Homebrewing - Part 3

Is there a good starter kit one could buy to begin with to have a first dip into the world?

maybe to make a light pale ale or something
 
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I’ve just had a pint of NEIPA, fully carbonated, on the day it was kegged with no fannying about with silly forced carbonation techniques.
Just been looking at the 2nd gen fermentasaurus and pressure kit. Looks absolutely class that mind. I guess if you’re doing closed fermentation/transfers dry hopping is out?
Edit. Just googled it.
Hop sock held at the top with magnets. Pull the magnet off the outside and the hops drop in after fermentation. Genius.

guess one of these badboys is on the Christmas list :lol:
 
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Just been looking at the 2nd gen fermentasaurus and pressure kit. Looks absolutely class that mind. I guess if you’re doing closed fermentation/transfers dry hopping is out?
Edit. Just googled it.
Hop sock held at the top with magnets. Pull the magnet off the outside and the hops drop in after fermentation. Genius.

guess one of these badboys is on the Christmas list :lol:
I couldn’t get magnets strong enough to hold it so I just depressurised and opened. Because it was a NEIPA it has 2 dry hop charges. Dry Hop 1 was at high krausen so there was still more than enough CO2 being created to nullify any oxygen being introduced so I just opened the lid (after releasing the pressure), lobbed them in and closed the lid again. Dry hop 2 I depressurised, added the hops then pressurised again, burping the keg a few times in the hope it’ll push any oxygen out.

I plan to only do lagers and hoppy beers under pressure. It’s meant to mute yeast esters so any English or Belgian styles need a normal FV I believe.
 
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Right, I see this thread is still going strong(ish).

I have more apples in my new garden than I know what to do with, so I've gone and bought a cider kit off amazon. Just a little 5ltr one, and the instructions look simple enough, although I did buy glass bottles and it's warned me they'll explode, so I'm terrified now.

So plan is to juice all my apples (normal juicer, not an apple press) then stick it in there, hoy the yeast in and see how I get on. Kit came with a hydrometer which looks complicated.

1. How do I know when it's finished fermenting so I can bottle it?
2. How do I carbonate them? Do I just stick some sugar or sugar drops in the plastic bottles after I've bottled it?
3. Do I need to keep it warm all the time? My house is cold when the heating's not on, and the only warm room is the bathroom, but I suspect it may actually be too hot.

Is there anything else I need to know?
 
Right, I see this thread is still going strong(ish).

I have more apples in my new garden than I know what to do with, so I've gone and bought a cider kit off amazon. Just a little 5ltr one, and the instructions look simple enough, although I did buy glass bottles and it's warned me they'll explode, so I'm terrified now.

So plan is to juice all my apples (normal juicer, not an apple press) then stick it in there, hoy the yeast in and see how I get on. Kit came with a hydrometer which looks complicated.

1. How do I know when it's finished fermenting so I can bottle it?
2. How do I carbonate them? Do I just stick some sugar or sugar drops in the plastic bottles after I've bottled it?
3. Do I need to keep it warm all the time? My house is cold when the heating's not on, and the only warm room is the bathroom, but I suspect it may actually be too hot.

Is there anything else I need to know?

sounds like canny fun. Never made cider, so no clue :)

If it's anything like making wine, you'll probably need to hoy a campden tablet or the like into the juice to kill any nasties that could turn the whole shooting match into 5 litres of vinegar. Even though apple cider vinegar is nice :cool:

If the fermentation is anything like beer making, take a gravity reading with the hydrometer before you bung in the yeast. It will be 1.050 or something (this will help you to work out the alcohol content later). Once the yeast is in, and the bubbling in the airlock has subsided take another reading a day or two after it's finished - then take another 24 hours later - you're looking for a stable reading within 24 hours - telling you the fermentation has finished. When I bottle beer, I hoy half a teaspoon in each 500ml bottle, it's enough to carbonate it with the dormant yeast. I use a 'canary' plastic pet bottle alongside my glass ones to make sure it's ok. You can give the plastic bottle a squeeze and see if it's ok. If it's rock hard and distorting, panic and open the bottles so they don't go bang. I've never made a bomb yet, but there's always the risk.

What does the yeast packet say about temp to ferment at? Once the fermentation is up and running, it generates a bit of its own heat, and you can get a heating pad, if the place is too cold.

I'm sure some of the more experienced lads will be along with some much better advice later :)
 
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sounds like canny fun. Never made cider, so no clue :)

If it's anything like making wine, you'll probably need to hoy a campden tablet or the like into the juice to kill any nasties that could turn the whole shooting match into 5 litres of vinegar. Even though apple cider vinegar is nice :cool:

If the fermentation is anything like beer making, take a gravity reading with the hydrometer before you bung in the yeast. It will be 1.050 or something (this will help you to work out the alcohol content later). Once the yeast is in, and the bubbling in the airlock has subsided take another reading a day or two after it's finished - then take another 24 hours later - you're looking for a stable reading within 24 hours - telling you the fermentation has finished. When I bottle beer, I hoy half a teaspoon in each 500ml bottle, it's enough to carbonate it with the dormant yeast. I use a 'canary' plastic pet bottle alongside my glass ones to make sure it's ok. You can give the plastic bottle a squeeze and see if it's ok. If it's rock hard and distorting, panic and open the bottles so they don't go bang. I've never made a bomb yet, but there's always the risk.

What does the yeast packet say about temp to ferment at? Once the fermentation is up and running, it generates a bit of its own heat, and you can get a heating pad, if the place is too cold.

I'm sure some of the more experienced lads will be along with some much better advice later :)
I think the temperature is 20-26.

How do you use the hydrometer? Do you take a sample out of the bucket? Or do it straight in the bucket?
 
I think the temperature is 20-26.

How do you use the hydrometer? Do you take a sample out of the bucket? Or do it straight in the bucket?
yeah, I have a 100ml trial jar and plonk the hydrometer in that. I have tap on the bottom of my fermenter, so just draw it out of that. You'll need a clean & sanitised trial jar or siphon tube to take it out. I tend to chuck the sample away too, so not to introduce anything nasty back to the fermenter.

there's a canny guide on using a hydrometer here - Quick Guide: How To Use a Hydrometer - Love Brewing
 
yeah, I have a 100ml trial jar and plonk the hydrometer in that. I have tap on the bottom of my fermenter, so just draw it out of that. You'll need a clean & sanitised trial jar or siphon tube to take it out. I tend to chuck the sample away too, so not to introduce anything nasty back to the fermenter.

there's a canny guide on using a hydrometer here - Quick Guide: How To Use a Hydrometer - Love Brewing
What’s the best way to sanitise stuff?

I have some sanitiser that came with the kit but not sure how long it will last. Wish I’d kept the kids bottle steriliser now.
 
I bought a bottle of ChemSan off eBay, about twenty quid but you use 10ml in 5l of water. Will last for yonks. @Wilfy n @DoctorMick are the proper pros like, what do you use?
Sounds like similar stuff to what I used to use. No rince & reusable! Honestly, rincing normal stuff out is a f***ing pita. Remember, all this crack is 90% cleaning and 10% making beer. So anything that makes the cleaning easier is a winner.
 
Worst case scenario, you have 5 litres of apple cider vinegar. If you’ve been thorough with your cleaning, no reason it shouldn’t be ok.
I cleaned out the bucket with the sterilisation solution they gave me. Wasn’t sure if I literally had to sterilised things like the bubbler? My apples are from the garden and I only washed them so I figured since they would be full of muck anyway.
 
I cleaned out the bucket with the sterilisation solution they gave me. Wasn’t sure if I literally had to sterilised things like the bubbler? My apples are from the garden and I only washed them so I figured since they would be full of muck anyway.
Could have boiled the apple juice before using it to make sure but I wouldn’t worry about it.
 

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