decthebelly
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- Joined
- Jul 10, 2010
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After a 20 year lay off I have returned to the homebrew fold.
Just completed a Coopers Best Bitter, put into the PET bottles I get Tesco water in (18p for 2litres I believe) primed with sugar. Already tastes good, better than student days, I used an airlock rather than the bin system, and due to laziness left it for a week after bubbling stopped, if it suffered in quality I can't tell, rather than it tasting of student-type home brew, my main complaint is it is a touch too hoppy than my ideal pint of bitter (Thwaites). I think the bottled water and 1kg of malt extract / brewing sugar may make all the difference in the kit world. I must admit I couldn't believe it, as I was rotating the bottle to get the last of the sugar at the bottom of the bottles to dissolve, I could see proper bitter micro-sized bubbles forming at the top. Magic.
As long as the PET bottles work OK, it's a great system. Bought the water for my second return project; a Milestone Crusader 2-Can real ale kit, pour in the water, then rack off the previous kit into the bottles after a quick sterilising rinse.I didn't use tap water since leaving around for a day to let the chlorine evaporate could lead to infection I thought, so the £1.50 or so on Tesco water seemed cheap. I am wondering if the 2-Can kits work as advertised, i.e. are they almost as good as an all-grain setup. If they do not, I fear a lot of toys about to enter an already cluttered house :-) Thoughts anyone?
I will want to attempt a Hefeweizen kit next, preferably a 2-can kit. Would anyone have a recommendation?
Also while I am hitting you all up for advice, what is a good lager kit to try out before commencing down the grain path?
Thanks for your time.
dec
Just completed a Coopers Best Bitter, put into the PET bottles I get Tesco water in (18p for 2litres I believe) primed with sugar. Already tastes good, better than student days, I used an airlock rather than the bin system, and due to laziness left it for a week after bubbling stopped, if it suffered in quality I can't tell, rather than it tasting of student-type home brew, my main complaint is it is a touch too hoppy than my ideal pint of bitter (Thwaites). I think the bottled water and 1kg of malt extract / brewing sugar may make all the difference in the kit world. I must admit I couldn't believe it, as I was rotating the bottle to get the last of the sugar at the bottom of the bottles to dissolve, I could see proper bitter micro-sized bubbles forming at the top. Magic.
As long as the PET bottles work OK, it's a great system. Bought the water for my second return project; a Milestone Crusader 2-Can real ale kit, pour in the water, then rack off the previous kit into the bottles after a quick sterilising rinse.I didn't use tap water since leaving around for a day to let the chlorine evaporate could lead to infection I thought, so the £1.50 or so on Tesco water seemed cheap. I am wondering if the 2-Can kits work as advertised, i.e. are they almost as good as an all-grain setup. If they do not, I fear a lot of toys about to enter an already cluttered house :-) Thoughts anyone?
I will want to attempt a Hefeweizen kit next, preferably a 2-can kit. Would anyone have a recommendation?
Also while I am hitting you all up for advice, what is a good lager kit to try out before commencing down the grain path?
Thanks for your time.
dec
