hogmaw Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 A mate of mine brews his own lager at 40p a pint but I drink beer not lager, so I am thinking of having a go, it sounds much better than paying £1.50-£2.00 a bottle in the shops. So if there are any beer (IPA, real ale etc) home brewers here please make a recommendation to a complete novice THX PS ebay item would be nice as I have plenty spare paypal money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Where do i start Order the beginners beer kit from there http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/acatalog/AoB_OnLine_Catalogue_Beginners_Equipment_Packs______20.html I've brewed alot of ales/beers/ciders/lagers Just work your way through the site and i personally only brew the premium kits so can't comment on the others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Lager is the hard one, doing a good beer/ale is the easy way to go so you should be fine. The beginners kit above looks ideal, I used to get my stuff from that very site. The main thing is to make sure everything is absolutely spotless and sterilised 100%. I can't emphesise this enough as I have ruined many a batch with bacteria that I didn't know was there. The fact that the kit is a bucket style will make a huge difference to cleaning. Mine was a barrel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Yea as Scott mentioned getting everything clean is THEE single most important part of the exercise. Barrel, Bottles and equiment. All need to be spotless. I've only done one lager and it was tremendous. The aussie pills i think it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmaw Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 Nice one. Now which hops/beer to go for? Need for sterility understood, I studied microbiology at uni. Looking forward to this!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcAB10 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 monsweens exploding cider was one of the best i've tasted... even if he did put in a bit too much sugar it was like a small celebration each bottle opened! that was a lesson learned lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmaw Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 "Monsweens Exploding Cider" sounds great if you could market that you'd make a million! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 You'd also ruin a number of carpets with this stuff, it was more volitile than champers Tasted amazing though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 My flame for homebrew has just been re-ignited. I've ordered a mexican beer kit "COOPERS MEXICAN CERVEZA", some beer kit enhancer, some steriliser and an in-tank heater. I think the reason for mine going wrong quite often is due to a few things. 1 I wasn't cleaning things well enough. 2 The temperature wasn't kept in control enough (I would move the keg to whatever room was at the right temp, bad move) I just emptied all my bottles of perry cider down the sink. They tasted AMAZING other than the bitter aftertaste of sediment/bacteria. Hoping for a better turnout this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobSheffield Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Oooh, tempting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Now's not a good time for brewing tho scott, unless your heating is on 24/7 lol. I'm waiting til April time to start the next batch. Quite fancy some of the cerveza action myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Now's not a good time for brewing tho scott, unless your heating is on 24/7 lol. I'm waiting til April time to start the next batch. Quite fancy some of the cerveza action myself Did you not read the bit where I said I bought an in-barrel heater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Did you not read the bit where I said I bought an in-barrel heater Nope i glossed over that part, how much? Did you get this one? ELECTRIM 75 THERMOSTATIC IMMERSION HEATER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Nope i glossed over that part, how much? Did you get this one? ELECTRIM 75 THERMOSTATIC IMMERSION HEATER Yup, that's the chappy. Hoping that it will put an end to my homebrew woes. I've got my bottles and tub in the bath soaking in milton just now (just for a pre-clean, will be using the proper stuff when the kit comes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Hmmm this sounds like fun Will that immersion heater be compatible with the beer fermenting bin that comes with the starter pack? I might get some Ciders on the go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Hmmm this sounds like fun Will that immersion heater be compatible with the beer fermenting bin that comes with the starter pack? I might get some Ciders on the go Yeah, should be compatible with anything. You just cut a hole in the top of the lid to suit the stopper that comes with it, job done. It takes a LOT of patience and you will do well to get a good first batch bud. I've managed 2 out of 6 lol. I think I am better prepared now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Yeah, should be compatible with anything. You just cut a hole in the top of the lid to suit the stopper that comes with it, job done. It takes a LOT of patience and you will do well to get a good first batch bud. I've managed 2 out of 6 lol. I think I am better prepared now though. Well if its anything like my first spraying attempts, i'll get the "runs" in a different way haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I've tried ciders and lagers and had not a great deal of success with those. The ciders turned out either too sour for my liking or just rocket fuel. The lager turned out yakky. I've made stout and both of those have come out really well. I'll retry a lager for the summer I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I've just bottled my first batch, which should be ready in 2-3 weeks when secondary fermentation is complete. So far, it looks like it's going to be a strong lager. I've added 1 small teaspoon of caster sugar to each litre, which *should* make it quite gassy apparently. The sterilisation is a PITA, but otherwise it's quite a good little hobby. I sterilised everything very thoroughly, and used all of the solution included in the kit. Can't wait to try it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Did you use a hydrometer to measure the alcohol content? And one teaspoon will make it pretty much like a normal beer/lager fizzyness. I put 3 teaspoons in my cider on the first attempt to make it like champagne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Do you guys just use normal sugar for the bottle priming then? I've bought the proper beer mix for the fermentation, I don't have anything for the priming though. In the past all I have used has been normal cane sugar and the outcome hasn't been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I use proper brewing sugar for the beer and then just bog standard sugar for the 2nd fermentation. I guess it'd be better to use brewing sugar for both but hey ho its good enough for me and the lads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drift_bear Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 i think you all should brew your own drinks and take them to suprapod and we can taste them and pick a winner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 To be fair you could piss in a bottle and it would be less bitter than my last attempts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drift_bear Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 To be fair you could piss in a bottle and it would be less bitter than my last attempts. i have never tried tbh, my dad used to do it all the time when i was little, then 1 day i slipped and my hand went under the heater he was using and it burnt the back of my hand pretty bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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