Need advice for first brew

[Benji]

Hi,

I want to crack on with my first brew but wanted to double check a couple of things before I go ahead and order everything. I also have a load of questions, please bear with me!

I've been browsing the forum for a few days to get some sort of bearing and this is what I think I should buy:

• Youngs American IPA Craft Beer Kit

• 
  [*]GEB Complete Starter Kit-For Brewing Beer,Cider & Wine
  [*]Bottle filling stick for bottling tap
  [*]2 Lever Black Capper (26mm Caps)
  [*]Gold Caps 100's
  [*]Bottle Brush for beer bottles (Brouwland)
  [*]Fast Rack 24 combo
• 50 x 500ml brown glass bottles (found on ebay for cheap)

I'm aware I need either priming sugar or carbonation drops, which is better? When buying kits from Geterbrewed, there's an option to add one of the aforementioned onto the order, is that worth doing or should I find it elsewhere? I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) the hops in these kits come in pellet form. I've read a number of times that people had issues with the hops blocking the tap when trying to bottle. Is it worth using a muslin bag for the hops? If so, do I just follow the instructions but with the addition of the bag?

From starting the brew to enjoying a nice cold one, am I missing any pieces of equipment?

This is more of a general question, I apologise if this is the wrong place to ask this. I'm aware hops flavours fade over time and that dry hopping helps prolong this. However, I was drinking an IPA today that said it had dry hopping and minimal filtering to ensure the flavours lasted, the best before date was mid 2018. How can it last that long or is that just a best before on the beer in general and not its full flavour profile?

Lastly, are there any tips anyone has?

I'm aware that's a lot of questions, but I'd really appreciate any and all help offered.

Many thanks!

 

[Poochops]

Hi Benji my tuppenceworth, good that they do 33l fermenters, you chose well there, 25l are ok but 33 are MUCH better IMHO.
If it was me I'd keep the FV's undrilled for taps and buy a further cheapie 25l bucket from Wilkos and fit a tap to that instead of meddling with the 33l FV's. This will be your bottling bucket. You might need to phone them and tell them not to supply drilled FV's if you choose to do this. The Wilkos bucket is this one http://www.geterbrewed.com/youngs-25-litre-fermenation-bin/ you could get it from GEB as well obviously.
You don't need a bottling wand if you buy the kit and use the bottling stick provided, that one that comes with the kit appears to be fit the taps that they supply with the kit
Instead of the drainer I'd buy this http://www.geterbrewed.com/cleaning-bundle-pack-for-bottling/ it's great and minimises wasting your no rinse steriliser and the bottle tree is ace too
Get a trial jar. http://www.geterbrewed.com/plastic-trial-jar-100ml-with-graduations/
If your budget stretches to it get http://www.geterbrewed.com/table-top-capper/ or http://www.geterbrewed.com/brewferm-cappin-table-top-crown-capper-26mm/ You'll be glad you did after a few brews.
Bottles are dear, the coopers plastic ones are cheap for four dozen for your session ales if you're stuck. Ask at the pub, ask your mates, raid the local bottle bank for glass, once the labels are off your ocd will forgive you, even if they don't all match.
I was in your position three months ago but with two fermenters, a bottling bucket, and a shed load of bottles, I've brewed all sorts and I'm enjoying the process and the rewards!

 

[wfr42]

Hi,

• Youngs American IPA Craft Beer Kit

• 
  Great choice of kit - was my first too and I did it a 2nd time...
  
  [*]GEB Complete Starter Kit-For Brewing Beer,Cider & Wine
  [*]Bottle filling stick for bottling tap
  [*]2 Lever Black Capper (26mm Caps)
  [*]Gold Caps 100's
  [*]Bottle Brush for beer bottles (Brouwland)
  [*]Fast Rack 24 combo
• 50 x 500ml brown glass bottles (found on ebay for cheap)

double check but I think your starter kit comes with a bottling stick already

I'm aware I need either priming sugar or carbonation drops, which is better?

Personal preference, unless it has changed this kit comes with a bag of priming sugar and standard kitchen sugar is fine for priming
I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) the hops in these kits come in pellet form. I've read a number of times that people had issues with the hops blocking the tap when trying to bottle. Is it worth using a muslin bag for the hops? If so, do I just follow the instructions but with the addition of the bag?
I had no issues either of the times I did that kit (had some cloudy bottles and the end of the first barrel was sludgy) and still dry hop with loose pellets.
A bag won't hurt, have a read and decide whether you want to weight it down or not if you want to use one.

From starting the brew to enjoying a nice cold one, am I missing any pieces of equipment?

Have you got somewhere at a steady temperature? My first batch got a bit too hot but didn't suffer for it

How can it last that long or is that just a best before on the beer in general and not its full flavour profile?
commercial magic...and probaby best before for the beer in general

Lastly, are there any tips anyone has?
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51684
I'm aware that's a lot of questions, but I'd really appreciate any and all help offered.

enjoy your brew.
Generally 2 week fermentation, 2 weeks in bottles at fermentation temperature and 2 weeks somewhere cooler./QUOTE]

 

[Fil]

you will want a hydrometer and trial jar Wilcos or you local independent home brew shop will stock em, taking gravity readings is the only way to check fermentation progress and termination with any accuracy.

a siphon tube to transfer the beer off its sediment will also be useful.

grab a turkey baster to draw off samples (easy to clean and sanitise) and drink the samples Dont return to the bulk.

by all means check on the brew - crack the lid and peer in from the side, Dont pull the top and stand over it looking down scracthing your head or thumbing your chin..

2 most important brewing skill imho are Firstly an almost ocd approach to cleanliness and sanitation and if a chlorine or bleach based sanitiser is used 3 x rinses..

And Secondly way more tricky to acquire PATIENCE!! beer wants to be brewed but can sometimes take longer, and when its in the bottle and conditioned , it may benefit from a few weeks or months maturing. Noticeable and perhaps applicable here exceptions being beers packed with aroma hops as they can loose intensity with time and as such are expected to be supped green

have fun..

 

[Leon103]

Don't post the code in threads please.

I use household sugar for priming, much cheaper.

You can get bottles free from local pubs.

 

[IainM]

There is some good advice here.
I echo wfr42's advice about asking checking the bottling stick. If it is one that has the valve on the bottom, then you won't need to buy another, and the kit does come with priming sugar and even if it didn't table sugar is fine. Nevertheless, the starter kit already comes with a siphon tube, hydrometer and trial jar, so you won't need to buy them.

The drainer and rinser that poochops suggests is better than the fastrack, in terms of space and conservation of no-rinse sanitiser (which is great stuff, must more convenient that the stuff you have to rinse, so consider getting some StarSan too, as it is reusable so basically lasts forever). I sanitise bottles a bit differently, using a tip I picked up on here - I rinse them out thoroughly after drinking the contents, and make sure there is nothing stuck in them, then before bottling I sanitise them in the oven by putting them in, setting it to 150C, waiting for the light to turn off, leaving them in for 45 mins or so, then let them cool. This is so much easier than faffing about with sanitiser and a bottle brush.

Finally, with this kit I did have a problem with hop debris getting into my bottles and clogging up the bottling wand. It was a nightmare to be honest, and turned the worst bottles into gushers. I then thought that putting the pellets into a muslin would be best, but then they don't really have enough space to infuse their lovely aroma into the beer. That said, the source of my problem was that I only had one fv at the time, so I bottle primed and siphoned into the bottled directly without racking. As you have two, you can rack onto the priming sugar, and any hop debris that does come through should settle below the tap line when you bottle.

 

[Benji]

Wow, what a great response! I shall make a few adjustments, as per the suggestions here, and get my stuff ordered today. Thank you everyone for the advice, I really do appreciate it.

 

[DoctorMick]

Get a bench capper over a 2 lever capper, they're definitely worth the extra. Some people get by fine with the 2 level ones but I'd say the majority upgrade so you might as well get the bench capper from the start.

I have a bottle brush which I never use, warm water after emptying the bottles is perfectly fine. If you don't already have a supply of bottles and want to save a bit of space take a look at an Easy/Mini keg, they're a great time saver. There is a massive thread on the equipment forum which has all the details you'll ever need.

When you get your first kit on the go be sure to ignore the fermentation time on the box, give it 2 weeks in the FV as a minimum, 2 weeks to carbonate somewhere warm and at least 2 weeks to condition after that.

 

[MarkMayf]

I got fed up of fighting with bottle brushes, water spraying everywhere and bristles dropping off. Now warm water rinse and shake x3 when empty.

 

[Personal91]

Hi Benji my tuppenceworth, good that they do 33l fermenters, you chose well there, 25l are ok but 33 are MUCH better IMHO.
If it was me I'd keep the FV's undrilled for taps and buy a further cheapie 25l bucket from Wilkos and fit a tap to that instead of meddling with the 33l FV's. This will be your bottling bucket. You might need to phone them and tell them not to supply drilled FV's if you choose to do this. The Wilkos bucket is this one http://www.geterbrewed.com/youngs-25-litre-fermenation-bin/ you could get it from GEB as well obviously.
You don't need a bottling wand if you buy the kit and use the bottling stick provided, that one that comes with the kit appears to be fit the taps that they supply with the kit
Instead of the drainer I'd buy this http://www.geterbrewed.com/cleaning-bundle-pack-for-bottling/ it's great and minimises wasting your no rinse steriliser and the bottle tree is ace too
Get a trial jar. http://www.geterbrewed.com/plastic-trial-jar-100ml-with-graduations/
If your budget stretches to it get http://www.geterbrewed.com/table-top-capper/ or http://www.geterbrewed.com/brewferm-cappin-table-top-crown-capper-26mm/ You'll be glad you did after a few brews.
Bottles are dear, the coopers plastic ones are cheap for four dozen for your session ales if you're stuck. Ask at the pub, ask your mates, raid the local bottle bank for glass, once the labels are off your ocd will forgive you, even if they don't all match.
I was in your position three months ago but with two fermenters, a bottling bucket, and a shed load of bottles, I've brewed all sorts and I'm enjoying the process and the rewards!

i couldnt agree more, getting a bench capper aswell will save you a world of pain.

i would in addition just get regular granulated sugar for your first brew to add/prime and then in future brews get brewing sugar. the reason for this being so you have a bench mark and can see what diffrence it makes to your brew :)

 

[Benji]

i couldnt agree more, getting a bench capper aswell will save you a world of pain.

i would in addition just get regular granulated sugar for your first brew to add/prime and then in future brews get brewing sugar. the reason for this being so you have a bench mark and can see what diffrence it makes to your brew :)

I changed to a bench capper based on the advice here, it's all already ordered. I'm looking forward to getting started.

Am I right in thinking there's two different ways of priming beer, in the bucket or by adding a small amount of sugar to each bottle? If so, which way do the kits usually advocate?

 

[wfr42]

Depends on your equipment.

Iirc you have two buckets so you can batch prime.

I normally dissolve the sugar in 150-200ml and then add the fermented beer on top to mix it

 

[dad_of_jon]

for new bottles with your 1st beer in them, fill with water after pouring them to stop them drying out and yeast / sediment sticking to them. then put the bottles in the dishwasher, then rinse and oven them. no bottle brush required.

the dishwasher cleans them and the oven kills anything left. then I put foil over the bottle when cooled an store down the shed.

As mentioned earlier in the thread a bottling bucket gives you more flexibility over your desires carbonation level than using carbonation drops and gives a more consistant result than priming each bottle with sugar with a funnel.

 

[Personal91]

I changed to a bench capper based on the advice here, it's all already ordered. I'm looking forward to getting started.

Am I right in thinking there's two different ways of priming beer, in the bucket or by adding a small amount of sugar to each bottle? If so, which way do the kits usually advocate?

batch priming would be the best way of doing it but as i have been a kegging guy until my last batch i can only tell you first hand about adding sugar to each bottle - which will most likely give you inconsistant results

 

[Benji]

Thank you all for the advice, batch priming it is. All my equipment arrives today, it's exciting! However, I'm waiting on a digital thermometer to arrive that I ordered. I'm fairly confident our spare room is perfect for brewing beer, but I want to monitor the temps over a 24 hour period just to be sure.

 

[JapanBrew]

Benji, if you've got the bug this hard already and haven't even got a few F-ed up brews under your belt, not joking, you're going to brew some cool beer.
Sorry but try out the plastic Fermenters but you'll need to settle on glass if you're going this hard this fast. Plastic will eventually build up micro scratches that collect bacteria. Glass will be strong for a very long time.

 

[Benji]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. I'm quite a perfectionist when it comes to hobbies/projects, so this is right up my street. Plus I like beer, so it has that going for it too! I'm aware that plastic isn't the greatest for something so sensitive to bacteria. Although, by the time I want to start experimenting with my own recipes, I will no doubt be able to justify an upgrade.

 

[DoctorMick]

Benji, if you've got the bug this hard already and haven't even got a few F-ed up brews under your belt, not joking, you're going to brew some cool beer.
Sorry but try out the plastic Fermenters but you'll need to settle on glass if you're going this hard this fast. Plastic will eventually build up micro scratches that collect bacteria. Glass will be strong for a very long time.

Or shiny, shiny metal! I've been brewing for a couple of years and I still use plastic FVs, my next one will be metal tho.