Newcomer seeks water advice!

[Frank777]

Hello
I'm very new to all this so forgive my naivety! Essentially I’ve got myself some equipment (a Fermentasaurus etc) and want to start giving things a go. A friend with more experience said to try to a few kits to get a hang of things so I bought a Hambleton Bard Czech Pilsner kit. The thing is the instructions say to use hot water direct from the hot tap which I assume would not be good enough as I was expecting to filter and boil so I emailed them and they confirmed I should simply use water from the hot tap. I was hoping some of you guys might be able to give me your opinion on this?

I was thinking to start it this week but I don’t think this weather is going to be any good as every room in my house is reading 25degs on the thermometer.

Anyway, any advice appreciated, many thanks

Frank

 

[Clint]

Kits (the tinned or squashy variety) just need standing in some hot water to soften the malt then the packet rinsing out with some hot water so you get it all out...then topping up with...water.

 

[Linalmeemow]

Hello
I'm very new to all this so forgive my naivety! Essentially I’ve got myself some equipment (a Fermentasaurus etc) and want to start giving things a go. A friend with more experience said to try to a few kits to get a hang of things so I bought a Hambleton Bard Czech Pilsner kit. The thing is the instructions say to use hot water direct from the hot tap which I assume would not be good enough as I was expecting to filter and boil so I emailed them and they confirmed I should simply use water from the hot tap. I was hoping some of you guys might be able to give me your opinion on this?

I was thinking to start it this week but I don’t think this weather is going to be any good as every room in my house is reading 25degs on the thermometer.

Anyway, any advice appreciated, many thanks

Frank

When I did kits in the dim and distant past I always used boiling water to dissolve the syrup, mainly to make sure it was sanitised and fully dissolved.

If you can't keep the temperature down I'd probably hold off, or wrap the FV in wet towels to keep it as cool as you can.

 

[Frank777]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking to make up a brew fridge if things went well but maybe I should just do one first.

My kit sounds a bit pansy then. Where would you suggest would be a good starting point for something to try brewing?

 

[RichardM]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking to make up a brew fridge if things went well but maybe I should just do one first.

My kit sounds a bit pansy then. Where would you suggest would be a good starting point for something to try brewing?

There are many good kits out there. The ones with two cans of malt are generally better than the ones with one can that you then add sugar to.
Have a look here Member Reviews - Beer Kits and Brewing Equipment. and read some reviews, then choose a kit for a style of beer that you enjoy drinking.

 

[Linalmeemow]

My kit sounds a bit pansy then. Where would you suggest would be a good starting point for something to try brewing?

Doesn't necessarily sound like there's anything wrong with the kit, though it may well be worth adding some more malt extract to beef it up and give it a bit more body. When I did kits the premium ones were usually better as you'd expect, but I found the best kits were almost always Coopers. If you use their kits and follow their recipes (Recipes - Brewing info) you can make some pretty impressive beers.

 

[Drunkula]

Campden tablet the water. You can collect the water in the fermenter, crush up a third of a tablet, or a whole one if you can't be faffed, sling it in, stir, give it ten minutes. Slosh your beer goo into that.

 

[Banbeer]

The thing is the instructions say to use hot water direct from the hot tap

You can use hot water from the tap if you have a boiler that is connected to the mains water supply and heats it as it passes through the boiler (capische) but if you have the hot water being heated via a tank in the loft/attic then I wouldn't do that. Could you upload a photo of the instructions for us so we can see what it says? It probably means as others have said that it's to place the cans/pouches in to soften the malt inside before it going into the FV and adding boiling water.

 

[RichardM]

Before you brew your kit do some reading in the forums and trust what people say, not what the instructions say. For example, your beer may have completed fermentation after 5 days, but if you leave it for another week before you bottle it you will get better beer. And then bottle with priming sugar for carbonation and leave it somewhere warm for at least a week if not two, then move it some where cool and dark for two more weeks. Your first bottle will be much better than if you work to the timescales that the kit instructions say and by the time you get to the last bottle it will be very good.

 

[Frank777]

Thanks for that. This is the one I bought UKBrew CZECH PILS 1.6kg Home Brew Beer Kit:Amazon.co.uk:Kitchen & Home

INSTRUCTION:
1. Clean and sterilise all equipment with a homebrew cleaner/steriliser.
2. Remove yeast sachet underneath, then stand bag in hot water for 15 minutes.
3. Dissolve 1kg of sugar in 2-3L hot water. Add to fermenter.
4. Empty malt extract into fermenter, rinse out with hot water and add to fermenter as well.
5. Top up fermenter to 23L using a mix of hot and cold tap water so final temperature is 20-25C. Mix well, add yeast.
6. Fit a water filled airlock to your fermenter and leave 10 days at 20-25C. Place the fermenter in a safe place in case of a leak.
7. After 10 days, check hydrometer reading. If 1007 or less, proceed to bottling/kegging. If above 1007, wait another few days.


It definitely says to use hot tap water to fill it and this is what concerned me so I emailed them to ask and they said yes that’s right. To be honest I didn’t realise this kit was quite so basic, I was wanting to be being a bit more involved. I’ve got this now so I may as well do it as my first run.

Regarding the room temperature though, if it’s 25+ in the rooms at the moment and the fermentation will create it’s own heat above that, should I wait until cooler times or just go ahead and build a brew fridge?

Many thanks

 

[Banbeer]

using a mix of hot and cold tap water

Yeah, you could read that both ways (it needed wording differently) and then to have them say use hot tap water is ridiculous, unfortunately it needs to be boiling to dissolve the malt easier and it's sterile.

if it’s 25+ in the rooms at the moment and the fermentation will create it’s own heat above that, should I wait until cooler times or just go ahead and build a brew fridge?

25°C is at the top of your limit really for the yeast and if it goes above it will create some funky tastes ideally it needs to be around 20°C, depending on where you are it's forecast to be cooler next week at around 22°C . If you have the brewfridge planned anyway then build it for your next brew or if you search the forum there are many posts on cooling the brew down by a few degrees using stuff you may already have.

 

[RichardM]

I would try to ferment nearer 20C than 25 and I would wait more than a few days after step 7.
At step 4 use boiling water.
At step 7 I think 1007 is optimistic. Check the gravity two or three days in a row, starting at day 10. If it is 1012 or less and remains constant then bottle it.
Don't forget to sanitise your hydrometer.