Hi all, Iââ¬â¢m new to brewing and live near Portsmouth, UK. Forgive the long post, this is my story.
This forum has helped a newbie so much, it is a great resource.
I donââ¬â¢t have much space at the moment for anything more than a few buckets as even though my wife bought me a starter kit for my recent birthday I am conscious that she wouldnââ¬â¢t want this new hobby to envelop the place.
My first kit Iââ¬â¢ve just bottled was Wilkos Golden Ale, which after a pint or so of tasters last night after bottling I was very delighted with the outcome, I do like the Real Ales and IPAs but find sometimes the Ales from pubs can be abit hit or miss for my tastes. I would be very happy if I ordered and paid for a pint, this was even before conditioning.
I must say though I found the bottling process abit tricky, siphoning to another bucket for batch priming was fine and quite therapeutic watching it but then into bottles was where I came to problems, it took a good 90mins+ to bottle 13 swing tops and 2 Tap a drafts.
I ended up causing a bit of a mess on the floor and having to restart the siphon a few times, which I was concerned about with any contamination that it causes. I almost had a cry, as I had done so much research into things before hand, it wasnââ¬â¢t going as I wanted or expected and wanted it to just go right.
My wife came back in from work, giving me a hand with the last few bottles, she saw I was in a state with some puddles of beer around me. ââ¬ÅThereââ¬â¢s no use to crying over spilled beerââ¬Â is what she said.
Some of the bottles arenââ¬â¢t as full as others, I have a Tap a Draft bottle in the fridge Iââ¬â¢ll be hooking up for the weekend.
I just hope the in 3-4 weeks that the bottles are ok and I havenââ¬â¢t caused anything to effect the beer.
Guess you learn your own way of doing things, which I did eventually like using a tap attachment on my siphon instead of a bottle wand in the end, ran the beer down the inside of the bottle, some filled up really quick and overflowed.
I am encouraged by how well the kit came out so far, I already ordered BetterBrewââ¬â¢s IPA kit. Iââ¬â¢ve made a list of all the kits I like to do as thats all I can really do, but my list is in double figures already.
The best thing I see about this kit is that it opens possibilitys of dry hopping.
I think Iââ¬â¢ll order a bucket or keg with a tap to help bottling next time and practice with water and a few other bottles/glasses to get the knack of doing it.
So thatââ¬â¢s it, looking forward to enjoying the beer and future ones too.
This forum has helped a newbie so much, it is a great resource.
I donââ¬â¢t have much space at the moment for anything more than a few buckets as even though my wife bought me a starter kit for my recent birthday I am conscious that she wouldnââ¬â¢t want this new hobby to envelop the place.
My first kit Iââ¬â¢ve just bottled was Wilkos Golden Ale, which after a pint or so of tasters last night after bottling I was very delighted with the outcome, I do like the Real Ales and IPAs but find sometimes the Ales from pubs can be abit hit or miss for my tastes. I would be very happy if I ordered and paid for a pint, this was even before conditioning.
I must say though I found the bottling process abit tricky, siphoning to another bucket for batch priming was fine and quite therapeutic watching it but then into bottles was where I came to problems, it took a good 90mins+ to bottle 13 swing tops and 2 Tap a drafts.
I ended up causing a bit of a mess on the floor and having to restart the siphon a few times, which I was concerned about with any contamination that it causes. I almost had a cry, as I had done so much research into things before hand, it wasnââ¬â¢t going as I wanted or expected and wanted it to just go right.
My wife came back in from work, giving me a hand with the last few bottles, she saw I was in a state with some puddles of beer around me. ââ¬ÅThereââ¬â¢s no use to crying over spilled beerââ¬Â is what she said.
Some of the bottles arenââ¬â¢t as full as others, I have a Tap a Draft bottle in the fridge Iââ¬â¢ll be hooking up for the weekend.
I just hope the in 3-4 weeks that the bottles are ok and I havenââ¬â¢t caused anything to effect the beer.
Guess you learn your own way of doing things, which I did eventually like using a tap attachment on my siphon instead of a bottle wand in the end, ran the beer down the inside of the bottle, some filled up really quick and overflowed.
I am encouraged by how well the kit came out so far, I already ordered BetterBrewââ¬â¢s IPA kit. Iââ¬â¢ve made a list of all the kits I like to do as thats all I can really do, but my list is in double figures already.
The best thing I see about this kit is that it opens possibilitys of dry hopping.
I think Iââ¬â¢ll order a bucket or keg with a tap to help bottling next time and practice with water and a few other bottles/glasses to get the knack of doing it.
So thatââ¬â¢s it, looking forward to enjoying the beer and future ones too.