I’m a beginner and creating a beer cellar

[Seghes]

Hi, my name is Simon and I’ve become bored stupid during lockdown. My son’s first try with a beer kit inspired me, and got me thinking.
I have a cellar under the house which I plan to use for brewing - it has water and electricity so can be adapted. I have ordered a Brewzilla/Robobrew, plus a budget urn for sparging. Couple of key questions before the kit arrives:
1 the cellar stays at C18/19 degrees all year round - ok for fermenting with no temp adjustment?
2 don’t know whether to stick with my sons budget plastic fermenting bucket or invest £100+ on a better product. Got my eye on the Fermzilla - is it worth spending the extra?
3 best online supplier of ingredients? Thinking about first clone brew of London Pride, Proper Job or Doom bar.
Thanks

 

[NPi]

Welcome @Seghes, sounds like a plan. Only might suggest you would want some ventilation, kits don't cause much, but brewing does (up to 3l an hour for me!). If you've gone electric you can brew outside, many here do.

Regarding fermenter, I'd stick to plastic for the time being, I'm my mind there is no added benefits, but others may say different. Fermenting under pressure and in a closed atmosphere certainly does have its benefits, but to really maximise these you need to have lots of other parts (kegs etc).

Best of luck
Nick

 

[Sinktipper]

Point 1: That's a bit low for many ales, but you can always get a heat belt to raise the temperature of a fermenter if you need to. I struggle to get ambient temp down to below 24 degrees.

If you decided to do beers that ferment at lower temperatures you'll be able to source a used fridge for very low cost (or free) - always someone on local Facebook groups trying to get rid of one.

 

[Gerryjo]

That's fine for Ales but too high for lager. I ferment at 18/19° all the time.
As mentioned an extraction system for steam is a good idea and plastic FVs are good. Sounds like you're on to a winner.
Welcome to the forum by the way

 

[An Ankoù]

1 the cellar stays at C18/19 degrees all year round - ok for

That's perfect for doing the ales you mention. Remember the fermentation itself will raise the FV temperature by a couple of degrees. You could do with a fridge for cold crashing and it's a bit warm for conditioning.

 

[Clint]

Unless it's Kveik or dabbling in lager my brew fridge is set at 19c.
Out of interest which ales don't like 18/19c?

 

[foxy]

Hi, my name is Simon and I’ve become bored stupid during lockdown. My son’s first try with a beer kit inspired me, and got me thinking.
I have a cellar under the house which I plan to use for brewing - it has water and electricity so can be adapted. I have ordered a Brewzilla/Robobrew, plus a budget urn for sparging. Couple of key questions before the kit arrives:
1 the cellar stays at C18/19 degrees all year round - ok for fermenting with no temp adjustment?
2 don’t know whether to stick with my sons budget plastic fermenting bucket or invest £100+ on a better product. Got my eye on the Fermzilla - is it worth spending the extra?
3 best online supplier of ingredients? Thinking about first clone brew of London Pride, Proper Job or Doom bar.
Thanks

Greetings Seghes, looks like you are into the English ales, as suggested stick with a fermenting bucket, closed vessel pressure fermenting of English ales, don't even think about it. Pseudo lagers and hoppy American ales are in the scope of pressure fermenting.

 

[Sinktipper]

Unless it's Kveik or dabbling in lager my brew fridge is set at 19c.
Out of interest which ales don't like 18/19c?

My understanding was that slightly higher temps were better for the yeast to kick off? I've never got temperatures that low to try it . I'm here to learn.

 

[ChilledGecko]

I've returned to brewing in the last year and after a lot of looking around the first purchase was a plastic fermentation vessel, fermzilla in my case, plus pressure kit.
Best purchase I've made so far.
As others have mentioned, pressure fermentation is the future

I 'm still using kits so I make up the kit in a standard brew bucket per instructions, add enough cold water to cool the mix and tip into the pressure vessel.
Note - do not pour boiling water into the fermentation vessel, they go bendy
Top up to required amount, add yeast, screw on lid and away she goes.
I keep the pressure at between 10 - 20 psi and when finished I use the pressure to transfer out to the keg.
No oxygen contact, no risk of nasties getting in the finished beer.

Suits you sir!

Have fun!

 

[valdid_shaw]

I’ve contemplated going stainless steel loads of times but always stick with plastic cos I think it works just fine... even if it doesn’t look as snazzy.

Not sure where you are with kit but before considering upgrading your fermenters, there are other things to prioritise that will make a bigger difference (Eg. wort chiller, maybe cornies, gas and a fridge depending on how you plan to serve).

 

[Seghes]

might suggest you would want some ventilation

Regarding fermenter, I'd stick to plastic for the time being, I'm my mind there is no added benefits, but others may say different. Fermenting under pressure and in a closed atmosphere certainly does have its benefits, but to really maximise these you need to have lots of other parts (kegs etc).

Luckily I have an outside door I can leave open. Plastic it is I think. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Seghes]

Luckily I have an outside door I can leave open. Plastic it is I think. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Seghes]

I've returned to brewing in the last year and after a lot of looking around the first purchase was a plastic fermentation vessel, fermzilla in my case, plus pressure kit.
Best purchase I've made so far.
As others have mentioned, pressure fermentation is the future

I 'm still using kits so I make up the kit in a standard brew bucket per instructions, add enough cold water to cool the mix and tip into the pressure vessel.
Note - do not pour boiling water into the fermentation vessel, they go bendy
Top up to required amount, add yeast, screw on lid and away she goes.
I keep the pressure at between 10 - 20 psi and when finished I use the pressure to transfer out to the keg.
No oxygen contact, no risk of nasties getting in the finished beer.

Suits you sir!

Have fun!

Great tips thanks! Love the bendy bit

 

[Seghes]

I’ve contemplated going stainless steel loads of times but always stick with plastic cos I think it works just fine... even if it doesn’t look as snazzy.

Not sure where you are with kit but before considering upgrading your fermenters, there are other things to prioritise that will make a bigger difference (Eg. wort chiller, maybe cornies, gas and a fridge depending on how you plan to serve).

I’ve got 5 pressure kegs (wonderful Gumtree) which means I have 4 spare! Back to Gumtree to hunt for fridge. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Seghes]

That's fine for Ales but too high for lager. I ferment at 18/19° all the time.
As mentioned an extraction system for steam is a good idea and plastic FVs are good. Sounds like you're on to a winner.
Welcome to the forum by the way

Not sure what lager is.
Reckon I’m heading for the Fermzilla. Good to know 18/19 works for you. That’s encouraging for me.

 

[Seghes]

I’ve contemplated going stainless steel loads of times but always stick with plastic cos I think it works just fine... even if it doesn’t look as snazzy.

Not sure where you are with kit but before considering upgrading your fermenters, there are other things to prioritise that will make a bigger difference (Eg. wort chiller, maybe cornies, gas and a fridge depending on how you plan to serve).

I have an underground space under a ground floor room; constant temp of 14 degrees. Possibly not quite cold enough?

 

[Seghes]

Point 1: That's a bit low for many ales, but you can always get a heat belt to raise the temperature of a fermenter if you need to. I struggle to get ambient temp down to below 24 degrees.

If you decided to do beers that ferment at lower temperatures you'll be able to source a used fridge for very low cost (or free) - always someone on local Facebook groups trying to get rid of one.

Thanks for your thoughts. Does your heat belt maintain a constant temp - or do you regulate manually?

 

[Seghes]

Greetings Seghes, looks like you are into the English ales, as suggested stick with a fermenting bucket, closed vessel pressure fermenting of English ales, don't even think about it. Pseudo lagers and hoppy American ales are in the scope of pressure fermenting.

Thank you foxy. So that could be the Fermzilla, but without the pressure kit in your view?

 

[Sinktipper]

Thanks for your thoughts. Does your heat belt maintain a constant temp - or do you regulate manually?

I'm afraid I can't help with the belt, haven't got one. I ferment under our stairs, which is at 24 degrees year-round, but they do seem to work very well going by what many others have said. Other options are heat pads and immersion heaters. The main thing is to avoid extreme fluctuating temperatures.

Apologies for the misinformation about cool ale temperatures - don't know where I picked that up!

 

[foxy]

Thank you foxy. So that could be the Fermzilla, but without the pressure kit in your view?

I would be more than happy to recommend the FermZilla without the pressure kit. Though would have to withdraw the recommendation with the pressure kit.