Home Brewing (Complete Noob)

Dodge

duotone said:

It’s the Stove Toppers kit that it came with, Mosaic IPA.

I bottled their Biere de Garde a few weeks ago, you've just reminded me I need to drink it.  Hope it goes well!

Mark1960

I used to brew when I was younger, but don't drink it fast enough now so don't bother. One piece of advice I would give though is to avoid glass bottles initially and use a plastic keg. If you get your timings / Sugar qty wrong you won't have glass bottles exploding all over the airing cupboard, as a plastic keg has a relief valve in the top. You also don't have to mess about pouring or decanting each bottle, as the sediment settles all together.

duotone

6 hours later & it’s sitting in the back room in the Demi-John, wrapped in bubble wrap. Hopefully that will help to keep it at a constant 20 degrees. 

Im exhausted! Currently enjoying a pint of Hoegaarden to celebrate my first brew day 

RedRabbit

Does anyone on here use corny kegs?  Thinking of getting a couple but have a few questions.

Where do you get your gas from and what do you get?  I had assumed it was just co2 but a lot of suppliers offer a mix of co2 and nitrogen sold as beer gas.

How long does the gas last?  I'm assuming it's best to have two bottles and have one in use and one as backup?

I'd ultimately be looking converting a fridge to hold the kegs and have proper taps but at first I'd just keep them in the porch (tends to be quite cool in there).  Would this be a problem in terms of forced carbonation and serving? 

duotone

RedRabbit said:

Does anyone on here use corny kegs?  Thinking of getting a couple but have a few questions.

Where do you get your gas from and what do you get?  I had assumed it was just co2 but a lot of suppliers offer a mix of co2 and nitrogen sold as beer gas.

How long does the gas last?  I'm assuming it's best to have two bottles and have one in use and one as backup?

I'd ultimately be looking converting a fridge to hold the kegs and have proper taps but at first I'd just keep them in the porch (tends to be quite cool in there).  Would this be a problem in terms of forced carbonation and serving? 

Sorry I can’t help @RedRabbit ;
hopefully someone will come along who can help you.  

Mark1960

I used to buy my gas in a metal receiver from a chemist that specialised in homebrew kits. Once you had the receiver, you just swapped it for a full one. The beer in a keg creates it's own gas, which is fine for a couple of weeks, but if you leave it longer, you just need to top up the gas with a quick 2-3 second blast, to force the beer out. The gas bottle used to last many weeks before needing replacement, but I guess it depends on how much you brew. The Lagers generally don't need so much gas as there is more produced naturally, but when I brewed Milds and Brown Ales, I used more

Mark1960

If you checkout this website Homebrew Online you can see a green gas bulb holder and replacement bulbs. The gas holder is screwed into the top of the Keg top - https://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/beer-making-c175/barrels-and-extras-c278

MagicPigDetective

I've been spending the last hour reading this thread and researching the links, instead of working. I fancy giving it a go. A lot of the sites have sold out of starter kits though. Everyone must be at it. 

RedRabbit

Mark1960 said:

If you checkout this website Homebrew Online you can see a green gas bulb holder and replacement bulbs. The gas holder is screwed into the top of the Keg top - https://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/beer-making-c175/barrels-and-extras-c278

Cheers, but it's specifically gas for a corny keg I'm after - those little co2 bulbs will work for a pressure barrel but aren't sufficient for a full keg setup like this...

https://winemakermag.com/wp-content/uploads/corny-keg.jpg

but with multiple kegs eventually leading to something like this

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0195/8620/products/2_Tap_Kegerator_Open_1200x1200.jpg

AndyD

Does anyone on here use corny kegs?  Thinking of getting a couple but have a few questions.

I don't use corny kegs myself but I know the Malt Miller have some videos on this on their website - might be helpful

MagicPigDetective

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

duotone

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

Nice one @MagicPigDetective ;
Which one did you go for?

I found a recipe for a “Hoegaarden” style beer.  Just need to find somewhere to source all the ingredients now.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/beer-recipe-of-the-week-hoegaarden-white/

RedRabbit

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

St Peter's Golden was, I think, the second kit I did. It turned out pretty well from what I remember.  Am I right in thinking it's a 2 can kit?

Best advice I can offer is to let it ferment out fully.  Can't remember how long the St Peters says to leave it but the kits often understate it.  14 days is a good guide.  If your kit comes with a hydrometer use that to tell you when it's ready.

duotone

RedRabbit said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

St Peter's Golden was, I think, the second kit I did. It turned out pretty well from what I remember.  Am I right in thinking it's a 2 can kit?

Best advice I can offer is to let it ferment out fully.  Can't remember how long the St Peters says to leave it but the kits often understate it.  14 days is a good guide.  If your kit comes with a hydrometer use that to tell you when it's ready.

This the one? https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=peter%20st&PN=St%2e_Peters_Golden_Ale_Beer_Kit%2ehtml#SID=14

Makes 36 pints! 

hywelg

I've got 9 Cornies. Do not buy a gas cylinder do not get one off ebay or off a mate. You will invariably find it impossible to get filled. And periodically it needs to get retested which will cost you almost as much as a new cylinder. Near me the best place is an independent bar suppliers.  6kg (will last a couple of years) costs £22 plus £6 deposit. And each refill costs £22 so it's peanuts. 

I also got a couple of CO2 fire extinguishers for my lads to keep their growlers pressured. Now you need to buy these with the gas dip tube removed for them to work. If you buy new they should have a retest date about 5 years away. 

You can get a regulator off ebay for about £25, I got three Parweld CO2 dual gauge regulator's and they work well even if they are a bit high pressure for beer,, you just need to be careful when you turn the gas on, do it slowly. 

Corny kegs are best set up with John Guest fittings for both gas and beer lines. Makes connection really easy. KegKingdom is good for that sort of thing. 

You can buy reconditioned kegs for about £57-60 from places like BrewUk,  Angel Homebrew, etc. New are a lot more expensive. Check out the various FB selling groups. 

hywelg

duotone said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

Nice one @MagicPigDetective ;
Which one did you go for?

I found a recipe for a “Hoegaarden” style beer.  Just need to find somewhere to source all the ingredients now.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/beer-recipe-of-the-week-hoegaarden-white/

Malt Miller,  Geterbrewed, Crossmyloof for hops BrewUk 

roundthebend

I just discovered a taste for IPA from quality craft breweries. Usually I don't like the hoppy citrus taste, but Deya's Steady Rolling Man is juicy like a mango smoothie and so refreshing.

So, I want to dig out my home brew kit and find a kit I can do in that style. Mostly because I can't afford to buy that stuff every month.

MagicPigDetective

duotone said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

Nice one @MagicPigDetective ;;
Which one did you go for?

I found a recipe for a “Hoegaarden” style beer.  Just need to find somewhere to source all the ingredients now.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/beer-recipe-of-the-week-hoegaarden-white

I went for this kit, one of the only places they weren’t out of stock:

https://www.home-brew-hopshop.co.uk/starter-kits/1955-1157-homebrew-starter-kit-for-barrelling.html#/170-version-standard_relief_cap

duotone said:

RedRabbit said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

St Peter's Golden was, I think, the second kit I did. It turned out pretty well from what I remember.  Am I right in thinking it's a 2 can kit?

Best advice I can offer is to let it ferment out fully.  Can't remember how long the St Peters says to leave it but the kits often understate it.  14 days is a good guide.  If your kit comes with a hydrometer use that to tell you when it's ready.

This the one? https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=peter%20st&PN=St%2e_Peters_Golden_Ale_Beer_Kit%2ehtml#SID=14

Makes 36 pints! 

That’s the one! I read somewhere that a two can kit is better. I went for a barrel, following Hywel’s advice. 

The good news is I have a cellar, but after fermenting I will need to carry the 5 gallon barrel down the steep stairs, should be fun.

RedRabbit

hywelg said:

I've got 9 Cornies. Do not buy a gas cylinder do not get one off ebay or off a mate. You will invariably find it impossible to get filled. And periodically it needs to get retested which will cost you almost as much as a new cylinder. Near me the best place is an independent bar suppliers.  6kg (will last a couple of years) costs £22 plus £6 deposit. And each refill costs £22 so it's peanuts. 

I also got a couple of CO2 fire extinguishers for my lads to keep their growlers pressured. Now you need to buy these with the gas dip tube removed for them to work. If you buy new they should have a retest date about 5 years away. 

You can get a regulator off ebay for about £25, I got three Parweld CO2 dual gauge regulator's and they work well even if they are a bit high pressure for beer,, you just need to be careful when you turn the gas on, do it slowly. 

Corny kegs are best set up with John Guest fittings for both gas and beer lines. Makes connection really easy. KegKingdom is good for that sort of thing. 

You can buy reconditioned kegs for about £57-60 from places like BrewUk,  Angel Homebrew, etc. New are a lot more expensive. Check out the various FB selling groups. 

Cheers.  Really helpful stuff.

Managed to find a place in Ashton that supplies co2 and provides the canister.  £30 deposit and £10 for the gas for a 10L canister - I think that's pretty much equivalent to 6kg from what I've read.  It's a bit of a trek from where I am but not too bad from work and the price seems reasonable.

Got a keg starter kit from Malt Miller - probably not the cheapest option but it comes with everything I need to get started other than the gas.  I suspect more kegs will be added fairly soon.

Next step is to make room for a fridge for fermentation.

RedRabbit

MagicPigDetective said:

duotone said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

Nice one @MagicPigDetective ;;
Which one did you go for?

I found a recipe for a “Hoegaarden” style beer.  Just need to find somewhere to source all the ingredients now.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/beer-recipe-of-the-week-hoegaarden-white

I went for this kit, one of the only places they weren’t out of stock:

https://www.home-brew-hopshop.co.uk/starter-kits/1955-1157-homebrew-starter-kit-for-barrelling.html#/170-version-standard_relief_cap

duotone said:

RedRabbit said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Well I’ve ordered a starter kit with a barrel and will attempt to brew some St. Peter's Golden Ale soon. 

St Peter's Golden was, I think, the second kit I did. It turned out pretty well from what I remember.  Am I right in thinking it's a 2 can kit?

Best advice I can offer is to let it ferment out fully.  Can't remember how long the St Peters says to leave it but the kits often understate it.  14 days is a good guide.  If your kit comes with a hydrometer use that to tell you when it's ready.

This the one? https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=peter%20st&PN=St%2e_Peters_Golden_Ale_Beer_Kit%2ehtml#SID=14

Makes 36 pints! 

That’s the one! I read somewhere that a two can kit is better. I went for a barrel, following Hywel’s advice. 

The good news is I have a cellar, but after fermenting I will need to carry the 5 gallon barrel down the steep stairs, should be fun.

When I started I got similar advice regarding the 2 can kits.  As a result I don't think I ever did a single can kit so I can't really say if it's true or not.

Once places start getting stock in again I'd recommend the Woodford Wherry kit.

If you're going to keep the barrel in the cellar it might be worth transferring the beer into the barrel down there.  If you take your fermenting bucket down there once it's finished and leave it a day or 2 the cooler temp will help clear the beer.