on making it today, I will need to go out and buy some brewing sugar as I only just read not to use cane sugar. I am just wondering 2 things, can I increase the alcohol content by simply adding more sugar as per with cider? Also once it has fermented and the SG...

Thanks piddle and itbrvilla, i will just try it as per instructions the first time. Can i also ask after racking off into demijohns for secondary fermentation are these then ok in the garage for a while (which will be pretty cold)? And how long can they stay in secondary fermentation? Does it...

Hi all I have a couple of empty FVs so i thought i would make a wine and a lager from kit for next years supping but have never done either before. I have found a cerveza style lager at Wilkinsons for £10 and it got some cracking reviews so I am going to try this as my missus drinks Corona...

Milk to stick them on is a great idea, I was so sick of scraping the glue off bottles I have collected, around 100 of them, so I shall definitely try this when I get some labels thanks!

Great thanks iceo, the free ones are alright for my first batch! And I think I will maybe just leave the cling film on the 3rd demijohn and see what happens, see if there is any differences to the 2 full demijohns with airlocks and bungs. Cheers!

Hi all, just racked off my first ever batch of cider from proper apples today into demijohns. The only problem i had was that i needed an extra demijohn but dont have a spare bung, so i just covered the demijohn lid with climgfilm, will this suffice of do i need to go get another one asap? Also...

Hi all I have 40 pints of homebrew cider (brewmaker deluxe kit) in fermentation bin to bottle up tomorrow as the SG is steadily reading 1002 and doesn't seem to be dropping any further. I have been saving up kopperberg and bulmers bottles and bought a capper and caps so will have enough for...