Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: nickmcmechan on December 19, 2010, 10:18
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Saw a starter kit online.
How much time and effort does it take to brew your own?
How long do the brewed bottles last in the fridge (not that I think they'll last that long)?
I've seen some kits where you ferment in the bucket then it looks like you siphon into the bottle and carbonate in the bottle - have I got that right?
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Kits are the easiest way to start off - depending on tastes and budget there are kits that range from bog standard bitter and equally bog stand lager right through to barley wines, wonderful dark ales etc...
THe equipment is not expensive - pretty well a big fermentation bucket (usual kits are 5 gallon c23-24 litres) and a tub of sodium metabisulphite for sterilising stuff.
Typical is a week or two in the tub (greatly affected by temperature) in which the primary fermentation occurs, then transfer to the pressure containers (pop bottles etc or even a special pressure keg) with a half spoonful-ish sugar into each for secondary fermentation /conditioning - which gives it the main fizz. Usually in the bottles anything from a couple of weeks to as long as your selfdiscipline allows, once again affected greatly by temperature. This cold snap has certainly put a bit of a brake on my current batch!
When you pour out, being careful not to disturb the sediment of course, you realise why brewing your own is worth the faff.
Later can invest in additional bits and bobs such as hydrometer, pressure keg etc and look at easing away from kits into more open recipes. Or not - plenty of people simply stick with kits they know they like, perhaps with a little tweaking.
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Kits are the way to start off in home brewing. The equipment is not expensive and you have probably got some of the equipment in the kitchen and the rest can be bought second hand/freecycle from carboot sales etc. After you have "done" a few kits, you will have a pretty good idea of the brewing process. The next step then is brewing from grain, instead of using extracts. Brewing from grain is defo the way to go if want a brew that compares with the big boys. I have been brewing from grain for the last 4 or 5 years and can tell you, that my worst grain brew exceeds my best kit brew. I brew in excess of 40 gallons a year and its a great hobby. My brews now dont end up in bottles as they use to when first brewing but are now in a fully gassed system (kegs, CO2, and a proper pub type dispencing system) costs around 25-30p a pint and is compareable most traditional beers that one would find in most pubs.
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Remember the first rule of wine and beermaking.
CLEANLINESS, CLEANLINESS, CLEANLINESS,
Dive in and fill your boots, get a bit of practice, then hit the hedgerows next autumn for some of the best wine you'll ever taste. Cheers, Tony.
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How long do the brewed bottles last in the fridge (not that I think they'll last that long)?
I've seen some kits where you ferment in the bucket then it looks like you siphon into the bottle and carbonate in the bottle - have I got that right?
hit the hedgerows next autumn for some of the best wine you'll ever taste. Cheers, Tony.
Is this thread about home brewed beer or home brewed wine?
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Elderflower champagne is the way to go! so easy to, cant wait to see those flowers not long now lol im doing loads this yr.
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won my kit on ebay for £35 (its the £60 kit that home brew online sell!
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:happy: happy homebrewing it's great :D
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So, I made up my first lot on Saturday - Cooper's Mexican Cerveca.
The Fermentation vessel has stayed at a steady temp of 22-24C.
Can certainly smell the brew in the cupboard. The bubbling does seem to have slowed down this evening though. Assume this is normal?
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So, I made up my first lot on Saturday - Cooper's Mexican Cerveca.
The Fermentation vessel has stayed at a steady temp of 22-24C.
Can certainly smell the brew in the cupboard. The bubbling does seem to have slowed down this evening though. Assume this is normal?
i only do lager kits & first fermentation takes about 7 days,then i transfer in to a pressurized barrel which i leave for a minimum of 6/7 weeks but if your using pint bottle they'll be ready in 2/3 weeks(but watch out for sediments when poring out of bottles).
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years ago I know a bloke who used to think that homebrew would never be like real beer so when the bucket had stopped fizzing too much, scooped out the beer with a pint pot and drank it yeast-blobs and all. Took him about a week to drink the lot...
bet his B12 levels were good..