I knew you'd get me one day.. I tried to resist .. Honest ;)

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dazziep

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ok I've got to be honest with you all..

I joined this forum with no intention what so ever of ever brewing anything ..

[BOO HISS KICK HIM OUT, BURN HIM and so on..]

so why did I join a home brew forum then if I have no intention of ever brewing anything..

good question.

first reason is, I was building a kegerator and stumbled across this forum whilst searching around for help and advise ..

why didn't I join a kegerator forum then?? there's plenty around ??

another good question which leads to my 2nd reason for joining a home brew forum..

I saw that buying kegs of beer from a brewery is really expensive and not something I would be able to afford to keep doing, so I was hoping to find home brewers that lived pretty close that would brew beer for me and (knowing it's illegal to sell it to me) I was gonna buy all the stuff and plenty of it so they could get themselves plenty of free beer for their troubles..

I only did that once and was quite surprised how expensive that turned out to be too..

I finally gave in and decided the cheapest way to keep my kegerator in beer is to make it myself...

So when asked what do I want for fathers day I bit the bullet and took a trip to wilko's

I now have a few bits that I have no idea what to do with :(, I'm officially a home brew noob now and finally in the right place :D

I have a fermenting bucket, a spoon, thermometer strips and homebrew kit . and lots of questions...

1, I don't have one of those air lock things as there is no hole in the top of the bucket.. does that matter?? should I get one and drill an hole in the top or just not put the top on properly?? and if I did that though is there a chance of something nasty getting in?

2, I don't have a hydrometer.. do I need one for simple kits?

3, The kit I got is wilkos mexican cerveza, it says to add sugar.. is that just normal sugar, or do I buy some kind of brewing sugar ??

4, do I need anything else ?


cheers for your help guys ;)

daz..

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oh also forgot to add..

I already have lots of sterilizing stuff and I don't need any bottles of any carbonating drops or anything as I will be force carbing in my corny :)
 
Why was you building a kegorator if you had no intention of brewing?

I was hoping someone else would do that bit as I didn't want to mess it up.. but at £12 for 40 pints and pretty high ratings I couldn't resist :D
 
Ah I see now,a kegorator to store beer someone else you hopefully get to brew it for you,anyway you have the basics you can sterilise with a weak bleach solution and if you leave it fermenting for 2 weeks and the bubbles have ceased it's good to keg,I brewed for years without a hydrometer with no problems you will just never know its true strength,as for sugars I would never use more than 500 gram if table sugar and make the rest up with DME or just DME
You also don't need an airlock.most won't bubble anyway as it'll vent CO2 from under the lid
 
I'd also brew any wilko kits short to no more than 20 litres as there is less extract than in other one can kits,go for it,have patience while its fermenting as you can't rush it,the instructions are just a loose guide
 
Welcome to the forum.

You first post made me laugh quite a bit. It had the feel of a 70's comedy sketch.

Anyway. To help you ansswer you questions

* No you dont need an airlock. I've never used one. I just cover my FV (large buckets) with clingfilm held on securely with a large elastic band

* It's almost essential to have a hydrometer as it the only way your going to really know if the beer has finished fermenting

*dried malt extract will give you the best results but you could use bewing sugar or brew enhancer (expalined in the link chippy_tea posted)
 
I'm guilty as hell for not using a hydrometer, I use it now and again maybe 1 in every 4 or brews and only to test OG
I do use an airlock however which to me is a good indicator of how things are going. I'v been brewing a long time and I just kind of know when or if its ready, always give 3 weeks in primary too.
If i'm doing a simple beer like the cerveza ( lawnmower beer ) then I let it sit in the keg for a week cold then add gelatin to get it really clear, then carb up and enjoy
 
I'm guilty as hell for not using a hydrometer, I use it now and again maybe 1 in every 4 or brews and only to test OG
I do use an airlock however which to me is a good indicator of how things are going. I'v been brewing a long time and I just kind of know when or if its ready, always give 3 weeks in primary too.
If i'm doing a simple beer like the cerveza ( lawnmower beer ) then I let it sit in the keg for a week cold then add gelatin to get it really clear, then carb up and enjoy
Me too, I haven't used a hydrometer for so long but I plan to as my AG brews need some sort of recording.
I usually don't bother as the kit tells you what the abv will be roughly but I want to know now if I'm drinking a 3.5% beer or a 7% monster
 
@PM67 & Pawlo7671 I also very rarely use a hydromer to check whether beer has finished, although I do use one to work out the attenuation of the yeast (and therefore the ABV%) as I'm interested in that. After a while you kind of know what a finished beer looks like. But for a new brewer like the OP I would highly recommend taking three consecutive hydrometer readings after two weeks to make sure he doesnt get gushers/bottle bombs. In the words of someone who I cant remember who said them, 'you need to know the rules to break them'
 
I always take Hydrometer readings mainly to get a realistic ABV%, but seeing as I use a brew fridge the beer (held at a constant temp) is always done after 2 weeks, I never take readings to see when its finished I can tell by how it looks.
 
I only take hydrometer readings on OG and after I package not before as experience tells me when its finished,kegged one today after 9 days and the Finished gravity after kegging told me 1008 abv 5.8% and attenuation of 84% good enough for me
 
I always take a hydrometer test for the OG, I think if you're doing AG unless you have identical results every time which you may I think its very handy to take one. I usually take one about a week to 10 days later to see where it ended up.. I dont take several to see if it finished just to see where the yeast ended up thats all.. I have a pretty good idea if its finished or not..

Anyway sorry for the digression

Welcome!!
 
cheers for the replies everyone..

this one made me smile..from Pawlo7671
Also...I can't say there are many home brewers who learn how to keg first !

yeah I always do things back to front.. I'm a bit special (plus I still can't do that right either :D )

so I have read everything, and looked at the link from chippy_tea which was awesome, just to make sure I've understood correctly (as stated above I'm a bit special :) )...

- I don't need an airlock
- I don't need a hydrometer
- I shouldn't use normal sugar

SO

- Do I close the lid and make sure its tight shut so nothing can get in or out or place it on the top so it can breath and not explode if I'm not using an airlock?
- I guess I don't need an hydrometer but you all recommend I get one anyway? (to be honest there is no point me asking that, I'm gonna just get one, there are cheap enough)
- So I can nip in wilko (I might as well go there I walk past it everyday on my way to work.. I'm miles away from an home brew shop) and buy some brewing sugar?

I've seen people also add brew enhancer... is this something I should buy too or don't I really need it just yet.
 
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