The Do and Don't thread.

Before my first brew I did tons of on-line research about all aspects of home brewing despite this I still made several serious newbie blunders, and it made me realize just how much bad advice and 'myth-information' is out there.

My first four brews - 160 pints of beer! - are ruined because so many blogs, posts and tutorials claim that it's perfectly safe to start your syphon by sucking the tube but for me it isn't, some people obviously get away with it but others either have more natural bacteria in their mouths or else they simply have a particular strain that beer is especially susceptible to, either way I'm 90% certain that syphon sucking was what infected all my brews.


DON'T start your syphon by sucking it, you could easily get an infected brew. I got four in a row before I realised. Instead buy an auto-syphon or try the method in the video below.

Edit by Chippy_Tea - Before new members rush out and buy an auto syphon read the full thread there are cheaper ways of starting the syphon with no danger of contamination.

DON'T start to fill your fv without double checking that the tap is in the 'off' position! Sounds stupidly obvious but it's so easy done. (I did it )

DON'T rush a brewing session. If you know you have to collect your daughter from school at 3.15 then don't start a brew at 2.00 pm.

DO use a separate, small section of tubing for suck-starting a syphon.

DO NOT stick anything that's been in your cake-hole in your beer/bottle.

DO clean everything that comes into contact with your wort/beer very thoroughly before sanitising.

DO NOT assume that sanitising makes up for poor cleaning - you cannot sanitise dirt.

And...

DO NOT drink all your beer before it's had time to condition. :whistle:

Great post as always Brewski, perfectly in the spirit of the suggestion.
Only thing I'd ask is a description of how to use the extra tube extension to suck. No doubt I'm being thick but still can't quite visualise it:how does the spit (sorry) not reach the beer? Do you whip the extension off before the beer reaches the end of the tube? Or just close the tap first?

Ah....(thinking, thinking..) do you suck it through, aim the first squirt into a redundant vessel, then close the tap, then remove the extension, then place the end of the syphon tap into the bottom of the fv?

BruinTuns said:

do you suck it through, aim the first squirt into a redundant vessel, then close the tap, then remove the extension, then place the end of the syphon tap into the bottom of the fv?

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Exactly mate (but aim the first squirt down your gullet :) ).

Edit to clarify:

Assuming you're transferring to a secondary/bottling bucket/bottles:

Stick one end of your syphon tube into your primary FV with the tap on the opposite end of the tube.

Attach a very short length of tube to the end of your tap. Use this to suck-start the syphon.

Once the syphon is going, close the tap and remove the short length of tube from the tap.

If you're transferring to a secondary FV/bottling bucket, place the vessel below the primary FV and put the tap into the bottom of the vessel and open the tap.

If you're transferring to bottles, attach a bottling wand or bottle-length piece of tube to the tap.

If the flow is interrupted at any stage then stop, re-attach the short "sucking tube", and repeat.

Does that make sense?

4 bad brews?? thats BAD luck.. imho its dont hurt to go a bit ocd and clean/sanitise both on the way out of a brew and on the way in..

always check the tap on a bucket or boil pot is closed before you start filling.

if using taps on fv for drawing off samples use a squirty bottle of warm water to rinse out the tap spout.. Never return the sample, drink it..

cleaning, - budget unbranded unscented laundry oxy
sanitation - 5star starsan or equivalent,
Used together = less work and way cheaper in the long run
(5l of mixed up starsan (8ml) will last a number of brews especially if applied with a trigger spray bottle.. )

dont store stuff damp or wet and dont store in a sealed brew bucket (think fridge turned off and closed for a week or two....)

check your thermometer/s for accuracy,

An ice bath test is the easiest way to test the accuracy of
any thermometer, but only if the ice bath is created properly.
An ice bath is NOT just a glass of iced water.** Follow this
four-step process carefully to create a proper ice bath:
Step 1: Fill a large glass to the very top with ice
(crushed ice is preferred but not required).
Step 2: Slowly add very cold water until the water
reaches about 10 mm below the top of the
ice.
Note: If the ice floats up off the very bottom of the
glass at all, the ice bath will likely be warmer than
0 °C (32 °F). Pour off any excess water.
Step 3: Gently stir the ice mixture and let it sit for a
minute or two.
Step 4: Insert the probe of the thermometer being
tested about 50 mm into the ice mixture and
gently stir while you take your reading.
Note: Be sure to keep stirring gently. If the tip of
your thermometer probe comes to rest against a
chunk of ice, it will show a temperature below the
ice point and if it comes to rest against the sides or
bottom of the glass, it may read higher.

Click to expand...

and

Boiling water tests are more difficult to conduct correctly than ice
bath tests .
Water only boils at 100 °C at sea level. The change in
atmospheric pressure at elevations above or below sea level
alters the temperature at which water boils.

Click to expand...

google can tell you how to work out the boiling temp of water at your elevation and with a current atmospheric pressure level.... tho its likely to be 99-101C in the

Once you have the target temperature written down, you are
ready to begin your boiling water test:
Step 1: Fill a saucepan or pot at least 100 mm deep
with clean water.
Note: Impurities or salt in the water (say, from a
water softener) can significantly affect the boiling
temperature of water.
Step 2: Place the pot on a stove (DO NOT use the
microwave) and turn the heat to high.
Step 3: Wait until the water comes to a strong, rolling
boil that does not stop with stirring.
Step 4: As soon as the water reaches a rolling boil,
put the tip of the thermometer probe 50 mm
deep into the water and gently stir while you
take your reading.
Note: Be careful to keep your probe surrounded
by water. If the tip of your thermometer probe
comes in contact with the side or bottom of the
pot, it will show a higher temperature

Click to expand...

When Siphoning from one vessel to another make sure you have ample length i.e the top of your target vessel needs to be lower than the bottom of your primary.

I always run sanitised water through any siphon, spigot and wand before you I use them

Do NOT use abbrasive things like scourer pads on your plastic equipment when cleaning. Use a good cleaner a cloth or sponge and elbow grease especially on tougher crusty krausen rings

DO Aerate the wort well just before pitching your yeast into it.

Kit manufactuters never seem to highlight the importance or often even mention this. At best the instructions just say 'give the wort a good stir before pitching'

Yeast need oxygen to reproduce so it can then ferment the beer. I believe one of the reasons for stuck fermentations is brewers not aerating their wort. I've always aerated and never had a stuck fermentation (also probably because I never made a wherry either :lol:)

I've tried a couple of methods and the easiest and simplest is to get a jug and a funnel, santize both, then holding the funnel high above your FV full of wort. Fill the jug with wort and pour it into the funnel. Repeat this a few times until you have a nice froth on the top of the wort. Then pitch your yeast. You don't even need the funnel I just find it helps

The below syphoning method is easy to do but takes a bit of practice I found. Tbh it's easier just to buy an autosyphon but if you don't want to spend the money the below method works well. I modified it a bit by filling the syphon tube full of starsan with a turkey baster as I found this easier to do than trying to fill with a water from the tap

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wnVFsGdv0[/ame]

All that is needed is a how-to which explains every step of making up a kit - and I'm sure there is one.

On sucking syphons, it is biologically impossible to put a syphon in your mouth, drop it into the syphoning wort, and not get bacteria in the beer. The effect that has, the bacteria involved, will vary, but there will be bacteria in it. There will be anyway, from any air contact. What we do as brewers is minimise the bacteria.

i rinse my mouth with boiling water before i suck lol only joking DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

but ive never had a prob with sucking neither did my step dad

best top tip is read as much of this forum as you can and remember theres no stupid question only stupid answers

sterilise everything everytime you use it and have fun

DON'T take beer kit instructions as gospel. They are usually inadequate for beginners and often make unrealistic claims about fermentation and conditioning times. Instead join the forum and ask advice :)


.

Some advice from a newbie to other newbies:

easy way to control temps:

Buy one of those green 40L flexible gardening buckets (£5 from my local "we-sell-everything" shop).

Order a cheapo fish tank heater from amazon.

Ta-da! Consistent 21°C fermentation.

Good tip but I suggest checking the water temp with an accurate thermometer. Some heaters may not be as reliable as others.

Which leads to the next don't:
Don't rely on an adhesive thermometer that sticks to the side of the fermenting bucket without checking it. They have a widespread reputation for inaccuracy. A traditional or digital thermometer is cheap and a worthwhile investment.

Has anyone used a jiggle syphon for homebrew? Or one with a bulb primer?

First post! I have been brewing since September,and am on my 8th kit so still very new to this.
For me, patience is the real thing. I did struggle my first kit, not to keep checking the fermentation vessel. The other thing is, a good period of warm conditioning followed by plenty of time in the cold because most of the kits have just got better and better and I've tended to run out when the beer is hitting its peak.
So mistakes to avoid, disturbing your FV unneccessarily, don't rush your primary or secondary fermentation and avoid drinking most beers for as long as you can bear. (exception to this rule I am aware of is the Saison which I've heard benefits from earlier consumption - not personally sure on this my Youngs Saison is bottled and conditioning in the warm but I will report on kit reviews when complete)

Don't use Fairy Liquid or such to wash out your bottles before sanitising them as soapy traces can ruin head formation when pouring. I read this on here somewhere but only after I'd bottled 23 litres Coopers Stout having used FL to wash them out before sanitising. Got weeks of waiting now to see if they've been affected :-?

hi, not sure if these have been mentioned above, but...

1. 80% (or more) of brewing is cleaning & sanitizing. Everything before the boil is ok to just clean; everything contacting your wort after the boil needs to be cleaned & sanitized.
(1a. Sanitize it more than you think necessary. And then sanitize it some more. The no-rinse stuff is great, but tbh I use a powdered one too in a two-stage process.)

2. Use Irish Moss in the last 10 minutes of the boil. It makes a massive difference in clearing the beer.
2a other finings are not necessary - also, adding too much actually clouds the beer, and they make your beer go off quicker.

3. When I started on kits I didn't boil my wort. The kits didn't say I needed to (and to be honest, you don't need to). But boiling the wort creates a hot break (as well as sanitizing - see point 1). The hot break forms as a greyish scum on top of the wort - it looks like foam to start with, but it isn't. It will start to collect from about 90degrees C - skim it off with a big spoon as it is produced. Once the wort gets to 100 degrees and a good rolling boil there is usually not much left, and you can add hops.

3. Try to be patient. It might take 7-10 days (or more) to ferment.
3a buy a heat pad. After I bought one I have never had a stuck ferment & primary fermentation has never been more than 8 days.

4. Try to be patient. It might take 4 weeks (or more) to condition & settle. (But a lot less if you skim the hot break & use irish moss.)

5. Don't worry too much about the process of brewing. Sweet liquid wants to become alcohol, and it will with very little effort. Making it delicious is sometimes trickier, but experiment & you'll get there.

6. Once you go up to all grain, use recipes. There are loads of books. I have found the one by Greg Hughes the best.

6. If your brews fail more than once, ask for help.

after coming back to homebrewing just over a year ago after a 20 year break there are 3 things (improvements) that stand out for me.

1) DO: Starsan no rinse sanitiser....makes bottling day and general sanitisation so much easier, and always have a trigger spray of starsan to hand.

2) DO: Invest in a bottling wand. They are cheap, but makes bottling day so much easier. I attach mine to a 25litre screw top wine fermenter and batch prime with priming sugar after syphoning from the fermentation vessel...remembering to give a good stir to distribute the sugar evenly ,but without splashing ...don;t want to get oxygen into the beer at this stage.

3) DO: Quality of modern 2 can kits is great...they may be a bit more expensive but worth the extra i.m.o.

Also....some has been said already.

4) DO Buy and 11grm pack of ale yeast ....don't rely on the kit pack if its only 6 grams.

5) DO Schedule plenty of time for brewday, and especially bottling day....I tend to wash bottles the day before and just sanitize on bottling day.

6) DON'T expect the bottled beer to ready after two weeks conditioning... give it time to condition...one month, two months, three..depending on the brew. A beer that tastes OK'ish but not brilliant after one month may taste brilliant after three months - so don't drink it all in month one.

7) DO: Once you've done a few kits, do think about having a go at extract recipes, and then all grain.

Read all of the posts in this thread before starting my first batch. Great advice and really helpful to a newb like me. Thanks all.

Sonnal said:

Read all of the posts in this thread before starting my first batch. Great advice and really helpful to a newb like me. Thanks all.

Click to expand...

Yep, ditto...
This is what this forum is all about. Returned to brewing a year ago, loving it and still learning . For me , patience is your biggest friend !

TartanSpecial said:

7) DO: Once you've done a few kits, do think about having a go at extract recipes, and then all grain.

Click to expand...

AG/BIAB isn't any harder than extract. You can miss this step out altogether if you want. I did