Great 'How to start home brewing' Hunt

shandypants5

hali000 wrote: »

i am making lager- where do i buy the bottles from?

thanks in advance

You can get new ones from homebrew shops.

Or usually your local pub will give you lots for free as they have to pay someone to take them away.
(You will need a crown capper and new caps to reseal though.)

Or use screw top plastic fizzy pop bottles like I do...:beer:

harryhound

I still have a collection of old style bottles with a black screw in top and some of those continental bottles with a white pottery bung clipped down using a wire lever (Grolsch style
http://www.grolsch.co.uk/grolsch_beer_new.html)

such bottles can be fitted with new rubber seals.

shimsham_2

If anyone is looking for 25kg bags of crushed pale malt for AG brewing i cant find anyone cheaper than ANNE/IAN at matchless home brew £29 a 25kg bag,if you are interest ring 01530-813800

ashlea170706

i found a great site for this harwichhomebrew type it in your google search engine it has free delivery on selected items and they have there own forum too which i have recently became a member of please take a look! ash

kevanf1

I have just noticed a number of people mentioning using/adding malt extract to kit brews. This is an excellent idea to pep up standard kits such as Youngs various (very good ) offerings in place of sugar. However, I feel I must warn anybody wishing to do this to make sure you are using malt extract suitable for brewing. Do not under exception use malt extract that has cod liver oil added to it such as the stuff you can get from chemists!!!! It'll ruin your brew and make it taste foul. Make sure you get pure malt extract from home brew shops.

Right, I'm now off to start another 5 gallon batch of bitter. I bottled 3 gallons of barley wine over the last weekend.

Beer, beer everywhere and more than a drop to drink

N9eav

Just dug up all the remaining parsnips. They have been over wintered and will turn in to 3 gallons of wine.. Best get sterilising:beer:

jvb_3

After searching high and low for a guide to home brewing after reading this post ages ago, i found a great one for the newbie which might also help others. I'm halfway through my first batch of real ale and it smells great! Click the "New to Home brewing?" link on the website home-brew-online.com for a good introduction:beer:

leon103

Not sure if this is the right place to post but I need help with my homebrew kit. I purchased a full kit from Ebay and bought a Coopers pale lager kit. I followed the very confusing instructions. Well I got confused using the hydrometer and working out how much sugar to use because I was using a 5 gallon keg but instructions are for bottling the lager. I left it for just short of a month and poured myself a glass and its flat, hardly now fizz. Is it because I didn't use enough sugar. I also noticed that the screw top of the keg missing a thread and doesn't sit tight on the keg, could this be the cause?

I just remembered i didn't put water in the airlock. COuld this have caused it?

GeoThermal

Another excellent forum for help and advice: http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/cgi/yabb/YaBB.cgi

They also have a mail order shop. I've used them a few times and they have been very good with speedy delivery.

shandypants5

leon103 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right place to post but I need help with my homebrew kit. I purchased a full kit from Ebay and bought a Coopers pale lager kit. I followed the very confusing instructions. Well I got confused using the hydrometer and working out how much sugar to use because I was using a 5 gallon keg but instructions are for bottling the lager. I left it for just short of a month and poured myself a glass and its flat, hardly now fizz. Is it because I didn't use enough sugar. I also noticed that the screw top of the keg missing a thread and doesn't sit tight on the keg, could this be the cause?

I just remembered i didn't put water in the airlock. COuld this have caused it?

No water in the airlock shouldnt cause any problems with fizz, but it could have let an infection in during the early fermentation. (if it tasts ok then you dont have an infection);)

Right at the start you should have added roughly 1kg of sugar to one of the coopers kits.

When fermentation was over(about a week to 10 days) then you should have siphoned it into your pressure barrel.
AND added roughly one teaspoon of sugar per pint.(that kit makes about 35 to 40 pints)

Then you should have saled it tight and put it somewhere warm for a week so the secondary fermentation builds up pressure and makes it fizzy.

Then leave it as long as you can before drinking.
1 week minimum, 10 weeks would make it taste nicer:rolleyes: but anywhere in between or longer is ok.

If you dont have any pressure it was most likely caused by your barrel lid leaking because it wasnt tight.

You could "reprime" that means add more sugar and yeast and leave it for another couple of weeks.

Or just mix it as you drink it with cheap supermarket beer and better luck with your next batch.