Hello,
I'm fairly new to drinking proper beer, but enjoying it enough that I figured I should try making some myself. I've got a fairly sophisticated palate when it comes to food, but when it comes to beer I just know whether or not I like it and don't know how to describe the flavours that are making me enjoy it or not. This will make choosing my next kit difficult...
I ordered a package deal with all the gumph I need except bottles. It came with a Coopers English Ale kit. I also picked up some spray malt because a lot of the guides I've read advise against sugar. I'm going to start it up after the long weekend.
I have some questions, but they're all general 'new to brewing questions', so I'm not going to start new threads for each.
- I was intending to brew in the spare room. What's the probability of it overflowing and ruining the carpet? If that happens, will a rug underneath be enough to soak anything up or will it be a huge torrent of yeasty liquid?
- The washing machine lives in the spare room too - will vibrations harm the fermentation process so much that I should avoid putting it on while I'm brewing?
- I was messing with the auto siphon with water to see if I can get it to work when it comes to bottling. I can't seem to get it started, although once it's going the pump works to keep it going. How do I get the darn thing started? On a related note, is bottling going to be difficult if I leave the brewing vessel on the floor? Do people brew on tables?
- Bottles. I was thinking of grabbing some big bottles of ginger beer from the supermarket, since they are opaque. I think I'd only need a dozen or so, with enough odd small bottles around to put any excess in. (It will mean drinking ginger beer a lot over the next couple of weeks, or throwing some down the sink.) Does this sound like the right type of bottle? Decanting into loads of small bottles sounds like a pain.
Cheers!
I'm fairly new to drinking proper beer, but enjoying it enough that I figured I should try making some myself. I've got a fairly sophisticated palate when it comes to food, but when it comes to beer I just know whether or not I like it and don't know how to describe the flavours that are making me enjoy it or not. This will make choosing my next kit difficult...
I ordered a package deal with all the gumph I need except bottles. It came with a Coopers English Ale kit. I also picked up some spray malt because a lot of the guides I've read advise against sugar. I'm going to start it up after the long weekend.
I have some questions, but they're all general 'new to brewing questions', so I'm not going to start new threads for each.
- I was intending to brew in the spare room. What's the probability of it overflowing and ruining the carpet? If that happens, will a rug underneath be enough to soak anything up or will it be a huge torrent of yeasty liquid?
- The washing machine lives in the spare room too - will vibrations harm the fermentation process so much that I should avoid putting it on while I'm brewing?
- I was messing with the auto siphon with water to see if I can get it to work when it comes to bottling. I can't seem to get it started, although once it's going the pump works to keep it going. How do I get the darn thing started? On a related note, is bottling going to be difficult if I leave the brewing vessel on the floor? Do people brew on tables?
- Bottles. I was thinking of grabbing some big bottles of ginger beer from the supermarket, since they are opaque. I think I'd only need a dozen or so, with enough odd small bottles around to put any excess in. (It will mean drinking ginger beer a lot over the next couple of weeks, or throwing some down the sink.) Does this sound like the right type of bottle? Decanting into loads of small bottles sounds like a pain.
Cheers!