Complete Newbie!

[dan270279]

Hi There,

I am taking up the challenge of home brewing and am looking for as much information and guidance as possible

I generally like Ales and stouts and currently do not have any equipment whatsoever

Could someone please tell me what I need to get - I have a good space my shed, and do not mind spending that bit extra to get that little bit of better quality as well as not having to keep upgrading time after time - Saying that I obviously am a keen but complete starter and have no idea what I should be buying and where I should be buying it.

Help please................

 

[BigYin]

Welcome to the Forum :drink:

Have a look around the forum and see what interests you.

There are LOADS of starter kits out there, but many only do half the job. By that I mean they give you the fermenting vessel and the bits and pieces needed to mix up and ferment the beer, but they don't provide you with anything to put it in after that - so you also need to buy a pressure barrel and/or beer bottles.

This kit offers everything you need (although personally I'd rather not use 1 litre bottles - a standard 500ml beer bottle fills a pint glass perfectly, while leaving the sediment behind in the bottle).

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/index.php ... re=default


At any rate, whatever you choose, if you are going to brew beer kits, I recommend you get the very best kits - usually they are two can kits and weigh around 3kg, they generally cost around the £20 mark.

Best of luck - do a few kit brews to get the hang of the cleaning and disinfection routines, bottling etc, and then you may be ready to be drawn into the murky world of all grain brewing :whistle:

 

[dan270279]

Thank you for the link! I have ordered that kit and see how I get on........I am sure there will be some teathing problems and of course being excited to much that i try to run before i can walk.....but fingers crossed

 

[BigYin]

Best of luck - take pictures and share your progress :mrgreen:

 

[dan270279]

Ok - Kit arrived and is all set up and is now on its 3rd day of fementing. It all looks good a nice thick crust has developed and you can clearly see it above the brew/liquid line in side the fermenter.
My question is that the airlock has not bubbled, but the seal looks good, the lid is on tight and correct and it clearly seems fermenting is happening, but should I be worried that the airlock has not bubbled?

D

 

[tubthumper]

those buckets are not air tight , that why its not bubling . Don't worry just follow instuctions and when its time to bottle do so
so long as kit was a good one you will have no probs if you follow instuctions. you can muck about with it as you gain experience.

 

Welcome to the Forum Dan.

and then you may be ready to be drawn into the murky world of all grain brewing

There's nothing murky about the "Dark Side", it's just that there's no going back + the devilish lure of "shinies"!

 

[dan270279]

so now I've let the brew ferment for 7 days, and then bottled it for 14 days.....yesterday I chilled a bottle and opened it after work, I was actually quite impressed :) It tasted like beer, however the main drawbacks were that;

1 - Seemed to over fizzy
2 - Didn't seem to be that strong

I have lots of bottles to try, so will try a bottle every day, with the last few bottles hopefully losing their over fizzyness, but will it improve the depth and complexity.

What I want to do is get it home brew big time.....I have plans for a mash tuns, and worts etc with plans for a larger shed to accomodate it all with direct power to ensure it all works, but not wanting to run before I can walk I am going to try a few more with the coopers kit that I have, just need to buy new caps for the bottles, some sterlising equipment, or is boiling hot water and a good soak good enough to keep it all sterile etc??

Would be good to get suggestions etc plus advice on how to correct the 2 points I mentioned above.

Dan

 

[evanvine]

Your "fizziness" will not change other than perhaps get a bit more fizzy!
In time your beer will get more mellow and the malt taste will start to come to the fore.
Patience!!! :