complete newbie needs help!

[dfloguey]

Hi HomeBrew Forum!

I have just bought the Wilko beer makers deluxe pack (1x plastic spoon, 1x syphon tube, 1x 50g cleaner and sterliser, 1x fermenting bucket, 1x pressure barrel) and I want to make my own wheat beer! I love the belgian type.

I have done a lot of research online and think buying a kit would be best to start but I was wondering if people could give me some help? Even with internet searching I still feel very lost and overwhelmed haha.

Simple, stupid things are my main concern. e.g. do I syphon from fermenting bucket to pressure barrel then use the tap to put into bottles..?

Any help or advice would be more than welcome!

Thanks :)

 

[dad_of_jon]

Hi HomeBrew Forum!

I have just bought the Wilko beer makers deluxe pack (1x plastic spoon, 1x syphon tube, 1x 50g cleaner and sterliser, 1x fermenting bucket, 1x pressure barrel) and I want to make my own wheat beer! I love the belgian type.

I have done a lot of research online and think buying a kit would be best to start but I was wondering if people could give me some help? Even with internet searching I still feel very lost and overwhelmed haha.

Simple, stupid things are my main concern. e.g. do I syphon from fermenting bucket to pressure barrel then use the tap to put into bottles..?

Any help or advice would be more than welcome!

Thanks :)

I use a bottling bucket (BB)with a tap and a bottling wand rather than a pressure barrel which is meant to serve beer from. I use an auto syphon to transfer from my FV to BB.

With bottles you can spread your drinking over a longer period with the barrel it can deteriorate after first pour (air gets in).

 

[ManseMasher]

Hi HomeBrew Forum!

I have just bought the Wilko beer makers deluxe pack (1x plastic spoon, 1x syphon tube, 1x 50g cleaner and sterliser, 1x fermenting bucket, 1x pressure barrel) and I want to make my own wheat beer! I love the belgian type.

I have done a lot of research online and think buying a kit would be best to start but I was wondering if people could give me some help? Even with internet searching I still feel very lost and overwhelmed haha.

Simple, stupid things are my main concern. e.g. do I syphon from fermenting bucket to pressure barrel then use the tap to put into bottles..?

Any help or advice would be more than welcome!

Thanks :)

No such thing as a stupid question (apart from the one you don't ask!). Kits are a really good way to start. The most important first lesson? Sterilise, sterilise, sterilise. Oh, did I mention sterilise? With a pressure barrel, imagine it as a large bottle. You syphon your beer from your fermenting vessel (fv) into the barrel. As it is a pressure barrel, you can add priming sugar, let the beer go through its secondary fermentation stage, and pour directly into your glass. When the pressure drops and you can't get any more beer out, top up the pressure with co2.

 

[Soton]

You syphon from the fermenting bin into either a barrel or bottles,(or into a clean fermenting bin ready for kegging or bottling) I do like wheat beer but have yet to make one myself, that said and excusing my lack of knowledge of making wheat beers but my preference would be to bottle a wheat beer, I imagine that the beer would clear in a barrel or keg but a bottle can and always be agitated to cloud up the beer

 

[dfloguey]

thanks people! So I don't need to use the pressure barrel if I don't want to? I can just go from fv to bottles?

would I be able to put it into the barrel, let it go through the second stage, then put it into bottles? that is kind of what I thought I would do haha.

I think the literal brewing I'm not too too worried about it's the transition from fv to barrel then bottle or just bottle or just barrel, that is making me feel a bit overwhelmed

 

[HebridesRob]

No such thing as a stupid question (apart from the one you don't ask!). Kits are a really good way to start. The most important first lesson? Sterilise, sterilise, sterilise. Oh, did I mention sterilise? With a pressure barrel, imagine it as a large bottle. You syphon your beer from your fermenting vessel (fv) into the barrel. As it is a pressure barrel, you can add priming sugar, let the beer go through its secondary fermentation stage, and pour directly into your glass. When the pressure drops and you can't get any more beer out, top up the pressure with co2.

^Clean and sterilise. Brewing is 99% cleaning.

After fermentation: Try not to get air into the beer. Splash as little as possible; keep the ends of the syphon tube under the surface of the beer; don't use the tap on the fermentation vessel unless you have a bottling stick on it.
eg: http://www.geterbrewed.com/homebrew-bottle-filler/

 

[ManseMasher]

Pressure barrels are meant to dispense the finished product, like a bottle. If you let it go through the secondary fermentation in the barrel, then bottle it, you risk oxidising your beer, which will make it go stale very quickly. If you want to bottle, the way I do it is mix the correct amount of priming agent (there are plenty of calculators available to tell you how much) with some boiled, cooled water. I syphon from the fv into my bottling bucket, then fill my bottles from this bucket. This way, you make sure every bottle has the same amount of primer, and you reduce sediment. If you want to use your pressure barrel, do the same with the primer, but you pour your beer after secondary fermentation directly from barrel to glass.

 

[HebridesRob]

thanks people! So I don't need to use the pressure barrel if I don't want to? I can just go from fv to bottles?

would I be able to put it into the barrel, let it go through the second stage, then put it into bottles? that is kind of what I thought I would do haha.

I think the literal brewing I'm not too too worried about it's the transition from fv to barrel then bottle or just bottle or just barrel, that is making me feel a bit overwhelmed

If you're going to bottle, leave in the fermentation vessel until the beer has cleared. About two weeks is normal, then you have a choice...

I put a bottling tube on the tap, put half a teaspoon of sugar (2.5ml measuring spoon, drag a straight fork handle across, use a dry funnel) in each 500ml bottle and I bottle directly from the fermenting vessel.

Other people think the above is too long-winded. They weigh out sugar (5g per litre is a normal amount) and boil it with some beer or water to sterilise.
Cool it, then tip it into a clean vessel (a barrel could certainly be used for this).
Syphon the beer from the fermenting vessel onto the sugar solution so that it mixes with the beer.
Bottle from this vessel (Called a bottling bucket).

 

[dfloguey]

didn't realise everyone would be so helpful, thanks again!

sorry to be going round in circles but why is my pressure barrel with the tap on it not the same as a bottling bucket? sorry to sound amateur haha! would it not be ok to use the bottling stick like HebridesRob said with the pressure barrel tap?

 

[ManseMasher]

If it fits, absolutely!

 

[dfloguey]

ok. last thing I swear! If I don't have 23 litres worth of bottles, would it be ok to bottle 10 bottles worth (leaving the rest of the beer in the barrel) and then bottle the rest when the bottles become available again? (knowing me and my housemates that wouldn't take long haha!)

 

[CreweBrewer]

You could bottle some and put the rest in the barrel. Nip down your local; they'll be more than happy for you to take some of their empties. It's where I get mine from.

 

[dfloguey]

brilliant idea! thanks everyone! I'll be sure to post here my progress once I've chosen the kit I want on a more appropriate area of the forums!

great community on this website. I feel very welcomed haha

 

[ManseMasher]

brilliant idea! thanks everyone! I'll be sure to post here my progress once I've chosen the kit I want on a more appropriate area of the forums!

great community on this website. I feel very welcomed haha

Two litre fizzy drinks bottles (coke, lemonade, fizzy water) will all take the pressure of secondary fermentation. Cheap, transportable, disposable.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Two litre fizzy drinks bottles (coke, lemonade, fizzy water) will all take the pressure of secondary fermentation. Cheap, transportable, disposable.

keep them out of the light or they can get light-struck, especially if its a hoppy beer.