Will I need anything else to make a good home brew?

[ninhydrin]

I dont want to miss anything off the list of essentials to make my first barrel of Woodfordes Nog, In my basket at present is the following, please let me know if i have missed anything off:

* Woodfordes Nog 'porter style' Beer kit
* Barrel with Pin Valve Cap
* 33Ltr Fermenting bin + airlock
* Paddle
* Syphon
* Steriliser
* Hydrometer
* Thermometer
* Trail Jar
* 1 Gas charge + converter
* VWP cleanser 400g
* Capper and caps
* used glass real ale bottles

 

[graysalchemy]

Time and patience

 

[adrianmole72]

Time and patience

Definately ! I have neither :-(

 

[The Goatreich]

I was recommended a device called a little bottler, which I have to admit is a godsend when trying to bottle with no mess.

You might need something to prime your bottles with also, I'm not sure whether that comes in the kit or not.

 

[RobWalker]

You might run into some difficulties bottling depending what method you used. I've done it with a normal syphon before...awful. You could get a Bottling Stick, they're a few quid and will stop you wasting beer, causing mess and generally making an **** of the process like I did before I got a bucket with a tap on. I think what Goatreich suggested is basically the same.

http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/col ... Stick.html

Make sure you rinse the VWP after sterilization, I just lost a batch to it

 

[Mike1981]

+1 to the little bottler, great little bit of kit :thumb:

 

[StubbsPKS]

I was recommended a device called a little bottler, which I have to admit is a godsend when trying to bottle with no mess.

You might need something to prime your bottles with also, I'm not sure whether that comes in the kit or not.

+1 on the little bottler.
I would also rec possibly getting an auto-siphon (if the one from the kit is the kind you need to suck on to get it flowing). These things are brilliant and help prevent getting contaminates from your saliva into the beer.

As for priming, you can prime with white sugar and it will work just fine.

 

[ninhydrin]

1 x little bottler added to basket
Priming is new to me and im not sure what or why I would need anything?
The auto syphon comes in two sizes 4.5l and 23l I take it its the larger of the two that i will need?

 

[StubbsPKS]

1 x little bottler added to basket
Priming is new to me and im not sure what or why I would need anything?
The auto syphon comes in two sizes 4.5l and 23l I take it its the larger of the two that i will need?

Yup, the 4.5 is for demijohns. Priming is adding sugar to your bottles/keg in order to carbonate the beer. You just need to put some sugar into a bit of water and dissolve it. There are tutorials on the site when it comes time.

 

[Nunfa1]

To be honest, I wouldn't bother with the VWP just go to the chemist and get some Milton for sterilising and soda crystals for cleaning instead.

 

[anita]

I've found it really handy having 2 FV's

 

[ninhydrin]

FVs?

 

[graysalchemy]

Fermentation Vesels. 2 is better than one so that you have somewhere to syphon you beer into once fermentation has stopped and the beer has cleared. It gets it off the yeast ready for bottling.

 

[ninhydrin]

oh right, would the barrel not be any good for that?

 

[graysalchemy]

Probably.

 

[StubbsPKS]

oh right, would the barrel not be any good for that?

What I used to do it siphon from the primary FV into my pressure barrel, batch prime and then bottle 6-12 bottles from the barrel using the little bottler, and leave the rest in the pressure barrel. This worked great and meant I didn't have to be SUPER CAREFUL about disturbing sediment while bottling.

I did this mainly to see the difference between bottle and keg conditioned beer. I preferred the bottles, but the keg was just SO MUCH easier.

I finally managed to get my hands on a cornie, so I imagine I will be using those and force carbing from now on :thumb: