starting my first brew.help

Hi all
I've been thinking of doing a homebrew for a while and after going through these forums decided to go for it. I've ordered the coopers DIY kit with coopers stout. Did alot of research and this is what I plan to do. Would like your advice, tips and expertise on anything I'm doing wrong. Cheers JP

1can of coopers original stout
500g dark malt extract
500g dextrose
300g molasses
Yeast that comes with beer kit
I plan on fermenting it at 19/20 degrees Celsius for about 8 or 9 days.
Then bottle it into the 500 ml bottles that comes with the kit with 1 carb drop.
Then leave bottles at room temp for 2 weeks and transfer to shed for month. I'm in n.Ireland so would it b to cold in shed
Any feedback would b appreciated. Cheers

jpbeer said:

Hi all
I plan on fermenting it at 19/20 degrees Celsius for about 8 or 9 days.
Then bottle it into the 500 ml bottles that comes with the kit with 1 carb drop.
Then leave bottles at room temp for 2 weeks and transfer to shed for month. I'm in n.Ireland so would it b to cold in shed
Any feedback would b appreciated. Cheers

Click to expand...

welcome and enjoy

Id leave it in the FV for atleast another week after its finished fermenting, this allows the yeast to start to clean up after itself, before you bottle it.

the rest looks ok, im sure the more experienced members will help.

:hat:

Hi,

Normal conditioning temperatures are around 18c for bitter.
Not 100% sure on extract brewing, started straight on grain, but generally I would do primary for about 7 days (20c <)(until most of the fermentation stops), decant into a pressure barrel for about a month to condition and mature, then bottle after this (add about 80g of dissolved sugar to barrel before doing this). Leaving in barrel gives the yeast time to work on the malt a bit more and will help give a more rounder flavour and clearer beer.

Have a read here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html

penguinarmy said:

welcome and enjoy

Id leave it in the FV for atleast another week after its finished fermenting, this allows the yeast to start to clean up after itself, before you bottle it.

the rest looks ok, im sure the more experienced members will help.

:hat:

Click to expand...

Cheers for the advice sounds good. Is it OK to put bottles in shed,at minute its about 15c during the day then drops to about 9. Would this affect the flavour?

darrenw said:

Hi,

Normal conditioning temperatures are around 18c for bitter.
Not 100% sure on extract brewing, started straight on grain, but generally I would do primary for about 7 days (20c <)(until most of the fermentation stops), decant into a pressure barrel for about a month to condition and mature, then bottle after this (add about 80g of dissolved sugar to barrel before doing this). Leaving in barrel gives the yeast time to work on the malt a bit more and will help give a more rounder flavour and clearer beer.

Have a read here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html

Click to expand...

Cheers for the advice, I'll prob ferment it at 18c but as its my first attempt at a brew I want to keep it as simple as possible. Bottling from primary fv seems easiest for me at the minute.

jpbeer said:

Cheers for the advice sounds good. Is it OK to put bottles in shed,at minute its about 15c during the day then drops to about 9. Would this affect the flavour?

Click to expand...

No, this is a good place - the ideal 'cellar' temperature is meant to be around 12 but a bit colder won't hurt. This is for clearing though, keep them indoors for two weeks once bottled first as you've mentioned.

Thanks just, think I'll get the brew started this weekend looking forward to it. One more thing I keep reading about it the coopers stout beer kit is very active. Has anyone any experience of this? Will the fv I got with the coopers diy kit hold it or is there good chance it will overflow? Wouldn't want my beer to end up all over the floor.
Cheers jp

jpbeer said:

Thanks just, think I'll get the brew started this weekend looking forward to it. One more thing I keep reading about it the coopers stout beer kit is very active. Has anyone any experience of this? Will the fv I got with the coopers diy kit hold it or is there good chance it will overflow? Wouldn't want my beer to end up all over the floor.
Cheers jp

Click to expand...

Pop it in a larger bucket filled with water and regulate the temperature with coolblocks/ice the yeast will heat the wort when it gets going.

All good advice but you say you want to "Keep it simple" but you are adding all that gubbins. Do what it says on the tin for your first brew it'll be just fine. The fermenter you got will be fine. Get the first brew under your belt then mess about if you think it needs it. This hobby is all consuming when you get into it so it doesn't make any sense complicating matters at the Begining. See what the kit tastes like "as is" you might like it, plenty do.

Thanks for the reply guys.
I know what your saying Dave, prob will just stick to the kit on my first brew then start experimenting. Suppose that's were all the fun is.:p Hoping to get it going on Fri will report back on how its going.
Cheers jp