New to the brew...

BrewShoe · Jul 7, 2020

Hi Everyone,

I’m based in Northampton and a complete newbie to the brewing game; currently got my first 2 on the go at the moment.

I’ve always fancied the idea of making moonshine and wanted to give it a go but after my neighbour started making his own beer in the last 6 months and after talking more about the process got pretty excited about giving beer a go.

Im starting off with Mangrove Jacks extract kits (Grapefruit IPA & Bourbon Barrel on at the mo) but I’m keen to have a bash at all grain once I’ve managed to iron out the kinks and got a few batches under my belt.

We’ve got a old brick outhouse out the back of our houses that we’re brewing in at the moment and despite it being cold and damp it seems like the perfect spot for fermentation and storing our kit.

I wanted to get on a forum after picking up a load of really helpful pointers from a guy selling me some kit last week.

Looking forward to experimenting and getting some new beers on the go!

kelper · Jul 7, 2020

Welcome! But moonshine means liquor and distilling is illegal in the UK. Nor can it be discussed on this forum. But I guess you are only planning to home brew beer and, possibly, wines? There are lots of guides on here for all the basics. Just be patient as kit instructions would have you believe the beer is ready to soon. Have you got and used a hydrometer?

BrewShoe · Jul 7, 2020

Thanks for the heads up Kelper, I had researched into moonshine initially but as you say the legality of it cuts it off in the UK.

After tasting the different beer results that my neighbour has been cooking up though it’s beer for me!

Yeah I have a hydrometer and I‘ve gone over how to read it (as well as the constant sanitisation!). For the IPA I have on I’ve just dry hopped it after 9 days - after taking OG reading pre-pitching of the yeast. And then monitoring the SG readings on days 7/8/9.

For the other kit I have I’m monitoring the SG over the next few days for it to level out before conditioning.

I’m trying to keep my eyes open to what the beer is actually doing rather than reading a generic instruction manual. I’ve got a notebook pretty much monitoring what I’m seeing on it each day in regard to any changes and the conditions around it. I have brew belts on each fermenting tub as well so I’m hoping to reduce any variables that may ruin it.