New Brewer with Fermenter Questions

[HoneyBunnyPB]

My husband and I are going to start brewing beer and have been reading How to Brew in preparation. A friend in the US has recommended using glass carboys or better bottles as opposed to the plastic food grade buckets. He says he has had a 'plasticky' taste with the buckets. Thoughts? I tend to agree with him and was going to get one 6-gallon glass carboy to start and (if all goes well with the first pale ale batch) a second 5-gallon carboy later so I can have a secondary fermentation with later batches. I have been searching and can't find any beginners kits with come with glass carboys or better bottles and I was hoping to start with a kit as opposed to purchasing everything a la carte. Does anybody have any suggestions? Much appreciated!

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I have always used plastic fermenters and never noticed any plastic taste leach from them.

I don't think many people in the UK use glass carboys. The problem with them is the weight of them, especially when full, and the fact they are made of glass so have a tendency to break should you drop it.

Plastic is not ideal as if it gets scratched on the inside then the scratches can be a great place for an infection to hide itself, however, at only 10 quid per bucket you can always replace it cheaply.

I also prefer the fact I can put taps in plastic buckets which means you don't need to mess about with syphoning.

I also leave the beer in the primary fermentation vessel until I am ready to either keg or bottle. I never move to a secondary fermentation vessel.

 

[HoneyBunnyPB]

Ok thank you for the info - I hadn't read anywhere about an off taste from the plastic but as he's the only friend I knew who has done this I was taking his word for it!

With all of that in mind, are there any specific kits you would recommend?

 

[mattybabsy]

Hi there. I've recently entered the brewing world with 5 other friends. We all put in £35 each and with that I bought 2 Coopers beginners kits for roughly £70 each. with the other £70 I bought a bench capper and caps to cap glass bottles, along with an extra beer kit, extra fv, extra plastic bottles (to get us started) and a few other bits and bobs.

They've done the trick- esp if you get the new coopers kit which has a few nice upgrades

 

[Runwell-Steve]

What kit is a bit dependant on what you plan to brew.

Are you planning to brew bitters and stouts, in which case a kit that comes with a pressure barrel would be OK, or are you planning on brewing lager, in which case you will be wanting to bottle it.

Bottles can be readily obtained from your local pub, ask them to save their empty Magners / Bulmers bottles for you.

Have a look at this page for some ideas

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... _Kits.html

The coopers kits are meant to be very good and very reliable, and Woodfordes Wherry is also a recommended first brew, although some people have reported problems of the fermentation not finishing properly, and it does apparantly take ages to clear..

I personally have no experience of any kits so can't offer any personal opinions, just those I've seen from other people on the forums.

 

[HoneyBunnyPB]

Sorry I should have clarified I meant brand of equipment... I suppose there probably isn't much difference but I just thought I should double check. We are going to order equipment only and buy ingredients for mainly ales separately.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I think brand of equipment wise it's all much the same.

The youngs stuff is as good as any, which is lucky as thats what you find in most shops.

I don't think it really makes much difference, a bucket is a bucket, a hydrometer is a hydrometer etc..

If you are going to be brewing from kits, then I wouldn't worry too much, any brand of equipment will do the job.

If you are planning on doing extract, or All Grain then you have bigger decisions to make about what type of boiler you might want, thats a whole new topic in it's own right though.

 

[Peapodmaster]

I use the "plastic grade food buckets" and i believe that the taste is the same as a carboy/demijohn. i dont think there would be any difference unless the Bucket has plastic flakes in it. :)

 

[BigYin]

Sorry I should have clarified I meant brand of equipment... I suppose there probably isn't much difference but I just thought I should double check. We are going to order equipment only and buy ingredients for mainly ales separately.

Hi HB,

I got pretty much all my fermenters from http://www.biggerjugs.co.uk - great service, even if I confess to finding the name rather funny :lol: :whistle:

They do starter kits (like everyone else does!) as well as supplying all the sizes of fermenters you are ever likely to need.

 

[HoneyBunnyPB]

Thank you all! Getting very excited to start now. We're moving soon so just waiting to find out our moving date to know if we can brew a batch before we go or not.

 

[eblis]

I only got all my kit last week, did my brewing on saturday and everyday when I wake up I got straight to my brew and look at it. It's only been 3 days fermenting and I can't wait to bottle and try it. I feel like a kid with a new toy and my misses is saying i am paying more attention to the brew than her.

Alot of people told me the hardest thing about brewing beer was cleaning all the equipment, but if you were to ask me I'd say it's the waiting!!!!!!

Hurry up and move house to you can get started :

 

[The Drunken Dogg]

Hi Steve I notice you said that the Woodfordes Wherry takes an age to clear. I've just done my first brew using WW would you suggest using Finings to clear it in the keg?

Cheers

 

[Peapodmaster]

Eblis that is so true! i did that straight away on my first batch too, then the wait when they were bottled was terrible! but i had to let it mature!. its well worth the wait i'll tell you that for free! haha :)

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Hi Steve I notice you said that the Woodfordes Wherry takes an age to clear. I've just done my first brew using WW would you suggest using Finings to clear it in the keg?

Cheers

To be honest I would probably just drink it cloudy if it's not clear. Cloudy beer doesn't bother me personally.

I've never actually used finings so couldn't really advise on it, I've also never brewed the Wherry Kit, I was just mentioning it as I have seen many people on the forum say it takes an age to clear.

 

[The Drunken Dogg]

Cheers mate, Cloudy beer wouldn't worry me. When you see pics of the yeast dropping out with finings and having that residue in the glass or keg that would be alot more of putting to me.

 

[HoneyBunnyPB]

Equipment ordered... now just need to buy the ingredients. Hope to get started within a week and a half!!

 

[AndyRVTR]

Greetings... welcome to the BEST forum on thw www : :

 

[Peapodmaster]

i just tried my first batch of Cider today - young's brewbuddy kit. its fizzy, its strong, but something tastes. off with it.. like its not normal cider?..? anyone know why? should i leave it for longer ? or what ? :)

 

[BigYin]

Not a cider drinker myself, but try asking in the wine and cider forum and see what the cider brewers say :thumb:

Have to say I've noticed a few forum posts of late complaining about off tastes and I wonder if the recent hot weather has had resulted in a few too-hot ferments causing some off tastes??? :hmm:

 

[HoneyBunnyPB]

Any recommendations on where to buy hops? I am in the South London/Kent area and was hoping to buy locally but I haven't come up with anywhere... I could order online... ??