Brand new to home brewing - my plan for my beers

[jwcxi]

Hi there,

I am a huge beer fan but never quite got round to making my own.

I am considering the below, can people please tell me their thoughts/advice etc for a starter? Happy to listen to all guidance and suggestion as ultimately brewing is about learning as you go, tweaking and experimenting!

KIT
I see my ideal set up as BIAB with some upgraded/additional equipment from a starter kit, but I would rather start slow and then build up so was thinking about acquiring the below -

Bulldog Micro Brewery - IPA - Starter Equipment and Beer Kit
Auto syphon
Beer wand
sanitiser
Bottle brush
Bottle rinser
500ml-amber-beer-bottles
Caps
Capper

Questions:
What capping tool do people think is best?
Can you recommend any hop bags/cloths for which i can put the pellets/dry hops in so they don't clog the tap?
Would you use carb drops or sugar to carbonate the beer? And if using sugar, mix with the fermented beer or add straight to bottle in controlled quantities? Seems like with an online carbonator calculator you can control the amount in each with bottle size etc to give the right amount of fizz?
Do i need a 2nd FV or can i just syphon into bottles from the first one?



METHOD
My idea was to use the above in the below method, any errors please do let me know -

Sterilize everything!
Warm up malt extract, pour into fermenter and stir.
Add cold water up to volume, stir vigorously to introduce oxygen
Take a gravity reading
Pitch the yeast
Attach lid
Fill airlock with water
Store at 18-22 degrees out of sunlight
Leave for 7 days
Add hops for final 3 days
Syphon wort into bottles with priming sugar or carb drops

Questions:
Do i stir/shake when yeast is added?
Do i need to add less water in order to get more flavour from the beer? read a few things about say doing 19 litres of water for a 23 litre kit? Will this affect ABV? Don't mind a stronger taste but not really wanting anything over 5.5/6%.
Where should i be storing the beer and what is the best temperature, how does temperature affect the final product?
Should i add the hops in a hop tea? Can i just pour that in? Or do i need to use pellets and put into a hop bag and weigh it down so it sits in the wort?
Is it just 3 days the hops need or is it longer/shorter?


This should be enough i hope to help get me on my way with some tweaks here and there I'm sure, i have some very grand ideas about the beers i want to brew but need to start somewhere!!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[terrym]

First, welcome to our forum
There are many questions in your post.
Some may be answered if you read this.
Basic beginners guide to brewing your own beer from a kit - The HomeBrew Forum
and this
A Newbies Guide to Dry Hopping Your Beer - The HomeBrew Forum
Personally I would not advise starting with a PB , but if you do this might be handy
Guide to a Standard Home Brew Pressure Barrel
And don't bother with carbonation drops to carb up your beer, table sugar is fine, and a lot cheaper

 

[MyQul]

If your definately serious about your new hobby get a bench capper straight off the bat. I've bought cheaper cappers and they're unreliable. The one thing I've found with cheap cappers is buy cheap buy twice (or three or four times)

This is the one I've got and is definately the bollards

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001V28KRG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[chewie]

Hiya, can only echo what already has been said. Regarding a 2nd FV it's always a good idea to have an extra one, you can rack into the second one and dry hop and get a 2nd brew going again in the first one, when starting out impatience can set in pretty quick and always having a second brew on the go will help you build up a small stockpile pretty quick. You don't need to rush out and aquire a shedload of bottles either right away, re use old 1-3l plastic coke or fizzy water bottles whilst gathering up crown cap bottles.

 

[Leon103]

A lot of questions there and too mang for me to answer in one go whilst having a poo.

So I would personally get a bench capper. For the extra £15 it is much better and quicker. I wouldn't buy bottles, go to your local and empty the glass bin.

I use normal sugar for priming, it's cheaper. There are calculators out there brewers friend for example. Once you have brewed a few times you will know what suites your style.

 

[jwcxi]

Amazing feedback thus far, thanks guys :) just what i needed.

 

[Hoddy]

A lot of questions there and too mang for me to answer in one go whilst having a poo.

So I would personally get a bench capper. For the extra £15 it is much better and quicker. I wouldn't buy bottles, go to your local and empty the glass bin.

I use normal sugar for priming, it's cheaper. There are calculators out there brewers friend for example. Once you have brewed a few times you will know what suites your style.

While having a Poo [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

#theplaceforcheckingtheforumisthethrone


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[hamster]

If your definately serious about your new hobby get a bench capper straight off the bat. I've bought cheaper cappers and they're unreliable. The one thing I've found with cheap cappers is buy cheap buy twice (or three or four times)

Second that ! Wish I'd bought a proper bench one...

 

[Godsdog]

if cash isn't a problem ditch the bottles and go for a PB minimum, far better than bottles and less time consuming.in fact there isn't a down side to a PB

 

[Leon103]

While having a Poo [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

#theplaceforcheckingtheforumisthethrone


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It's the only chance I have had to check in all day

 

[Leon103]

if cash isn't a problem ditch the bottles and go for a PB minimum, far better than bottles and less time consuming.in fact there isn't a down side to a PB

Apart from most leak and you can't share.

 

[Godsdog]

Apart from most leak and you can't share.

leaks?never had a problem with a KK,share? you start off in this game aiming to please yourself with best beer bang for buck.you can still share at the barrelling stage by doing a few bottles as well

 

[Leon103]

leaks?never had a problem with a KK,share? you start off in this game aiming to please yourself with best beer bang for buck.you can still share at the barrelling stage by doing a few bottles as well

Lot of reported problems with PB's. Leaks around the tap and CO2 getting out from the cap and/or tap. I gave up with mine in the end.

A lot of people have issues with over tightening.

 

[TheQuokka]

I don't have any experience with the PBs you are referring to, but I still have a couple of beer machines that I use for experimental batches and pressure barrels. These stopped leaking when I started using food grade lubricant on everything, but the gas charger leaks the gas out of the bulbs in a couple of days so I am going to fit ball-lock posts to them and use my gas bottle, keep the charger for "picnic barrel" use.

I'll add my support for going out and buying a decent bench capper. Capping bottles is one of the worst things about bottling, and anything less will drive you to drink (which is not necessarily a bad thing now you are brewing your own...)

Finally, we have a thing in Engineering known as the KISS principle - keep it simple, stupid. This applies equally to brewing, especially at the learning stage. You will have enough to learn in sterilising, brewing and bottling without complicating your recipes. Start with Kit and Kilo, then try partial mash, then BIAB - all the time keeping your recipes simple. You will see recipes with 50 steps and 30 hop additions which probably didn't turn out as the single infusion recipes with 2 hops that tend to win the competitions.

 

[Druncan]

Got grolsh bottles with the snap tops and 750ml snap tops from Fyne Ales that I reuse for samples. They are brilliant!,,,