Home Brewing Newbie here!

[Paul Narramore]

Well after a gap of twenty five or so years, I am now planning to return to brewing beer at home again. I've probably thrown away or lost most if not all of my previous equipment so will be starting from scratch. Obviously things have moved on in the intervening years so any advice would be welcomed. I stayed with malt extract kits using both Boots and John Bull kits and later adding dry hops but never ventured into using grain. To boil the water I used a large capacity aluminium pot which has since been lost so I thought of getting an old Burco.

Anything else I should know? I'm happy to stay with malt extract kits for the time being.

 

[Grand gris]

If you want to get started with little investment I'd go for a wherry and plastic bucket(about £9). Wherry makes a good Ale but there are plenty of Lagers, Bitters IPAs etc and its worth checking reviews first if you want something different.

I've not got adventurous enough to try all grain yet but there are plenty on here who will advise you in that direction.

Happy Brewing :

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome from another old time brewer, things have moved on a lot but very much for the better.

 

[CaptainMallard]

Hello, welcome back to brewing!

You need :-

• a plastic bucket[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a thermometer (lcd; spirit or digital) [/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a plastic spoon or paddle[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a siphon and racking cane (if you dont have a tap and a bottling wand)[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• steriliser[/*:m:2wr4naxu]

You can keg or bottle your beer. If you bottle, you can use swing top bottles; plastic PET bottles; or beer bottles and a capper (plus bottle caps). If you prime each bottle, you'll need carbonation drops or something to measure out half a teaspoon of sugar, and a funnel.

It's also well worth getting :-

• a hydrometer[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a sample jar[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• something to draw a sample, like a turkey baster. If you have a tap on your bucket then you can use that.[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a measuring jug - you probably already have one of these[/*:m:2wr4naxu]

I also have :-

• a bottle tree[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a bottle rinser[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• some small syringes for measuring out steriliser[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• bottle brushes[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a tray heater[/*:m:2wr4naxu]

I have ordered :-

• a second bucket with tap, which I'll use as a bottling bucket and to mix tap water with camden tablets to remove the chlorine[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• camden tablets[/*:m:2wr4naxu]
• a bottling wand[/*:m:2wr4naxu]

I started with just the first 5 items and added more kit as i went along. I'm only brewing from beer kits right now - some require me to add sugar and some don't.

M

 

[Paul Narramore]

Well I've started so I'll finish. I called in at the local branch of The Range today to find they do a beer introductory kit at about £15. This was a fermenting bin, a beer kit, a syphon tube, a paddle and a stick-on thermometer. I was sorely tempted but visited my local (only) home brew shop. I should point out that in the intervening years, I seem to have dumped all of my old equipment. The old chap who runs the shop, and who I also went to years ago, deserved my money more than the big store although it was much more expensive than The Range, so I now have a fermenting bin, syphon, sterilizing powder and a Cooper's Real Ale kit. At £25 for a pressure barrel, I will look around for a cheaper (2nd hand) alternative. I see that Cooper's get a good write-up on here. Thanks for the welcome.

 

[CaptainMallard]

£15 for all that is really cheap. When I bought the Range's starter kit, it was a bucket; paddle; siphon; thermometer; and sterilising sachet, all for £20. Then I had to buy a beer kit for £15 and sugar for £2.50. And then there were the bottles ...

It _is_ good to support your LHBS.

Good luck with your first brew.

M

 

[Paul Narramore]

Either it was cheap as it's a newly opened store or I mis-read the price labels. The Range is an incredible place with a massive range of products. I recently took up water painting after a long lay off and their artists supplies area is massive. Other kits recommended to me was Muntons and Woodfordes Wherry but I'm interested in seeing how the Cooper's comes out. Our daughter is married to an Australian and both have just returned from a month's stay over Christmas at his parent's Sydney home. She tells me Coopers is really good out there.

I'm sure I have a few beer making books around, surely I didn't dump those, such as 'Brewing Beers like those you can buy' by Dave Line, so I must have a search.

 

[proost]

Hi Paul, and welcome back to home brewing from another newbie (i haven't brewed for about 35yrs and have just started again, oops! showing my age there!)

I bought the coopers kit (£64.50 from Tesco Direct in their sale last year) which seems to get good reviews and at the moment am brewing an original stout. The only other things I have bought was an extra 25L fermenting bin, a plastic pressure barrel and siphon from Wilkinsons in their sale, bin was £6.80, but had no tap and the barrel £16.00 (and I intend to buy some sort of CO2 injector for it) siphon was £2.00.

I could have just stuck with the coopers kit as it has everything you need to start brewing but I want to start another brew while it is clearing in the fermenter.

I have also made a brewing box, made out of 60mm insulation board, with a Toolstation heater in it, £15.00 and a a STC 1000 thermostat from ebay, £15.50 as the boss doesn't like the idea of beer in the kitchen Its all in the garage and so far seems to working fine.

Started the brew on 15/01/14. SG was 1050
20L Water
1 x Coopers Stout
I x Coopers Brew Enhancer 2
450g Black Treacle
Set the heat for 19.5c
Took a gravity reading on sunday and was down to 1022.
Just took another reading and read 1018.

Anyway good luck with your brewing

Cheers

 

[Paul Narramore]

Thanks, I hadn't really thought about a heater, I shall put my fermenting bin in the study against the radiator. When I was in the local homebrew shop yesterday I was looking at heaters. One was just a blooming thin belt to go around the middle of the bin, and the other was a sort of hot plate.

I've just been looking at the Wilkinson's website and their prices are astonishing. Woodfordes Wherry for only £15.20. I shall get my pressure barrel from them.

I see you've jumped in at the deep end with your recipe. I'll be sticking to the beer kits for a while until I treat myself to an old Burco and have a go at 'proper' beer making. I keep hearing of these being given away but the ones on eBay are still fetching a fair price.

 

[Paul Narramore]

Well I bought a pressure barrel from Wilkinson's yesterday (£16) and a test jar but they were out of hydrometers. I shall not bother with a CO2 gas injector as I always had sufficient pressure in the barrel in the dim & distant past. If I find that this is not now the case, I shall have to get one.

I borrowed a really interesting book yesterday from the local library - well Dorling Kindersley are always beautifully presented - called HOME BREW BEER by Greg Hughes (ISBN 978-1-4903-3176-6) and a fascinating read it is. Packed full of easy to understand and recipes for all sorts of worldwide beers, it's worth getting hold of. However I shall stick to beer kits for the time being as they are what I'm familiar with, with perhaps progressing to malt extract brewing a bit later.

I've just come across my old copy of BREWING BEERS LIKE THOSE YOU BUY by Dave Line. £1.25 by Amateur Winemaker.

What's the recommended quantity of priming sugar for my barrel - see, even the best books don't tell you everything ;-)

 

[CaptainMallard]

... Wilkinson's ... were out of hydrometers ...

You can order online and they'll deliver FOC to your local store within a few days. Handy for me 'cos there's no one in during the day - I just pick it up on the way home from work.

Did you check your LHBS? If not, our sponsors definitely sell them (links top and bottom), although you'll need to include postage.

 

[Pearlfisher]

What's the recommended quantity of priming sugar for my barrel - see, even the best books don't tell you everything ;-)

80g -100g sugar dissolved in hot water for a 23L brew .

 

[Paul Narramore]

... Wilkinson's ... were out of hydrometers ...

You can order online and they'll deliver FOC to your local store within a few days. Handy for me 'cos there's no one in during the day - I just pick it up on the way home from work.

Did you check your LHBS? If not, our sponsors definitely sell them (links top and bottom), although you'll need to include postage.

:mrgreen:

Did I check my LHBS? I've got two BMW motorbikes; am I getting warm? ;-)

 

[tim_n]

When emptying the barrel, you'll find a vacuum building up. You can loosen the cap, but the air spoils the beer. Depends if you can drink a barrel in a week :)

I prefer the co2 option...

Beer lasts at least 2 weeks them, but that's generally down to consumption :)

 

[CaptainMallard]

Did I check my LHBS? I've got two BMW motorbikes; am I getting warm? ;-)

LHBS = Local Home Brew Store
Check out the glossary link above.

M

 

[Paul Narramore]

I did check the glossary and it ain't there......anywhere. Yes I have visited our local homebrew shop in Maidstone, a tiny place which has been going non-stop since my earlier days of homebrewing. Always nice to pop in and have a chat with the eccentric owner. In fact I bought a hydrometer from them yesterday and Wednesday I will check the SG and it may be ready the keg it.

I'm going to see just how quickly I can get through an unpressurise barrel - yes it did get a little flat towards the end before - so may go for the gas whatsit route. I used to beer a couple of kegs/casks/barrels for play shool parents get-togethers - my 'kids are now 36 and 32 - and it always went down well.

 

[CaptainMallard]

I did check the glossary and it ain't there......anywhere.

You're absolutely right! My apologies. Which raises the question, how did I know LHBS means Local Home Brew Store? Maybe it doesn't. {cue eerie music}. What did you think it /might/ mean? Left-hand-bike-stand?

 

[Paul Narramore]

I have an aversion to initials anyway, with my least favourite being LOL, followed by 'awesome'. OK, I know it's not initials but.......... BMW = Bavarian Motor Works. :party: