Newbie first kit question.

[BerkshireBadger]

I'm getting a bit confused by all the different advice I'm finding so I'm hoping you wonderful people can help...

My first ever brew is happily fermenting; it's only three days in so I've got plenty of time. Some people have said that we newbies should follow the kit instructions exactly for the first brew and some people have said to pretty much ignore the instructions. :wha:

The big question I have is about what to do at the end of primary fermentation. According to the kit instructions I should just bottle it. According to the LHBS I'd be better off racking it into a second FV for a few days before bottling it. I'm sure that this was a genuine view and not a scheme to get me to part with another £20 for another FV with fancy bottling tap.

So what do you think I should do? And what are the pros and cons? Thanks.

In case it helps, the kit is a Better Brew Midland Mild using a Munton's Beer Enhancer rather than sugar (see - I'm already ignoring the instructions! :twisted: )

 

[calumscott]

I'm drinking BB Mild at the mo, brewed it straight, no monkeying around apart from Liquid Malt Extract in place of the sugar. Cracking pint. Anyway...

...as I was doing nothing special with it, it was left for 14 days in primary, batch primed (so draw off some beer to a pan, add priming sugar, disolve over heat, cool, add to bottling bucket, rack beer on top) and bottled.

There is, as far as I'm concerned, no real need to rack to secondary for most kits. The yeasts they use all compact nicely leaving crystal clear beer in the bottle after a while.

There are exceptions, BB Export Lager for one. No matter what I do to it I cannot get the yeast to compact so I can pour the whole bottle. That would probably benefit from racking and settling to leave only a small amount of yeast transfered to the bottle.

I would however spend the tenner on the extra FV and seven quid on a little bottler if you don't have that already. Batch priming makes life really easy...

 

[kr1tya3]

Speaking as another newbie, but according to the information I gathered it can help if you put it in a secondary fermenter, but it isn't necessary. You can bottle straight from the primary and get perfectly good beer. I myself don't have a secondary yet, but I plan on getting one in the long term.

 

[fbsf]

I agree.

You can produce perfectly good beer with just 1 FV. I only ferment in the primary and don't rack to secondary to complete the ferment.

But if you get a 2nd FV with a little bottler wand attached, by god does it make bottling easier, and you can batch prime which saves an awful lot of faffing and is far more consistent.

A FV with little bottler should come in at less than £20. Money very well spent from my experience.

 

[BerkshireBadger]

Thanks for the advice.

So, if I understand it, I don't need a second FV to rack it into - but I really ought to get one just to make bottling easier. (Like I needed an excuse to buy more toys! :lol: )

I was going to prime it with carbonation drops to make things easier - I'm now thinking that batch priming is the way to go instead.

 

[calumscott]

Four brews batch priming with dextrose rather than carb drops will pay for the new toys!

Simples!

 

[cnelsonplumber]

Batch priming wil give you much better consistency if you are bottling, :-Das the sugar (and finings) wil be evenly distributed throughout the batch. It also tends to be more forgiving as a gram or two on the batch wont make any difference, but wil make a big difference on a bottle.

 

[BerkshireBadger]

Based on your kind advice I've now acquired a second FV with a little bottler...

Now I just need to find the patience to wait until next Wednesday to batch prime and bottle - made even worse as the fermentation has slowed so the bubbles have stopped. (Must. Not. Peek!) As I'm about a dozen empty bottles short of what I need I think I know how to fill the time! :drink:

 

[fbsf]

If the bubbles have only just died down, I'd be giving it at least another week before bottling...

 

[BerkshireBadger]

Good call... I've got a friend visiting next weekend - he doesn't know it yet but he's just become my assistant bottler! :lol:

 

[calumscott]

Good call... I've got a friend visiting next weekend - he doesn't know it yet but he's just become my assistant bottler! :lol:

Another good call!

When you are kneeling down at your bottler, having someone pass you empties and take away the full ones makes life MUCH easier! :thumb: