Very first brew: St Pter's Ruby Red

MalvernDan · Jan 2, 2016

Hi All,

So as some of you may have seen from my introduce yourself thread, myself and 2 of my brothers are brewing, 2 of us for the first time ever.

Today was brew day for 2 of us, the third tomorrow (Directors kit), so I have done a St Peter's Ruby Red and Phil (2nd oldest brother) has brewed a Brewmaker IPA (starter kit from Lakeland).

I cleaned all the equipment first with a new cloth and warm water and then sanitised all the equipment for today within the FV (I am learning the acronyms). Rinsing again thoroughly with cold water after the sanitising.

I then followed the St Peters kit quite carefully, warming the cans first, then swilling the cans with boiling water then adding boiling water to 3.5l. Gave it a really good stir until no thick extract wasn't present on the paddle. Then added water until the 23l mark. We have used bottled water because in Malvern it tends to be quite limey.

I then added the hop powder and again a good vigorous stir, it took quite a bit of time for the hop powder to dissolve and making sure none of it was sitting on the froth.

Finally I pitched the yeast, fitted the lid and then inserted the air lock after adding a little water to it.

So the waiting game begins but a good experience so far, the malt extract smelled superb :lol:

Cheers

Dan

TartanSpecial · Jan 2, 2016

Hope it start bubbling soon. I did that kit a couple of years ago and it came out really well. Needed a few weeks in the bottle to condition but ended up being one of the better kits I brewed.

ManseMasher · Jan 2, 2016

Sounds good! Next purchase (my advice only of course) would be to buy some Starsan. No-rinse steriliser, makes life so, so simple when it comes to sanitising. Lasts for ages too.

TartanSpecial · Jan 2, 2016

+1... starsan will made brewing day that bit easier...especially if you have some in a trigger spray bottle....great for skooshing spoons and hydrometers etc just before you use them.

nbpicklesno2 · Jan 2, 2016

Or you could just buy several bottles of cheap bleach from Tescos at 29p, put a good dollop of it in a container and fill with water and put everything you want to use during the brewing process in that (I use a 23 litre fermenter. No other use for it as I make 10 litre brews). Rinse off before use.

ManseMasher · Jan 2, 2016

I think the key with Starsan is the attraction of not having to rinse. I don't see the point of sanitising something, then rinsing it afterwards. Just my thoughts though.

TartanSpecial · Jan 2, 2016

...and (no rinse) starsan comes into its own on bottling day (assuming your are going to bottle the beer)...saves a lot of time on multiple rinsing of bottles.

nbpicklesno2 · Jan 2, 2016

It very much depends on your brewing environment. Mine is a wet one. I don't have to keep things neat, tidy and dry. I splash around and use water willy nilly hosing things down and getting on with brewing as fast and efficiently as possible.

If I was doing it in the kitchen, it would be a completely different story and I may consider Star San as a mess free alternative.

ManseMasher · Jan 2, 2016

An extra step is efficient? Sorry, not following the logic there?

Kman · Jan 2, 2016

I'm just making this kit up myself, heard good things about this kit

Covrich · Jan 2, 2016

Welcome, nice kit to get started on that

nbpicklesno2 · Jan 2, 2016

An extra step is efficient? Sorry, not following the logic there?

You may be missing my point. There is no extra step. Everything is submerged in a clorine environment and taken out rinsed and used before resubmerging. I do not spray from a spray bottle nor sanitise every time I use an item. It has already been sanitised. I merely rinse.

Niman · Jan 2, 2016

nbpicklesno2 said:
You may be missing my point. There is no extra step. Everything is submerged in a clorine environment and taken out rinsed and used before resubmerging. I do not spray from a spray bottle nor sanitise every time I use an item. It has already been sanitised. I merely rinse.

Mmm rinsing is the extra step....

nbpicklesno2 · Jan 2, 2016

No it's not. It's already been sterilised.

Niman · Jan 2, 2016

nbpicklesno2 said:
No it's not. It's already been sterilised.

and u rinse it in sanitised water?

nbpicklesno2 · Jan 2, 2016

I'm not sure I get you. I rinse it with a hose attached to the mains water system.

Look, we all brew differently. My way obviously doesn't work for you and your way involves me buying stuff I don't need.

Both work equally well. Neither way is either right nor is it wrong. It's just different. You'll never buy bleach and I'll never buy Star San :).

MalvernDan · Jan 5, 2016

Thanks for the replies.

I am going to give Star San a go as I do have a concern about the amount of water used to rinse 40 Bottles after sterilisation. I guess there is a cost to using the Star San as well but it sounds like a bottle of that would last quite a long time which may then out way the cost of rinsing bottles over time.

So as you can see I will be bottling!

In terms of the Brew, a good head at the top and some settlement at the bottom now, we are 3 days in. But I am not getting in bubbling in the Airlock. I may have put too much water in the air lock, I filled the first chamber to just below the third bubble. I assume the cap has to stay on the air lock.

I am determined to leave it until the sixth day when I shall do the first Hydrometer test and, if low enough, again 2 days following.

I shall let you know how it progresses.

Cheers

Dan

Notlaw · Jan 6, 2016

Hi Dan, hope that kits works out well for you. Thats one of the kits I'm going to get to start me off on my brewing adventure!

I love the "handbags" about the bleach/StarSan situation!

Slid · Jan 7, 2016

I too am a big fan of star san as it can be used "in bulk" to sterilise fermenters and other brew day stuff and then reused.

Also it can be put into a spray bottle (from B&Q or similar) to hit everything in sight. This includes Marigold gloves worn in BIAB AG brewing to manipulate the grain bag and also (and perhaps more relevantly) the hop bag at the end.

dad_of_jon · Jan 7, 2016

MalvernDan said:
Hi All,

So as some of you may have seen from my introduce yourself thread, myself and 2 of my brothers are brewing, 2 of us for the first time ever.

Today was brew day for 2 of us, the third tomorrow (Directors kit), so I have done a St Peter's Ruby Red and Phil (2nd oldest brother) has brewed a Brewmaker IPA (starter kit from Lakeland).

I cleaned all the equipment first with a new cloth and warm water and then sanitised all the equipment for today within the FV (I am learning the acronyms). Rinsing again thoroughly with cold water after the sanitising.

I then followed the St Peters kit quite carefully, warming the cans first, then swilling the cans with boiling water then adding boiling water to 3.5l. Gave it a really good stir until no thick extract wasn't present on the paddle. Then added water until the 23l mark. We have used bottled water because in Malvern it tends to be quite limey.

I then added the hop powder and again a good vigorous stir, it took quite a bit of time for the hop powder to dissolve and making sure none of it was sitting on the froth.

Finally I pitched the yeast, fitted the lid and then inserted the air lock after adding a little water to it.

So the waiting game begins but a good experience so far, the malt extract smelled superb :lol:

Cheers

Dan

welcome!

done bleach & done star san.

starsan wins imo. YMMV!

done the brewmaker ipa from lakeland also.

which was the base for my 7th brew Orang-no-tang? Whoa! it was super tasty.

Very first brew: St Pter's Ruby Red

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