My first brew

[Gerryjo]

Excellent stuff and good to see you both enjoyed it.It is nice to have someone even just to banter with.

 

[damienair]

Better start making your next batch, sounds like that one is gonna go fast nice foam and looks very good!

Thanks. Yes the carbonation was spot on and there was a lovely head once poured. It was really good. My neighbor brought a few cans of Heineken with him just in case the Homebrew was poor. But once he tasted the beer he loved it. I have a second brew bottled and half way through its second fermentation. It is a Coopers Hefe Wheat Kit. I am genuinely shocked at how good this one turned out. I'll definitely do it again.

 

[damienair]

Excellent stuff and good to see you both enjoyed it.It is nice to have someone even just to banter with.

Thanks for your advice when I was concerned about the FG reading. I am delighted that it turned out so good. It was a kit which came with my starter brew kit. So I was not expecting it to be too good. How wrong was I. It is fantastic. And it was great sharing the first tasting with my next door neighbor. He is great fun and all through this COVID-19 madness we have set up little outdoor beer evenings. The little set up in my garage worked a treat. We had great fun and talked absolute nonsense as always.

 

[damienair]

I've found "Simply"kits to be excellent products.

Yes it was really good. Far beyond my expectations. I was proud as punch drinking it. I'd definitely do it again. I have plenty more to enjoy.

 

[Gerryjo]

Thanks for your advice when I was concerned about the FG reading. I am delighted that it turned out so good. It was a kit which came with my starter brew kit. So I was not expecting it to be too good. How wrong was I. It is fantastic. And it was great sharing the first tasting with my next door neighbor. He is great fun and all through this COVID-19 madness we have set up little outdoor beer evenings. The little set up in my garage worked a treat. We had great fun and talked absolute nonsense as always.

You're welcome and that's what we are all here for as we've all needed help before and still do now.
You'll find that patience is your best friend when brewing and don't worry if it goes South at times as you'll always be learning.

 

[chillipickle]

Glad you had a good brew, now you will be hooked, plenty of great folks here with plenty of experience to help when needed
ps the neighbour needs banning bringing heineken to the evening lol

 

[damienair]

Glad you had a good brew, now you will be hooked, plenty of great folks here with plenty of experience to help when needed
ps the neighbour needs banning bringing heineken to the evening lol

I think the Heineken was insurance just in case the home brew was bad. It was far nicer than Heineken. He was very surprised and left the Heineken alone. I'm well and truly hooked now. I'm going to leave it alone for a few weeks and let it condition for another month. My Coopers Hefe Wheat Kit will be ready then. I'm looking forward to doing a side by side comparison.

 

[RustyV8]

That’s a.Great looking head on that! Did you use sugar or carbonation drops in the bottles? (I ask as I want overly impressed with the level of carbonation in my first brew using drops but it was an ale so maybe as expected)

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Ha Ha. I think I'd be the same. I'd love to do another one now but I am fresh out of bottles. So I'll just have to wait for my 2 batches to be drink ready, drink them and then start again. I am going to do a 30 bottle wine kit whilst I'm waiting. I'll continue collecting bottles so as I have a steady supply for a 3rd batch in the future. I'll try a few craft beers and collect the 500ml bottles in the meantime.

Don't know your set up but if you have enough Fermenting vessels it wouldn't do any harm to get another brew going and leave it conditioning

Conditioning can really improve flavour - as long as your fv is well sealed it certainly won't come to any harm

I leave fermented brews conditioning in the fv for weeks, it helps the flavour develop and also helps it clear

 

[damienair]

That’s a.Great looking head on that! Did you use sugar or carbonation drops in the bottles? (I ask as I want overly impressed with the level of carbonation in my first brew using drops but it was an ale so maybe as expected)

Hi and thank you. I used 2 x Coopers carbonation drops per 500ml bottle. The carbonation was spot on.

 

[damienair]

Don't know your set up but if you have enough Fermenting vessels it wouldn't do any harm to get another brew going and leave it conditioning

Conditioning can really improve flavour - as long as your fv is well sealed it certainly won't come to any harm

I leave fermented brews conditioning in the fv for weeks, it helps the flavour develop and also helps it clear

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. I am collecting bottles for a Third Brew at the moment. I only started just over 6 weeks ago. My second brew is half way through its second fermentation. It will be moving to the garage next week. I’ll be drinking that one in a month. My plan is to have a batch going on every 4-6 weeks.
I have 2 FV’s, I didn’t know that you could leave a brew in an FV for a few weeks. That’s good to know. I might get one going again in a couple of weeks. I have a Pinot Grigio Wine Kit in an FV at the moment which I’ll be bottling next weekend. I only normally have a few beers at the weekend. So 3 brews on the go at different times will be more than enough.

 

[RustyV8]

Hi and thank you. I used 2 x Coopers carbonation drops per 500ml bottle. The carbonation was spot on.

Interesting. 500ml guidance is 1.5 tabs and 2 tabs for a 750ml bottle (which mine were) So maybe this is why your head looks so good as you used a bit more....

 

[BrewMeHappy]

Good stuff. I'm glad you are enjoying your new hobby. Enjoy

 

[damienair]

Interesting. 500ml guidance is 1.5 tabs and 2 tabs for a 750ml bottle (which mine were) So maybe this is why your head looks so good as you used a bit more....

Yeah 2 carbonation drops worked out well in a 500ml bottle. It did not taste or feel over carbonated, it was spot on. For my second beer I batch primed it and hopefully that will work out OK too.

 

[Laszlo]

Nice one! I'm on my first brew too, now I'm just browsing the forum waiting haha! 1.002 is really low, did you keep it at a constant 22C? I kept mine at <18C (not as if it would've mattered though, my boiler & central heating died last week) and I'm stuck at 1.010 but it smells great too, but not as potent as I wouldve expected.

anyway, I'm looking forward!

well mine ended at 1.002 too as well :O, got another batch of Wilko IPA going as we speak with some ekuanot hop tea, honey and demerara, smells insanely good. Did you bottle condition? I'm going to leave mine for 2 weeks before I try it. Only issue is I'll need more bottles for my IPA soo

 

[damienair]

well mine ended at 1.002 too as well :O, got another batch of Wilko IPA going as we speak with some ekuanot hop tea, honey and demerara, smells insanely good. Did you bottle condition? I'm going to leave mine for 2 weeks before I try it. Only issue is I'll need more bottles for my IPA soo

I bottled it and left the bottles back up into the hot press at 20 degrees for 2 weeks. On new years day I moved it down to the garage to condition for a further 2 weeks. It was during a really cold snap which I'm sure helped. So it did 2 + 2 + 2. I have 24 x 500ml bottles of this first batch left which I am going to leave for a further 4 weeks. I'll have my Coopers Hefe Wheat ready then too and would like to do a side by side tasting. Thinking of doing the Muntons Hand Craft Range Midas Touch next and perhaps a Mangrove Jacks Grapefruit IPA as well. My plan is to have 3 kits on the go. I'm building up a supply of bottles for my 3rd batch, by picking up some nice craft beers in 500ml bottles at the weekends. The Belgian White was really great.

 

[Laszlo]

I bottled it and left the bottles back up into the hot press at 20 degrees for 2 weeks. On new years day I moved it down to the garage to condition for a further 2 weeks. It was during a really cold snap which I'm sure helped. So it did 2 + 2 + 2. I have 24 x 500ml bottles of this first batch left which I am going to leave for a further 4 weeks. I'll have my Coopers Hefe Wheat ready then too and would like to do a side by side tasting. Thinking of doing the Muntons Hand Craft Range Midas Touch next and perhaps a Mangrove Jacks Grapefruit IPA as well. My plan is to have 3 kits on the go. I'm building up a supply of bottles for my 3rd batch, by picking up some nice craft beers in 500ml bottles at the weekends. The Belgian White was really great.

I recently got my dads old FV's out, turns out I have 5 25L's, 2 25L buckets and 5 demijons, but miss either the lids or the o-rings . When I'm up to speed I'm planning on having 3-4 on the go too. I've been looking at those Mangrove Jacks kits too, might get a few next time I do an order; want to be making a good Belgian and Czech Pilsner. Ngl I've just been getting Bavaria Lagers from Tesco for £1 a bottle. Somewhat drinkable but can't complain for the price.

 

[Tezz]

Great review - might have to try this one out.

Currently about to bottle the Geordie Lager kit, had a few issues with the smell and taste when testing the gravity but left it a couple of days longer and it seems to be clearing.