30 year old virgin (brewer)

[Pete H]

Morning Men

Im turning 30 next week and for my birthday the lovely little girlfriend has bought me a coopers diy homebrew kit! very nice i must say! Never been this excited to open a present for quite a while. Im under strict instructions NOT to open until Wed 9th or else i will be a couple of vedge short of a full dinner!!! :grin:

I have the coopers Australian lager and after looking at reviews and detailed instructions of how to start off ( a lot of time looking at craig tube, the mans a brewing machine!) and everything seems straight forward. So once i start i will keep anyone whos interested up to date with how this developes.

What I'm after is a bit of advice from you guys on my next choice of brew, cider! I want to keep this simple for my first atempt and use the cider kits that are ready available on the net. Would it be possible if anyone could recommend a good one to start with and also basic ingredients which i need. On most of the sites im under the impression all i should need is, cider brewing kit, 1.3Kg of brewing sugar and a good cider yeast. I will be bottling these and will purchase coopers carb drops unless again anyone can recommend a good/cheaper substitute.

Thanks for your time Men

Pete

 

[Dunfie]

Welcome to the forum.

If you want to cider then I would suggest you do a forum search for "Turbo Cider". Its cheaper than getting a kit and loads of fun.

 

[Pete H]

Dunfie

Thanks for the reply, i have looked at the different posts for turbo cider and Im a bit worried due to the high alcohol levels produced by these. Im more for taste than power.
I have read a few posts regarding a kit called on the rocks which from all the feedback i have seen it seems to be a well thought after cider. I may give this a go bt not after reviewing other posibilities.

Cheers

Pete

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome.

 

[pittsy]

welcome pete , yeah i would do a few kits first then after you see how easy it can be have a crack at the turbo cider , you can make it as strong or as weak as you like and will be a better brew too , for now have a good read through the how to guide (see main page) my advise when you start your kit is clean clean and clean again with a good sterilizer and don't forget to rinse plenty of times so as not to ruin brew will medical taste :

 

[Pete H]

Thanks for the reply lads.

Pittsy

I have managed to have a sneaky peak at the kit cant wait man only 1 week to go! In the instructions it says the kit is already sterilised and all i need to do is rinse everyting off before use. Would this be ok to proceed or would you on the safe side sterilise again?

Thanks

Pete

 

[pittsy]

i would def sterilize your bucket , spoon , hydrometer , in fact any thing that comes near it , if you don't have any solution you can use a small amount of thin bleach just rinse at least 4 ish times and have a smell to make sure no medical type smells present , also wash area where you brew and of course scrub your hands , the biggest cock up of brewing is a ruined brew because of infection (wild yeast in the air and germs) good luck , seems like you've got the bug and you haven't even started

 

[Pete H]

Pittsy

I got a tub of VWP steriliser aswell so i think i will do as you have mentioned and sterilise the full lot to be on the safe side.

To be honest i think wor lass got me it for herself!!

Thanks for all the advice

Cheers

Pete

 

[boozy_shoes]

Pete,

With reagrds to the cider, i've done the Magnum Pear Cider kit for the last 2 summers (mainly to keep the girlfriend sweet about my other brewing activites) and it was simple and turned out really well both times, its definitely got all the taste of a good pear cider but it sneaks up on you after 2 or 3 glasses, i'd definitely recommend it.

http://thebrewmart.com/magnum-pear-cider-i603132.html - here's a link for it but you might find it cheaper elsewhere.

 

[Pete H]

Boozy Shoes

It all sounds good to me looking forward to getting started.

Im trying to source all the ingredients at the moment, the internet is probably the best bet for this but there are a couple of home brew shops within driving distance of me so i think im going to check these out before i bulk buy off the net.

I was told that camping shops are a good bet for home brew supplies so im going to have a look around the area and see what there is! Is this something you have tried and if so do you know if these shops stock up?

Thanks

Pete