Newbie to brewing

[Andy1991]

Hello all

I'm new to this lark of brewing my own beer. I once had a go at brewing cider but something went wrong and it ended up tasting horrid!

Anyway, I am having a go with a brewing kit a couple of times before venturing on boiling my own grain.

I chose the IPA milestone kit and purchased a starter kit online. Everything is going well (I think) the brew has a nice yeasty foamy head to it and it is starting to smell like beer!

A couple of question I want to ask: I have a standard airlock in the bung on the lid. I filled it with water so each side of the airlock is symetrical but no bubbles appear to be rising. Do I need to add the water right down to the spout which goes into the fermenting bucket?

Also the spout appears to be in the foam itself is this ok?

The gas builds up in the bucket and obviously there is no escape for it to go through the airlock so the pressure builds as I have a bulge in the lid, I crack the lid open a little to let it escape is this ok too?

Last question: it is always necessary to add sugar to bottles before bottling? Do the bottles have to be sterilised aswell?

 

[Razor]

Hi welcome to the forum. You don't need to put water right down to the spout. The gas should be escaping from the airlock before it makes the kid bulge have you checked for a blockage? The sugar in the bottle is to carbonate the beer. Yeas you should always sterilise your bottles.


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[Andy1991]

Thanks for your reply.

No there isn't any blockages at all

 

[Clint]

Hello
Just fill the airlock so that the first and last bubble chambers *ie the lower parallel ones..are just half full. I only push the airlock just through the lid about half inch or so. Best use some sterilised water or cheap vodka in the airlock and if you do make some adjustments try and leave it after that.
The kit may say fermentation will take x amount of time...leave it at least a fortnight.

Cheers

Clint

 

[Gerryjo]

Hello and welcome to the forum.The joys of brewing.Looks like you already have some sound advice....

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[terrym]

Welcome.
This might be of help if you are starting with kits
Basic beginners guide to brewing your own beer from a kit - The HomeBrew Forum

 

[braziliain]

If you have a nice foamy head (called a krausen) then your beer is fermenting nicely. Try not to open or fiddle with it, just leave it for two weeks. Don't worry about the lack of bubbles, its just that the CO2 is escaping around the lid seal. My airlock never bubbles.

Sterilising your bottles is essential! There are lots of options including rinse and no rinse products. Milton tablets, starsan, cheap bleach, cooking your bottles in the oven.... I use starsan now, but have uses bleach happily for a few months.

 

[Dutto]

Welcome to the Forum! :thumb:

 

[deanobrfc]

Hello all

I'm new to this lark of brewing my own beer. I once had a go at brewing cider but something went wrong and it ended up tasting horrid!

Anyway, I am having a go with a brewing kit a couple of times before venturing on boiling my own grain.

I chose the IPA milestone kit and purchased a starter kit online. Everything is going well (I think) the brew has a nice yeasty foamy head to it and it is starting to smell like beer!

A couple of question I want to ask: I have a standard airlock in the bung on the lid. I filled it with water so each side of the airlock is symetrical but no bubbles appear to be rising. Do I need to add the water right down to the spout which goes into the fermenting bucket?

Also the spout appears to be in the foam itself is this ok?

The gas builds up in the bucket and obviously there is no escape for it to go through the airlock so the pressure builds as I have a bulge in the lid, I crack the lid open a little to let it escape is this ok too?

Last question: it is always necessary to add sugar to bottles before bottling? Do the bottles have to be sterilised aswell?

Welcome to the forum!

I'm still a relative newbie but have brewed around 5/6 kits successfully and have learnt a lot from this forum.

I remember posting a similar set of questions and as others have said on here, try to leave the FV alone for 2 weeks - I kept checking in on my first brew initially but it can let things get in and contaminate the beer. Someone else mentioned on here leave it for 14 days - completely agree. A lot of kits say even as little as 6/7 days but I'd leave it for 2 weeks.

My airlock has never bubbled either - don't worry, especially as you have a Krausen!

Sugar carbonates the beer, priming it and making it dizzy - it the kit doesn't supply sugar you can also try carbonation drops - I found these really easy when I started as it's pre measured and you can just drop one into the bottle.

Hope this helps - happy brewing!

Sam.