Just got my first kit , a couple of questions.

[JordanB]

Hello all , paid my brew shop a visit today and picked up a kit. Decided on making an Irish Stout for my first brew being a Guinness and strong cask ale lover. The things I got in my kit are as follows :

25 L Fementation bucket.

Hydrometer.

Thermometer.

Air lock.

48 Bottles.

Syphon tube and tap.

and of course my brew.

A question I have is on the instructions of my stout it states to use sugar , I know most of you dont use sugar and recommend beer enhancer as a substitute. I was told by one member to use medium malt extract instead of these but I noticed the stout already contains malt extract so would it be still ok to use ?

 

[StrangeBrew]

medium malt extract will be fine to use replacing some or all the sugar recommended for a 1 tin kit

Beer enhancers are usually just a mix of dried malt extract and brewing sugar (Dextrose).

:

 

[JordanB]

medium malt extract will be fine to use replacing some or all the sugar recommended for a 1 tin kit

:

Brilliant mate cheers just thought it would be best to double check.

 

[RobWalker]

should be fine. many use dark malt extract for stouts. any of the colours are fine for them, but not vice versa - you can't use dark malt extract in a lager.

your stout is almost all malt extract - the basic ingredients of beer are malt (for the alcohol and left over sugar,) hops (for the bitterness,) yeast for fermentation and water. sugar doesn't come into it that much with good beer, it will thin your beer out leaving less body, it's more of a cheap way to make kits.

What sanitizer did you buy?

 

[JordanB]

should be fine. many use dark malt extract for stouts. any of the colours are fine for them, but not vice versa - you can't use dark malt extract in a lager.

your stout is almost all malt extract - the basic ingredients of beer are malt (for the alcohol and left over sugar,) hops (for the bitterness,) yeast for fermentation and water. sugar doesn't come into it that much with good beer, it will thin your beer out leaving less body, it's more of a cheap way to make kits.

What sanitizer did you buy?

Cheers mate :

I got VWP sanitizer.

 

[RobWalker]

Be sure to hot water rinse several times on anything that it touches, it's lethal stuff if it gets in!

 

[JordanB]

Be sure to hot water rinse several times on anything that it touches, it's lethal stuff if it gets in!

Noted Rob cheers

 

[lovelldr]

Be sure to hot water rinse several times on anything that it touches, it's lethal stuff if it gets in!

Why hot water rinse?! I've always used cold water to rinse it with no problems... Everywhere else I've seen says rinse with cold water, and rinsing with hot water is likely to cause more of a chance of infection again i'd have thought, since if your hot water comes from a tank, then that's probably got some baddies inside it. If your hot water is from a combi boiler, then that'll likely be fine to rinse with hot, but not from a tank imo...

 

[RobWalker]

It instructs you to do so on any chlorine based sanitizer for beermaking...you are very lucky, I lost two good brews because of it!

I usually rinse with boiling water on everything but airlocks etc cos they melt. Hot water is pretty much fine, at least I've never heard of anything dodgy going.on!

 

[eggman]

Yeah i lost a brew to poor rinsing
I always rinse in cold water, it actually says to use cold water on the instructions for VWP :whistle:

 

[RobWalker]

Ah, weird, I stand corrected...I'm pulling info from my mind after reading it here - viewtopic.php?f=36&t=23192&hilit=vwp+hot+water

 

[JordanB]

Just wondering should I filter my cold water when adding it to my brew ( starting Friday ) I've heard that using water straight from the tap is a no no , just wanna confirm if that's true ? I imagine it to be as some tap water tastes bloody awful. Also at what stage do I put in my airlock ? Again I'm presuming it is when I'm at the 23L mark and all my water / malt and yeast has been added and mixed in . Sorry for the daft questons lads but if you don't ask you don't learn :thumb:

 

[JordanB]

Also should I use medium malt extract or dark malt extract ? I'm brewing Hambleton Bard better brew Irish Stout.

 

[alanywiseman.]

Treat your water with half a campden tablet iff you can. This will get rid of the chlorine and chloramine which can give your beer a TCP taste. if not you could use bottled water (I am unsure if filtering will get rid of the chlorine maybe someone else will know the answer). dark spraymalt will give a stronger coffee taste i think but either will be fine.

Add your air lock after you have piched your yeast then just leave it completly alone (no peeking :nono: ) for at least a week before taking a SG.

 

[calumscott]

Don't worry about your water, just be sure to use it from your kitchen tap. Depending on your property, it's likely that other taps in your house are fed from the cold storage tank in your loft.

Probably worth chucking in half a camden tablet to get shot of the chlorine/chloramines in there if it is a bit rank (I don't bother and I seem to make perfectly drinkable beer!).

In terms of malt, either would be fine, I think I used medium in a coopers stout I did and it came out really nice.

 

[RobWalker]

Don't worry about your water, just be sure to use it from your kitchen tap. Depending on your property, it's likely that other taps in your house are fed from the cold storage tank in your loft.

Probably worth chucking in half a camden tablet to get shot of the chlorine/chloramines in there if it is a bit rank (I don't bother and I seem to make perfectly drinkable beer!).

In terms of malt, either would be fine, I think I used medium in a coopers stout I did and it came out really nice.

I would always treat with campden. I'm from Birmingham and we have great quality water, but I know down in the south west its almost impossible to brew without water treatment. For such a simple step, its really not worth skipping!

 

[JordanB]

Cheers lads I will grab some campden tablets on thursday to commence brewing on Friday , just took a temp reading from the cupboard I will be brewing in and I'm at 18-19 degrees . I've put a towel over my fermentation bucket with my thermometer under the towel to see if I can salvage a few extra degrees.

Edit : Temp now at 21 Degrees :thumb:

 

[JordanB]

Another day another newb question I need to know the answer too , what are Co2 bulbs used for ? they seem to be fairly common in some starter kits although I did not receive any with mine . I just wanted to know there purpose and if they are essential.

 

[lovelldr]

Another day another newb question I need to know the answer too , what are Co2 bulbs used for ? they seem to be fairly common in some starter kits although I did not receive any with mine . I just wanted to know there purpose and if they are essential.

Some kegs can be pressurised by adding co2 from those bulbs... So, if you have a keg, and can't be bothered to prime with sugar, and have a part of the keg which allows you to use the co2 bulbs, then you can use them to add gas to the beer...

 

[JordanB]

Another day another newb question I need to know the answer too , what are Co2 bulbs used for ? they seem to be fairly common in some starter kits although I did not receive any with mine . I just wanted to know there purpose and if they are essential.

Some kegs can be pressurised by adding co2 from those bulbs... So, if you have a keg, and can't be bothered to prime with sugar, and have a part of the keg which allows you to use the co2 bulbs, then you can use them to add gas to the beer...

Ahhh ok mate spot on cheers ,this doesnt apply to me then as im not using a keg :