Sort of First Virgin Brewer

[BrotherMalice]

Just thought i would pop my head in here to say HI!

Did a brew about 2 years ago using my partents old kit and it was a bit grim, its was a bitter bit it was fizzy?!?! - not sure where I went wrong hence registering on here to find out more about the alchemy that is home brewing. it was from a tin the last brew I made, I am in the process of getting stuff together for another go in the near future (again from a tin, well a bag...)

Need to re-clean all my kit and get going, any recomendations on the best way to heat during the fermenting process, last time I used a wire type heater & it seemed to take forever....

Also, Keg Vs Bottle, which is better for a brew that will need to be moved before drinking?

Thanks
Colin

 

[aneray]

Welcome to the forum BrotherMalice.

any recomendations on the best way to heat during the fermenting process,

I use an electric blanket secured around my fermenting barrel with a bungee strap. Set on no1, it keeps a steady temperature of around 22 degrees. If it gets too hot I just loosen it a bit. I can even unclip it and stick it in the washer when required. This is just my way of keeping the temperature up, there are many other ways which other brewers use.

Also, Keg Vs Bottle, which is better for a brew that will need to be moved before drinking?

I personally use bottles. Kegs are ok if you are going to drink the whole lot over a month or so but I find that beer is better in glass.

Cheers Neil

 

[pittsy]

Hi and welcome the easiest and cheapest way to keep brew warm is by putting your brewing bucket into a larger bucket filled with water and use an aquarium heater (around 15 quid) you can control the temp and its very cheap to run ,most important is make sure all you equipmen is sterilized at all times , :thumb:

 

[BrotherMalice]

Thanks for the replies, had a few things delivered already, I have a keg that I bought a year or 2 ago before I realised that my brew was pants so will prob use that for the 11st new attempt but will aim for bottles in the future as I am going for a weekend event at the beginning of just and am planning on having my own beer for me & my team to drink, hopefully they are all keeping me 500ml brown bottles as requested....

Maw start the brew soon, just need to sort out the heating, I think I still have my old tropical fish stuff after they died when a friend was house sitting so that may help, or I have seen this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310384542640? ... 1423.l2649

Which looks good?

Cheers
Colin

[edit] just opened my order and have discovered that thebrewing sugar has split in transit, here's hoping that they replace it before the weekend....[/edit]

 

[pittsy]

unless you are trying a lager kit i'd go for dry malt extract instead of sugar

 

[andyd]

Welcome! For heating I use one of these:

www.brewuk.co.uk/store/immersion-heater.html

I hope the link works, if not it's an Electrim 75w immersion heater, available from all good home brew retailers!

It works well and enables you to control the temp of the FV, unlike some of the alternatives that are all or nothing.

Bottles rather than keg for me definitely, cheaper, easier to store for a period and much easier if you're moving them around.

 

[eggman]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[BrotherMalice]

Cheers for the welcomes & tips, the link did work, would you say that en immersion heater would be better then the link I posted for a heater tray?

got this lot so far:

Hopefully that will work :)

 

[pittsy]

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23718 check out 3rd post down for info on sugars etc

 

[BrotherMalice]

Hopefully not a stupid question but where does brewing sugar fit into that list?

 

[pittsy]

i think its dextrose

 

[BrotherMalice]

Cheers, will use what I have got for this brew and then start experimenting after this one :)

Maybe tonight or tomorrow when I start the process, need to sterilise everything 1st

 

[BrotherMalice]

just started cleaning my kit & some of it is decidedly dodgy, going to the local brew shop on Saturday to get some replacements (The brew shop is not on the map by the way, do they need to add them selves?) so my brewing will be delayed slightly

I am away the following weekend will it be OK to leave the beer in the fermentation bin until I get back (un-supervised for a weekend) at the end of the fermentation, have been reading loads on here and think it should be ok but since I will be using a heater to keep a constant heat I thought I should just confirm :)

I have set up my brewing area in our cupboard under the stairs, no space for Harry Potter in our house :P - have a pic will post later :)

Cheers

 

[artyb]

welcome aboard.. :thumb:

can you get a sort of virgin...? ... :rofl:

 

[BrotherMalice]

aware of the concept but not really had any success trying it for real? :P

 

[RobWalker]

i'd suggest swapping out 500g of the dextrose for 500g Light Dry Malt Extract, it'll give your beer a much better body.

kegs vs bottles - kegs make life easy but can only handle low carbonation and arn't very portable, it's fun to pour from the tap too. bottles take a little longer but you can chill them much easier than kegs, higher level of carbonation is possible, takes a little longer to carb up properly than if you force carbonate with a co2 cylinder, and you can take them around places with you! I usually brew up 5 gal, bottle 1 and keg the rest.

 

[BrotherMalice]

Going to the local brew shop tomorrow so will try & pick some up :)

My brewery :)

 

[diablo120]

I brewed this the other week just with dextrose and it worked well. Nice and refreshing with a slight hint of hops. Would possibly dry hop with a few challenger hops next time to add a new dimension.

 

[BrotherMalice]

May have to give that a try if I am not impressed with the results from this brew :)