Greetings from the New Forest

[pprovart]

Greetings All,

Had my 5x Birthday last week and the wife procured for me a Home Brew Kit !! SO i've kicked off my first Brew with the kit she purchased on Sunday.

Military Mild from the Home Brew Shop. I'm trying to find a nice dark or Ruby beer simialr to Hobgoblin.

First question though.. It says it will brew in 4-7 Days ( today is Day 3 ) so at what point do you decide fermentation has stopped...
aka No 'plops' from the ploppy generator for over 10 mins, 15 mins, 20 mins.....!

Secondly. The Fermentation tub has a tap at the bottom. Once, finished, should i use this tap to empty into the pressure barrel or will that aerate the brew too much and damage it..
So i guess, whats the best method to transfer from fermentor to the pressure barrel.

As a Newbie i reserve the right to mis-use the brewing vernacular for upto 2 weeks, from then all flames welcome!

Looking forward to being part of the community..

Thanks
Pete

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Hello and welcome!
With regards to knowing when fermentation is done, a hydrometer will serve you well. If you get two identical readings 48hrs apart, it has stopped. I normally wait until at least day 12 to take the first such reading. Airlock activity isn't a great proxy for rate of fermentation as far as I know.
You'll see the 2+2+2 rule mentioned often and I must say it's always served me well, though I too am relatively new to homebrewing (2 years). It means 2 weeks in FV, 2 weeks to carb up in barrel/bottle, and 2 weeks somewhere cooler to condition. Depending on the beer it may well improve with age in the bottle/barrel, as I found with my first brew. My advice to fellow newcomers is to take pride in being patient.
I would suggest a length of tubing(sanitized) to go from the tap on the FV in to the bottom of the barrel to avoid splashing. I certainly wouldn't open the tap and have it pour into the barrel without, though I have no experience of trying it that way.

 

[pprovart]

Fabulous!" I'll try the 2+2+2 rule. I have a hydrometer so will use when i see airlock activity almost negigble, then take a reading etc etc. Patience is my thing, so lookign forward to crafting and cooking up something delicious. Been reading alot more here since above post.... Baby steps, but want to reach a point of brewing something magical for Christmas... as well as a session beer for my Currys! (FB Page @PetesCurry ) . Thanks for the tips...

 

[Banbeer]

Welcome to the forum +1 for previous advise from @AnimatedGIF. Happy brewing.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum thumb

 

[AXW123]

Welcome to the forum - loads of great advice on here (some already written - use the search engine) but easy to ask for too. Doesn’t mean we all Do/think the same - but it’s a good way to determine your own methods.

 

[An Ankoù]

Welcome.
Stick à bit of tube on the tap so you can run the beer straight to the bottom of of the pressure barrel. That'll reduce splashing and hence oxidation. Your beer doesn't need to have absolutely finished before racking into a PV, because you want to pressurise the vessel and there will be a pressure relief valve of some sort. It's important that it has fully fermented out for bottling, though.

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum....

 

[pprovart]

Thanks for all your Welcomes and Tips! Onwards and Upwards