Hi everyone

[Funnyday]

I'm looking into what is involved in home brewing. I may start doing it. I would like to brew a Becks beer equivalent. If anyone knows of any kits to do this. Please let me know. Also, how do you get bubbles into the beer? Do you use something like a soda stream? I want to be able to brew about 300 pints a month. Is this possible at home? Sorry for all of the questions.

 

[GerritT]

Brew 7 gallons every week, take 6 weeks to ferment, carbonate and condition and you'd have your 300 pints every month at your disposal. Brewing those 7 gallons take up the better part of a day, so it would take quite a bit of your weekends.

This looks like a recipe that delivers a lager: German Pils Recipe - Clone Of Becks klone | Brewgr

Here is a kit that should resemble Becks: Coopers European Lager kit

There are a few ways of getting the bubbles in beer: force carbonation (put beer in vats, cool down to close to freezing, fill up remaining space in vat with CO2 and it will get absorbed by the beer) OR add some sugar before bottling and let the yeast generate the CO2.

Read this site: Welcome to How to Brew - How to Brew on how to brew.

 

[Funnyday]

Thanks for all of the good advice.

 

[Funnyday]

Due to the quantity that I want. Perhaps I should just go straight into using a Keg like this one kegco 5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg - Rubberhandle by kegco:Amazon.co.uk:Kitchen & Home

How long would it take from start to finished beer using a Keg? Maybe I would need two Kegs. I have the room for it. So that's not a problem.

 

[Funnyday]

Or would two of these be better?

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.u..._Bottom_Tap_5_Gallon_-_S30_Valve.html#SID=194

 

[terrym]

Or would two of these be better?

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.u..._Bottom_Tap_5_Gallon_-_S30_Valve.html#SID=194

Read this and the rest of the thread and form your opinion on whether PBs are a good idea.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...pressure-barrels-pbs.88283/page-5#post-929409I suggest you buy a 25litre basic beginners set up and brew a few kits then decide if brewing is for you especially since you want to brew at nearly microbrewery capacity. Get some experience under your belt first.
Successfully brewing 175 litres or so of beer every month requires a sizeable investment in time and money and perhaps space to do it and should not be entered into lightly.
And trying to copy a commercial beer is not as easy as it might appear.

 

[Funnyday]

I have the time and space to do this. I also use to spend £300 a month on Becks. So the spare cash is there also. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Banbeer]

My advice is tread very slowly into your new hobby, you can't brew becks like beer from day one, it takes a long time to perfect. You can however do as @terrym suggests. A quick turn around of beer can be accomplished if you use a fast fermenting yeast such as kveik but you will need to be able to brew at around 35°C - 40°C, look it up.

 

[GerritT]

Maybe a local brew club can give you insights in how to handle production on your particular scale, maybe it's interesting to rent brewing space and/or equipment.

 

[Funnyday]

I've seen this kit on eBay. Any good?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-Bre...sh=item35ddb93b3e:g:RhwAAOSwQGZazJO7&LH_BIN=1

 

[terrym]

I've seen this kit on eBay. Any good?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-Bre...sh=item35ddb93b3e:g:RhwAAOSwQGZazJO7&LH_BIN=1

I suggest you read this. It contains a basic shopping list.
Brew2bottle will most probably have all you need, including Coopers lager, which is currently available.
I suggest you buy two lager kits, 1 kg light DME (spray malt), 1 kg dextrose (brewing sugar) and make up two brews each using 500g DME and 500g dextrose with one of the kit cans.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...de-to-brewing-your-own-beer-from-a-kit.57526/You will need some bottles. If you don't buy new you can re-use fizzy drink bottles. Re-used beer bottles will require a capper and caps. Re-used PET bottles are fine, ..

 

[Funnyday]

I've just got back from Wilkos. They had a variety of different equipment and beer kits. Is their equipment any good? Or should I just buy a starter kit?

 

[Dulwich North]

As a first time brewer, I can only say that a similar starter kit worked for me. I already had a couple of big pans and a kitchen thermometer, and what was also crucial was the recipe/instructions which came with their 5L (grains) ingredient packs. If I wanted to scale up like you - I don't! - I feel this has given me enough of a grounding for the next steps, so I can look at the specs of a Grainfather or whatever and have some idea of what it might offer.

 

[MyQul]

One thing that hasnt been pointed out is there is a difference when brewing lager and ale. Becks is obviously a lager. Brewing a lager in a traditional way is harder than brewing an ale as you need to ferment cold (at about 10C) then condition cold (at about 1C). To do this you need a brew fridge (normally a repuposed and refitted domestic fridge).
There are however ways around making a lager in the traditional way. Such as making a 'pseudo-lager' (fermenting warmer say 15C and skipping the cold conditioning stage - which is what I do as I dont have brew fridge).

As others have pointed out 300 pints is a lot of beer so you may want to learn to walk before you learn to run and start on a smaller brewlength (the usual being 23L/5G)

 

[Funnyday]

So would a Coopers lager kit need to be fermented at 10 degrees C?

 

[MyQul]

So would a Coopers lager kit need to be fermented at 10 degrees C?

It depends on the yeast it comes with. I always ask @terrym which yeast come with which coopers kit because I know he knows (I think he has a link to a chart with which yeast comes with which kit).
But tbh you can ferment it at ale temps even if it comes with lager yeast. Just ferment it as cool as your able to

 

[Funnyday]

This is the third move that this thread has had now. LOL

 

[terrym]

So would a Coopers lager kit need to be fermented at 10 degrees C?

This will answer most of your question
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ure-for-lager-am-i-too-hot.88774/#post-931797

 

[Gerryjo]

This is the third move that this thread has had now. LOL

It's all relative to brewing beer not so much moving topic as advice does expand and as homebrewers we all like to give as good as we can from our own experiences and knowledge so as others can get the best from theirs especially when starting out.
£300 can be a lot of beer regarding homebrew, and after sourcing equipment be it kits, partial or all grain you could still brew anything up to 500 pints if using cheap kits.
I'm assuming your a regular weekend drinker taking in around 20 to 25 pints and that's what's giving such a high cost and the lockdown has put this own hold to your advantage like many others and if it is the case take time to get the advice, search through the forum for beer styles, types, equipment reviews and most of all people's mistakes so as to learn from them and you'll be amazed at what you can do and the quality of beer you can make in a short space of time but first and foremost is patience as this is your most valuable asset. Good luck.

 

[labrewski]

I would recommend spending 50 quid on random beers to find something u can agree on with ipa being a starter to pilsner and lager then buy loads of kits or ingredients and brew like a maniac til u have nowhere to store your precious drink then experiment good luck new homebrew addict lol