Home Brew Beer

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starting_11
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Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:02 pm

Has anyone on here had any success with brewing their own beer?

I've been looking at these "starter kits" which just seem to be a couple of plastic tubs and whatnot - are they any good? If not, any ideas on a small setup for inside the house?

bfcjg
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by bfcjg » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:16 pm

My attempts have been dismal. So much so I threw my last bucketfull down the sink which consequently ended up with the sh1ts. Just buy it.
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Funkydrummer » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:22 pm

If you're in Burnley,there is (or was) a home brew shop on Standish Street.

A very helpful and knowledgeable guy.

starting_11
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:30 pm

bfcjg wrote:My attempts have been dismal. So much so I threw my last bucketfull down the sink which consequently ended up with the sh1ts. Just buy it.
Yeah that's the kinda response I was expecting and tbh, what I would expect to happen if I take it up.

Unfortunately I'm about 100 odd miles south of Burnley these days, but cheers anyway.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by ElectroClaret » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:33 pm

He's right.

It usually turns out sh!te.

Steve1956
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Steve1956 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:45 pm

bfcjg wrote:My attempts have been dismal. So much so I threw my last bucketfull down the sink which consequently ended up with the sh1ts. Just buy it.
Can you brew some for my wife she sometimes goes about 4days with out having a tomtit,and the smell is horrendous when she finally manages it! :P

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by ontario claret » Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:45 pm

Most English beer is sh1te. (Now THERE'S a strange post, Tony.)

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:12 pm

Definitely, go for it. Try a kit your first go in case you're worried you won't like it. The problem with kits is that some of the ingredients are basically past their best (the yeast probably hasn't been kept right and is unlikely to be strong enough to turn all the sugars into alcohol and the hops maybe old - you basically don't know how long the kit might have been there) but if you want something quick and easy then go for this option, I've only made one but it turned out okay. The next step up from that is extract brewing where you'll need a pan and then you boil the extract and water for a period of time and add hops, yeast and then you can dilute with water. After that you've got all grain brewing where you create your wort (something like the extract and water in the second option), for this, you can either do brew in the bag or buy a mash tun. Basically, there are a lot of options. I'd recommend buying Brew by James Morton (this is quite easy to understand - but a little bit hipster - which I don't mind) or How to Brew by John J Palmer (an American book, which is more technical), he's also got a website http://www.howtobrew.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which explains some of the concepts in the book. I used to brew a lot but my son was born last November and haven't brewed for a bit and want to get back into it, with the dream to have my own brewery. I would really recommend it as once you know what you're doing you can make brews as good or even better (as you're not working to cost parameters - like a profit-making brewery) than the stuff from commercial breweries. Hope this helps and if you need any more advice then let me know.

starting_11
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:33 pm

Any suggestions on a decent brewing kit?

I don't really like the idea of basically adding water to something as it seems a bit of a cheat but then again, might be handy for learning the foundations/basics.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:48 pm

Don't really know a lot about kits but here's a website that gives you standard range and a premium range https://www.brewuk.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; there are customer reviews on there so you can gauge which one might interest you, it's also hard for me to recommend as its based on the type of beer you like e.g. APAs, Porters, Bitter etc..

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Steve1956 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:56 pm

Welcome Mr Techno.Techno.....Techno! :)
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Bin Ont Turf » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:59 pm

starting_11 wrote:Any suggestions on a decent brewing kit?

I don't really like the idea of basically adding water to something as it seems a bit of a cheat but then again, might be handy for learning the foundations/basics.
Depends on what you want to drink.

But you can't go wrong with the cheap and cheerful Masterpint range (Czech Pilsner, IPA etc) if you're brewing for the first time. Never fails and tastes decent.

If you are after a stout then Muntons Connoisseurs Export Stout is a real good slurp.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:02 pm

Yeah it's gotta be IPA for me.

The more hops you can cram into a beer, the better.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:04 pm

What do you do about serving the beer once it's ready? Presumably there is a barrel with a tap on it but what about carbonation/chilling?

MrTechno
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:09 pm

If that's the case you could buy a kit, throw away the yeast and replace it with Safale US-05 and then dry hop (add hops pellets after the fermentation has taken place) and you'll probably have quite a decent beer. If you use a hop like cascade, centennial, citra, mosaic etc... then you'll get a nice citrus/grapefruit taste to your beer.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Bin Ont Turf » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:10 pm

Bottle it, it's far better than messing about with a barrel and you can see it clearing.

I used to use Haworths pop bottles but the tops became knackered so I'm using plastic now.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:10 pm

In terms of carbonation, you add sugar to the bucket and then bottle it. Don't use one of those plastic kegs as they leak air.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Bin Ont Turf » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:19 pm

MrTechno wrote:In terms of carbonation, you add sugar to the bucket and then bottle it. Don't use one of those plastic kegs as they leak air.
A teaspoon of sugar in the bottles (litre) when syphoning from the bucket.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:23 pm

Bin Ont Turf wrote:A teaspoon of sugar in the bottles (litre) when syphoning from the bucket.
You can do this but if you add it to the bucket it means that you get an even spread, although if it's in the same bucket get it distributed can be difficult without spoiling the trub. The best thing is to put a liquid solution of sugar in boiled water in another bucket and then siphon the beer in there and then proceed to bottle, either through siphoning or through a tap with a bottling aid.
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by claretabroad » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:31 pm

I've been brewing for over 12 years and would like to add to the excellent info provided by Mr Techno.

Start with a kit. You might want to only do a couple of batches that way but it lets you see what the processes are and how they work. The results will be limited but very drinkable. I'd also do what has been suggested and buy a new yeast. The ones with the kit are generally rubbish. I would also definitely make a yeast starter one day ahead of time. Brew on the colder side. Check the yeast you get but if it gives you a range keep it at the lower end usually around 21c. Anything over 24c and you'll get some fruity, banana flavours (great for a wheat beer but less so in most other styles).

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/04/01/ma ... brew-beer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This will give you loads more yeast cells and will help avoid infections getting into your beer.

Other tips:
sanitise, sanitise, sanitise. Be paranoid and nothing can go wrong. Oxypro is a good one as it is no rinse. Avoid chlorine based ones.
don't take the lid off your fermenter too much. It's tempting but just let it do its thing.
drink lots of grolsch or any other beer with a swing top bottle. A few cases of these makes bottling day a lot easier
use malt extract over granulated sugar in the wort because of chemistry reasons

Have fun and always drink beer when making beer.
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Bin Ont Turf » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:32 pm

MrTechno wrote:You can do this but if you add it to the bucket it means that you get an even spread, although if it's in the same bucket get it distributed can be difficult without spoiling the trub. The best thing is to put a liquid solution of sugar in boiled water in another bucket and then siphon the beer in there and then proceed to bottle, either through siphoning or through a tap with a bottling aid.
He's brewing for the first time so it's best to keep it simple.

He can mess about with fancy yeasts, enzymes, syrups and finings etc when/if he gets into it.
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:37 pm

Bin Ont Turf wrote:He's brewing for the first time so it's best to keep it simple.

He can mess about with fancy yeasts, enzymes, syrups and finings etc when/if he gets into it.
For sure mate, just adding my advice regarding adding sugar, which for me personally is easier in the bucket. Anyway give it a go starting_11, I'm sure you'll love it and as claretabroad says buy a decent steriliser because cleaning and sterilising is a hell of a big part of it. If you keep a mixed solution in a spray bottle it'll really help, I use starsan for another option. Good luck and happy brewing!!!

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Bin Ont Turf » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:41 pm

I'm still using the old Milton steriliser :)

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by IanMcL » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:08 am

I used to make a Continental lager, years ago. Used to share a litre bottle with my wife. One day she decided she would rather drink wine, so I drank the whole bottle myself. It used to make my head pound and I was having a per one night and realised I was swaying! Thought it was time to stop. It was very nice!

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Bin Ont Turf » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:22 am

IanMcL wrote:I used to make a Continental lager, years ago. Used to share a litre bottle with my wife. One day she decided she would rather drink wine, so I drank the whole bottle myself. It used to make my head pound and I was having a per one night and realised I was swaying! Thought it was time to stop. It was very nice!
You Scots just can't take your beer. :)
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Wile E Coyote
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Wile E Coyote » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:28 am

tried it once and almost blew the cupboard door off it's hinges, summat weren't right . oddly the remaining dregs didnt taste so bad once I spat out the shards of glass from the cloud coloured liquid.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by ExistentialWanderer » Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:44 am

My Grandad used to brew his own. Got his ingredients from a stall on Accy market. It was strong stuff. Easily over the average 4% stuff, more like 8%. I did brew my own when abroad but had many complaints as it stunk the house out. I gave up when a batch I made was green. I still drank it mind....

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by bfcjg » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:47 am

Saddest thing about home brew is pretending to like the efforts your family and friends make when attempting to replicate the glorious ales that proper brewers such as Moorhouses make; Ohhhh try this its just like Blond Witch..yeah right !

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by lucs86 » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:23 am

I started home brewing last summer with a starter kit from Standish St, bucket and barrel, using the pre-mixed packs. I've done about 6 brews, 2 just didn't work, didn't kick off fermenting, but the others have all been pretty good (they all got drunk anyway)! First one was a bit nasty but was strong as hell, think because I cocked up with temperatures. The ones that haven't worked have been annoying cos I'm never sure what went wrong so I sulk and don't start another for months when that happens. I'll get another going soon, got a Tiny Rebel - Cwtch to brew, it's a really good one.

If you're giving it a go my advice would be try and find a room with a fairly steady temperature. I live in a big, old, drafty house so maintaining a steady temperature is a faff. I have to use a heat belt, if you switch it on over night and forget about it next day you're cooking your beer a bit.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by TractorFace » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:31 am

Home brewing was a big thing when I was in my early teens back in the 1980s. I remember loads of relatives having a go at it. I think it must have been a recession thing because I can only remember one of them continuing into the 1990s.

Homemade wine though, now there's a thing - it's rank. I'd sooner have a glass of the cheapest supermarket slop than drink homemade wine. Never had a good one, yet the person who's made it will try telling you its as good as a £20 bottle, when it tastes like paint stripper.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Winstonswhite » Thu Sep 21, 2017 11:41 am

I was making two batches a month all last year in the attempt to become the next Mr Beavertown. Unfortunately was leathered on 8% APA every now guy and both me and my lodger put on 3 stone so I've had to pack it in.

My only advice would be to go All grain and use the liquid yeasts. Good luck!

Maltmiller dot co dot uk is the website I got my stuff from. You can end up spending a fortune though. I think mine was coming out at 50p for a 500ml bottle
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claretabroad
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by claretabroad » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:36 pm

bfcjg wrote:Saddest thing about home brew is pretending to like the efforts your family and friends make when attempting to replicate the glorious ales that proper brewers such as Moorhouses make; Ohhhh try this its just like Blond Witch..yeah right !
You can make beer much better than professional breweries as you are not restricted by the cost of ingredients. There are a lot of lessons to be learned and processes to master before you can get to that stage.

I judge for the local brewing club and have had to drink some rank beers that have all sorts of things wrong with them so I get where you are coming from. However, the last competition I judged was for a clone of a branded beer and that particular beer was inserted blind into all the entrants. It came 3rd.
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Sausage
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Sausage » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:44 pm

I used to do loads of full mash brews but haven't done so since moving to London - which is crazy given the price of a pint down here. I know the OP is just starting out but for the benefit of others, there are two books that I would massively recommend:

Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy - by Dave Line
Brew Your Own British Real Ale - by Graham Wheeler

I can guarantee that if you follow the recipes to the letter and adhere to the earlier brilliant advice about sterilisation, you will brew beer that your mates will genuinely be jealous of.

If you're brewing from a kit, the two biggest mistakes people make when brewing is to add too much sugar to big-up the ABV or use generic cane sugar which makes the beer taste horribly insipid. If you're brewing from one of those tins (Muntons etc) substitute the sugar for malt extract. It really makes a difference. At the very least, use brewing sugar. Tate & Lyle will ruin the brew.

There used to be a fantastic shop in Huddersfield (nice drive over the tops from Burnley through Hebden Bridge) called the Ale Shoppe. It was on Lockwood Road. It might still be there. It was an absolute treasure trove of everything you could ever need for home brewing.

Sod it, I'm going to dig the mash tun and boiler out next weekend.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by bfcjg » Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:29 pm

claretabroad wrote:You can make beer much better than professional breweries as you are not restricted by the cost of ingredients. There are a lot of lessons to be learned and processes to master before you can get to that stage.

I judge for the local brewing club and have had to drink some rank beers that have all sorts of things wrong with them so I get where you are coming from. However, the last competition I judged was for a clone of a branded beer and that particular beer was inserted blind into all the entrants. It came 3rd.
Fair enough.

starting_11
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:03 pm

Cheers so far for the tips. I think I'm gonna get round to this soon.

I do have a question about water.

My water here is really chemical tasting and smelling (I was in London recently and had to drink from a hotel tap - it tasted better than mine at home), will this cause problems? I think it's extremely hard and it really has a strong chemical taste. Boiling anything seems to leave quite a lot of white residue behind.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by MrTechno » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:21 pm

starting_11 wrote:Cheers so far for the tips. I think I'm gonna get round to this soon.

I do have a question about water.

My water here is really chemical tasting and smelling (I was in London recently and had to drink from a hotel tap - it tasted better than mine at home), will this cause problems? I think it's extremely hard and it really has a strong chemical taste. Boiling anything seems to leave quite a lot of white residue behind.
Sounds like you have high levels of bicarbonate in your water. You can try and treat this using gypsum. If it's really high though - you might need to get a water report (see if you can find one online) then you might need to dilute the water with some cheap filtered or distilled water.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by whentheballmoves » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:24 pm

I'd recommend kits to start with. Did a coffee porter stout from youngs I think, which was nice.

Some of the Norfolk ones like wherry are OK. My best was either the aforementioned stout or Cwtch by Tiny Rebel which comes with hop pellets, rather than just yeast and a tone of syrupy looking stuff!

Advice about sanitising is spot on. It's good fun...and cheap!!!

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Leon C » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:26 pm

When the gravity has reached around 1010 depending on the type of beer being made (a hydrometer will give you this reading) and the bubbles have stopped you will know the fermentation is complete. Siphon the beer from the bucket into bottles or your barrel. £

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Garnerssoap » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:28 pm

Fascinating stuff. Did a kit in the late 80's and it was surpringly ok and not too difficult. I was only 16 though and pub ale was mainly crap then so didn't have much to compare it to

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by dougcollins » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:58 pm

Water is very underrated in it's importance, it is very much the majority of your product.

Taylor's (Landlord etc)in Keighley have their own spring- many pensioners on an adjacent allotment share the same spring and make excellent home brew.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Tue Mar 06, 2018 4:54 pm

Right... nearly 6 months later.

Got myself into gear, ordered the stuff.

Just need to buy some bottles (Think i'll get the 500ml or 1L stopper bottles from Ikea)

Ordered 2 kits from the Malt Miller

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/american-ipa/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product ... rachi-ace/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They sounded like better products than the generic kits off amazon (especially after reading about the yeast etc).

Think I'll get brew day done sometime this weekend when I've got all me stuff together.

Wish me luck

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Ilovebeer » Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:11 pm

I’ve been brewing on/off for about 10 years, like others have said sterilising is the key. I use the kits from wilkos which I think are alright for the price (put it one way they do the job!). I do it as simply as possible , I buy 10 2 litre bottles of tesco value still water and just use a kg of normal sugar. Use the value water for the brew and keep the bottles and use them to bottle the beer in, no need to sterilise them then. I normally leave the brew to ferment for around 2 weeks, don’t bother with hydrometer readings or anything and then normally start drinking it after 2 weeks in the bottle. Always tastes good to me, I’m not a beer connoisseur just enjoy a beer at around 30p a pint.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by vinrogue » Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:14 pm

Good luck, have fun, in the early 80's I lived on a council estate in Arbroath and me and my next door neighbour (Jock) started home brewing. We became obsessed and very socially confused as our beers got better and stronger, our techniques and bottling were refined and in the end both of our marriages suffered for some strange reason. Home Brew possibly the best hobby in the world.......... ;)

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Foshiznik » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:43 am

I got the brewdog homebrew starter pack for my birthday and was going to start it this weekend. It looks a hell of a lot scarier and complex than i expected. I thought it would be a relatively stress free, fun way to get more involved in the craft beer scene.
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:36 pm

I've hit a small snag.

My boiling pot is too big to put in my sink for cooling the wort.

Anyone have any ideas for what to do? Could top up with cold sterile water or just chuck some of those freezer packs into the wort?

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Burger » Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:36 pm

Freezer packs will work great as long as they're sterilised first.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by claretabroad » Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:46 pm

You can use the bath or you can throw in ice.

If you are looking to get into the hobby more permanently then get a copper coil wort chiller. It will drop your wort down to temperature in about 20 mins. Leyland Home Brew used to do one for a very reasonable price.

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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by Sausage » Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:48 pm

Go buy a plastic trug from the garden centre. Fill it one third full with cold water and then put the boiling pot in the water. Alternatively - and if you're feeling strong - lug the boiling pot upstairs and put it in the bath. It's not a job for the faint-hearted though.

Another option is to buy a fermenting bin (£10 at Wilkos) and transfer the wort to that before putting it in the sink. You'll have to transfer the wort from one vessel to another when it's cooled simply to aerate it before you pitch the yeast.

As it's cooling, you need to stir the wort from time to time to allow it to come it 'contact' with the cold water. This will speed up the cooling process. Whatever you do, don't put freezer packs into the near boiling wort. You're asking for trouble doing that. Put them in the water with the trug instead.

starting_11
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:40 pm

Cheers all.

Didn't realise Wilko did so much brewing stuff... that might be a good resource as it seems very cheap compared to the online shops.

starting_11
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Re: Home Brew Beer

Post by starting_11 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:38 pm

The brew went quite well today.

I don't think I had enough water in my pot for my 5.3kg of malt because my original gravity came out around 1.040 instead of 1.066 so presumably all the sugar couldnt come out of the bag because there wasn't enough water for the grain to be steeped in properly in... Looks like it'll be a few ABV % down because I put too much water into the fermenter with the wort before checking it .

Live and learn eh.

Well... here's to the next few weeks and hopefully some tasty brew!

Thanks for all the info here. Some valuable stuff not described in the books.

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