Newbie here. Little introduction.

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beadetailed

Newbie... complete newbie
Joined
Apr 1, 2015
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Location
Morpeth, Northumberland
Morning Ladies and Gents.

My name is Phil,

Recently started my own brew, only this morning.

I live in Morpeth, Northumberland. And I work for Tesco, not on the Beer, Wines and Spirits aisle unfortunetly :(

Not much of a drinker albeit special occassions, I appreciate a good drink though.


This morning I bought a fermenter and a pressure barrel from Wilkos, I know its cheap but im a first timer.

I also purchased a hydrometre, sterilising powder, long spoon, airlocks and a syphon.

I have just finished brewing (initially) coopers lager. Which I bought for £12. I am more a bitter man though!

Sterilised, and added the malt with hot water, before mixing and topping up to 20L. Added water depending on temp to keep it in range.

Before adding my yeast, the gort was in range for a starting beer according to my hydrometre. Now the air lock is added its time to sit back and keep an eye on it.

All advice will be welcomed with open arms :)

Cheers,

Phil

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Leave it alone for a couple of weeks. Maybe add a hop tea. I'm sure that kit has an ale yeast so it should be halfway between lager and ale. If you steeped about 200g of crushed crystal malt in some warm water for half and hour and then boiled the liquid and added it to the fermenter, it would become more ale like. But it's your first go, so go with the flow.
 
Hello and welcome, Phil!

No shame in buying equipment and kits from Wilko's at all. Find out where your local home brew shop is though. They're good places to visit and you can get some great advice. I'm sure they'd appreciate the business too.

Well done on your first brew. Sounds like you're going about it the right way. Going off my experience with lager kits it'll more than likely turn out like a light, pale ale rather than a lager.

Dave
 
Welcome on board Phil!

A word you will see used here all the time is 'patience'. Give your beer plenty time, better to leave it a few days (even a week) after it finishes fermenting than keg/bottle too soon. It is tough, especially with your first batch but you will have a much better beer for it.

Good luck, and I fear the 'not much of a drinker' mantra will be out the window soon :p
 
I'm sure I will be drinking more than my average soon lol.

The instruction state 4-7 days depending on temp, but I plan to leave approx 2 weeks.

I've ordered a warming belt which will arrive tomorrow. Hopefully this helps.

Quick question though, have I filled my airlock right?

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Looks fine. The water in the airlock will start off level (as your earlier picture), then be pushed to the one side by the bubbles being released. All the water sitting like that simply means there is pressure there, which means it is still fermenting.
 
Looks fine. The water in the airlock will start off level (as your earlier picture), then be pushed to the one side by the bubbles being released. All the water sitting like that simply means there is pressure there, which means it is still fermenting.

Ah brilliant. Thanks :)

After 2 weeks or so, il be transferring this to a pressure barrel. Il add the sugar about 160G for my 20 litres.

Conditioning wise, I plan to leave it approx 2 months.
 
Please keep us posted on how it turns out. I am currently brewing the Coopers European Lager, been going since saturday so long way to go yet, but might try the standard lager kit in the summer when it gets too warm for lagering (am sure the lager kit you have comes with an ale yeast, lager yeasts need cooler temps).
 
Hey Phil, I bottled a Coopers lager on 29/01/15 I used one coopers carbonation drop per 500ml bottle but now I use 1tsp of light brown caster sugar per 500ml bottle for lager, 3/4 tsp for my bitters and ales ( my preference only, not a recommendation, stick to the instructions). Two months is a good call, I found that at the two month mark it really came into its own . I've had a recommendation of four months and I am holding bottles back to try at four months but the only way I could do this was to keep buying kits and buying and collecting bottles to do a brew every fortnight. Now, I can't drink twenty pints a week so hopefully, eventually everything will get four months.
 
Thanks again for the kind words and the tips.

Currently at 21°.

Will be able to control better when warming belt arrives tomorrow.

Question on sugar, in 2 weeks when its ready to condition in the keg, what sugar should I use?
 
Thanks again for the kind words and the tips.

Currently at 21°.

Will be able to control better when warming belt arrives tomorrow.

Question on sugar, in 2 weeks when its ready to condition in the keg, what sugar should I use?

Further to my post...

I know Carbonation drops are stated in the recipe, but upon looking, its 1 drop per 500ml.... and with 23 litres, thats alot of drops. Is that right?
 
I just use ordinary sugar. There are 'rules' about how much sugar you use for different styles (lager, beer etc.) but this mainly applies to bottled beer as plastic barrels typically have a pressure release valve that limits the carbonation (fizziness). It looks like a laggy band around the top of the metal bit on the lid. 80 grams should be fine.
 
I dont have any metal parts to my pressure keg...

There is a small plastic hole on top with a rubber band covering it. I guess this is a seal which allows pressure out.

Il look at priming sugar, but also carbonation drops. If 80G sugar does the job then im guessing i wouldnt need as much carbonating drops as I thought.
 
I always just boil a cup of water w sugar in it, puts it in another vessel,then moves the wort to the vessel(All happening after cold crash) to mix the wort with the sugar! Then I get a homogenous mixture, instead of filling every bottle singularly! And avoid the yeast at the bottom of the original vessel! If you happen to have two vessels(fermenters). Avoid airating your wort as much as possible! Have fun
 

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