Hello from Plymouth

[William Daley]

Hello all, I have recently retired after 39 years in the RN. I have started a fairly successful allotment plot and now have decided to give home brew a try. I have absolutely no experience with this so any advice would be gratefully received (in novice terminology). So far I have bought a 40 pint basic starter kit comprising of a fermenting barrel, a pressure barrel, Sterling granules, airlock, hydrometer, siphon. All this because I expressed an interest in taking up home brew to one of the younger members of my family, who duly gave me a geordie bitter 40 pint tin as a Christmas prezzie. I have started the kit off as per instructions in the tin except i was a little short at 21 Ltrs instead of 23 Ltrs. I am maintaining the temperature between 18 - 21 degrees C during fermentation. The kit has been bubbling away vigorously through the airlock for six days now. I intend to keep it fermenting until it quietens down and the SPV on the hydrometer has stabilized as per instructions. I then intend to siphon, off to the pressure barrel, maintain it at the brewing temperature for a week then move the pressure barrel to my cool cellar and leave for a couple of months before trying it out. If anyone can see any glaring errors with this, please advise also any other advice would also be gratefully received (a glossery would also be good). Yours Aye, Bill D from Plymouth.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi @William Daley
Welcome to the forum.
Brewing short is a good thing - you'll get less beer but it will be better beer.
Many members use the 2-2-2 rule, which is two weeks in the FV (fermentation vessel), two weeks carbonating and two weeks maturation. Obviously, use your hydrometer to determine whether fermentation has finished, but wait until rwo weeks have passed.
If you can chill your beer for a day or so before syphoning it will help to settle any particles floating in the beer - clearer beer.
Don't forget to add sugar to the PB (pressure barrel) before adding the beer. Dissolve the sugar in a small quantity of boiled water, let it cool and pour into the PB. Syphon your beer onto the sugar solution to make sure it mixes evenly. It will need more than 1 week to carbonate - more like 2.
As it's a bitter, you will notice an improvement over a couple of weeks. The best pint is always the last one!

 

[William Daley]

Many thanks for the advice Bigcol49, have not heard about chilling before siphoning but I will definitely do so. I intend to progress adding hops, enhancer, malt etc stage by stage as i go on through progressive brews. also I have a cellar with a very stable temperature cooler than my bitter brewing temperature and was wondering about brewing a authentic lager. I have heard this is tricky but would love to give it a go. I would probably need a step by step idiots guide though. Cheers Shippers Bill Daley.

 

[Portreath]

Welcome to the forum, and hello from the other side of the Tamar. Sounds like you are off to a flying start with your first brew.

 

[William Daley]

Welcome to the forum, and hello from the other side of the Tamar. Sounds like you are off to a flying start with your first brew.

Thanks for the welcome, fingers crossed.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum William and thanks for becoming a supporting member on day one. :thumba:

 

[terrym]

Welcome to the forum.
This might be of help
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...de-to-brewing-your-own-beer-from-a-kit.57526/
And as you have a PB
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/guide-to-a-standard-home-brew-pressure-barrel.67042/
After your beer has been in the PB for two or three days I advise you to draw off a small quantity. If it's pressurised then you are unlikely to have any leaks. If its not then the PB is likely leaking somewhere. It's best to find out if you have leaking PB early so you can sort it out rather than find out weeks later And don't leave it two months before you first try you beer take samples at regular interval say every 2 weeks. then you can decide when you think its ready to start drinking in quantity.
And when the first brew is packaged get the next one on the go, so you can build up a store.

 

[Banbeer]

Welcome to the forum, I brew my beers in temperature controlled fridges and tend not to use kit yeasts, when brewing a lager I can keep the temps down (12-14 degrees).

Happy brewing, the guys on here are great, you made the right choice.

 

[Madhouse]

Welcome to the world of brewing, it’s addictive!
I’m equally new to brewing and have learnt a lot already, loads of knowledge people here who are happy to help.