First brew kit?

[Bashley]

Welcome to the Forum - and what will hopefully become a pleasurable obsession.

PS
I would look at the Starter Kits and then go and buy the things individually. I would definitely give the Hand Capper a miss and go for a Bench Capper every time.

Also, living in France I would immediately start drinking Fischers beer in the 650ml bottles with flip-tops. With steady drinking you could collect enough so that they could be used for your second brew. At €1.48 a bottle (full of decent beer) they are a bargain! Also, because the original caps aren't easy to sanitise, spare flip-tops and seal are readily available in Le Clercs.

Enjoy!

Yeah I was thinking that. So those flip tops are ok to use then? Do you re-use the caps on normal bottles? I've gone for the deluxe one and had a few bits thown in, extra hops, sanitiser etc. Only 6 euro delivery cost if you pick it up from a local delivery point.

 

[Dutto]

........... So those flip tops are ok to use then? Do you re-use the caps on normal bottles? ............

The original flip-tops on the Fischer bottles are a very hard nylon with the rubber seal welded on. I don't use them at all because I think that they might be difficult to sanitise properly.

I bought a load of plastic flip-tops (with removable seals) from my local Le Clerc and a couple of packets of spare seals.

I've been using the same bottles for over three years now and never had a failure. My only complaint is that the finish of the tops is a bit rough and the wire is galvanised rather than stainless. I suppose it's what you get with "cheap and cheerful". The galvanised wire reacts with the StarSan and corrodes over time, but since I've been rinsing the outside of the bottles (including the caps) after priming them I've had no problems whatsoever.

For a 22 litre brew, using 34 x 650ml bottles instead of 44 x 500ml bottles makes for a lot less work at bottling time, I lose a lot less beer when pouring off the beer to leave the yeast behind (34 bottoms as opposed to 44) and the original Fischers beer is pretty nice as well. A real "Win-Win!" situation.

 

[Bashley]

Great! I'll have a look out for those! I have a couple of 500ml spitfire bottle but the rest are 330ml. Guess it makes sense to have bigger bottles. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Dutto]

Other tips are:

• Refuse all friends offers off "saving you some bottles". They always come unwashed and are a bugger to clean.
• Another reason for refusal is that, to not waste your life adjusting the bench capper, ALL capped bottles should be at the same height.
• Ensure efficiency is to have sufficient bottles of one type to contain a whole brew.
• Reach "Critical Mass" as soon as you can. This means that you can let your brews mature to perfection.

 

[Bashley]

How do you guys clean your bottles?

 

[Dutto]

How do you guys clean your bottles?

After pouring out the contents, they are rinsed in cold water (at least three times) to remove any yeast in the bottom, drained and dried on a Bottle Rack; they are then rinsed in cold water and then sanitised with Oxy-Clean and put back on the Bottle Rack to drain immediately before filling.

At all stages, I check the bottles to see if there is anything inside and use a bottle brush to clean out those that are not absolutely pristine.

Check out this link to see exactly why!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donoghue_v_Stevenson

 

[GerritT]

Cleaning as soon as they are empty. Some people add a dishwasher in their routine, some don't. Meh. Swingtops rock. Oxi rocks. Brushes rock.
South France, best start would be an ipa or alike, not a lager. Lagers need cold. And you might start looking for a pot of 20, 25 liters. Just because. Start saving crates. I mean, where would you keep all your bottles? And if you share your kitchen with a better half, keep it clean and tidy. Even if you're not brewing.

 

[Dutto]

Will you lot please stop going on about "Dishwashers" before SWMBO demands one!

Last summer I watched our friend in France charge her Dishwasher, and she rinsed everything before loading it.

If HB'ers do the same then I just can't see the point of then putting the bottle into a Dishwasher. Sorry!

 

[Clint]

Get her a dishwasher you tightarse!

 

[GhostShip]

If you are going to bottle, I wouldn’t be without a bottle wand (‘Little Bottler’). For a few quid, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. I know it’s all additional expense, but a bottle washer would also be high on my list. Sterilising 40 bottles is no fun but can be done in minutes with a washer.

 

[IainM]

Rinse 'em out so they're clean then pop them in the oven to sanitise. Job done. Very little effort.

 

[Dutto]

Get her a dishwasher you tightarse!

Rinse 'em you lazy sod!

 

[GhostShip]

Another thing that’s just occurred to me - if you haven’t got the bottles yet, it’s worth considering PET (plastic) bottles. The Coopers ones are pretty cheap and decent quality.

You can feel the carbonation in them (because the plastic ‘tightens’ up), which is a useful guide. Because the tops are screw fit, you don’t need to bother with a bottle capper either.

 

[Bashley]

So my Youngs IPA is hopefully fermenting. It's been 48hrs. I have a couple of questions maybe someone can help with:

1. Fermentation for this kit is supposed to be somewhere between 20-24 deg. In the beginning the temp on the FV was roughly at room temperature. Something like 23 deg. But last night it was creeping up despite the room temperature being the same. I've read somewhere that fermentation raises the wort temp by a couple of deg. Is this what's happening here? How important is temp stability? Is it ok if it fluctuates between 20-24?
2. I initially half filled the double airlock so both 'bulbs' were half filled. Now the left bulb is full and the right is empty. Is it normal? It strikes me as logical as the C02 is escaping pushing air up through the lock.
When should the airlock be changed?
3. At what point do you know if your brew isn't working or is spoiled by possibly amateur ( ) cleaning and sanitation?
Thanks for any help!

 

[IainM]

So my Youngs IPA is hopefully fermenting. It's been 48hrs. I have a couple of questions maybe someone can help with:

1. Fermentation for this kit is supposed to be somewhere between 20-24 deg. In the beginning the temp on the FV was roughly at room temperature. Something like 23 deg. But last night it was creeping up despite the room temperature being the same. I've read somewhere that fermentation raises the wort temp by a couple of deg. Is this what's happening here? How important is temp stability? Is it ok if it fluctuates between 20-24?
2. I initially half filled the double airlock so both 'bulbs' were half filled. Now the left bulb is full and the right is empty. Is it normal? It strikes me as logical as the C02 is escaping pushing air up through the lock.
When should the airlock be changed?
3. At what point do you know if your brew isn't working or is spoiled by possibly amateur ( ) cleaning and sanitation?
Thanks for any help!

Congratulations.
(1) Don't worry about it. As long as you are in the right ballpark the beer will be ok. Keeping the temp stable is good, and will give you more reproducible and possibly better beer, but small and slow fluctuations don't make for a bad beer.
(2) Completely normal, just shows that there is positive pressure inside the fv because the yeast is producing CO2. No need to change the airlock.
(3) Stop worrying. You're beer is probably fine. Brewing is never fully sterile and the bacteria will be kept in check in the first instance by the hops, then it will be outcompeted for their food source by the yeast, then they will be neutered by the CO2 and alcohol the yeast makes. With a bit of common sense infections are rare, even with small transgressions in cleaning or sanitising. If there is a problem you'll notice it when you come to drinking, and it may only become apparent after months in the bottle, but I doubt you'll have any issues.

 

[Bashley]

Thanks Iain. Reassuring!

 

[terrym]

So my Youngs IPA is hopefully fermenting. It's been 48hrs.

Now that IainM has allayed your initial concerns, you now have to be patient with your IPA (assuming it's the American IPA). It takes much longer than 'normal' kits, so it won't be done and clear by day 14, more like 21 days or even longer, although fermenting at 22*C may speed things up relative to 19*C. So I would now leave it alone for at least two weeks nearer three, and assuming the bubble rate has dropped off to almost nothing take an SG reading to confirm you can chuck the hops in. And I suggest 5/6 days is better for dry hopping rather than 2/3 as the instructions recommend, but for the last two days find a cold place in which to put your beer to help finally clear the beer and get the hops to drop.

 

[Bashley]

Yep, time to collect more bottles! So far I don't see the airlock bubbling at all btw - I just notice the difference in level.

 

[RichK]

I've had several brews with no airlock activity at all but a full ferment confirmed by gravity readings so don't get too hung up by airlock activity.