Non-Hardware brewing essentials?

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r-evans

r-evans

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I've now got most of my equipment together to start brewing All Grain, just need to order my kettle then I'll start to order ingredients for my first brew, thinking probably a single hop pale ale.

Question is, what other essential things do I need to hand on brew day?

Steriliser - Obviously, think I'd prefer no rinse. Recommendations?

Protofloc tablets - See a lot of people using these, do I need them? I like hazy beers so not too bothered using them just for clarity. Any other advantages?

Anything else I'm missing?

Cheers in advance.
 
Somewhere SWMBO can go for a few hours so she doesn't see the mess you are about to make. :lol:
 
If you're intending to use a no rinse sanitiser then something to measure the quantity you mix will be needed, like a syringe.
I would also suggest that you buy a cheap spray bottle for applying the sanitiser to your equipment.

Some sponges for cleaning down your kettle. A vessel to store clean things in like spoons paddles etc.
 
On the subject of Spray-Bottles, I have spent good money on buying empty ones that have broken after one or two fills.

As a result, I now buy "Flash With Bleach" spray-bottles (99p at my local pound-store).

I pour the Flash down the toilet (it gives a super shine to the bowl), rinse out the Spray-Bottle with copious amounts of water and "Voila!" a Spray-Bottle that actually lasts.

It's a bit fiddly to get into them (cut off the fancy top cover and you can get at the holdfasts with a small screwdriver) but after that re-filling with bleach or other sanitiser is easy-peasy. :thumb: :thumb:
 
Dutto said:
A very big mop and bucket! :thumb:
Click to expand...

+1 Every brewer will eventually start to fill a brew vessel with its drain valve wide open, I Know I did..

Its always worth popping into a local charity shop and ask for towels, they generally dont resell them and ship em of for recycling as folks tend not to buy 2nd use towels, so you will probably have to return, however a stack of old towels are great for throwing down on a large volume spill and it only takes a few towels to soak up 10's of litres of liquid..
 
BeerCat said:
Starsan for a no rinse sanitiser. Protofloc is not essential even with it you can still get a hazy beer. Make sure you have a long enough spoon/paddle. Plastic ones tend to bend. Best of luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Will probably use Starsan then, is the NoRinze any good as it seems a lot cheaper than the liquid form. - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0190LSSE4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Grizzly299 said:
If you're intending to use a no rinse sanitiser then something to measure the quantity you mix will be needed, like a syringe.
I would also suggest that you buy a cheap spray bottle for applying the sanitiser to your equipment.

Some sponges for cleaning down your kettle. A vessel to store clean things in like spoons paddles etc.
Click to expand...

I have a 40cm SS paddle and just a cheap plastic spoon too, then a 15l Young's Fermenter that I'll use for storing things. Plan is to then direct the warm water coming out of the wort chiller into the bucket for washing everything up.

Dutto said:
On the subject of Spray-Bottles, I have spent good money on buying empty ones that have broken after one or two fills.

As a result, I now buy "Flash With Bleach" spray-bottles (99p at my local pound-store).
Click to expand...

Cheers, I grabbed an empty one from Poundland which seems ok but might do this anyway as we have a few under the sink that are almost empty.

Fil said:
+1 Every brewer will eventually start to fill a brew vessel with its drain valve wide open, I Know I did..

Its always worth popping into a local charity shop and ask for towels, they generally dont resell them and ship em of for recycling as folks tend not to buy 2nd use towels, so you will probably have to return, however a stack of old towels are great for throwing down on a large volume spill and it only takes a few towels to soak up 10's of litres of liquid..
Click to expand...

I have a couple extra 25l fermentation buckets I was given that I plan to keep to hand in case of any leaks, I'll keep a towel to two to had too.

chewie said:
If you don't already have them then get a set of digital scales that are capable of measuring small and heavy amounts, good for measuring small hop additions as well as bulky grain amounts, the small cheap ones out of argos work perfectly fine for this. http://www.argos.co.uk/product/8427331
Click to expand...

We have some in the kitchen already that should be fine, but I will play with them to check anyway. Cheers
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Last edited by a moderator:
+1 on digital scales. Also I find brupaks antifoam handy..I prepare 50ml (with sterilised water) in a spray bottle on brewday.
As others have said starsan...I'd rate spray bottle of starsan as 'essential' (imo). I also have my own pyrex jug to re-hydrate yeast in.
finally...not sure if this is hardware or not..but a decent digital thermometer to hit your strike water and mash temperatures spot on.
 
Thanks for the info. Will probably use Starsan then, is the NoRinze any good as it seems a lot cheaper than the liquid form. - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SANITISER-S...rsan+sanitiser
Click to expand...
Don't be put off my the price of Starsan. You use it in such little quantity that 1 bottle of the concentrate will last for years!
I also bought a 5l bottle of water from the supermarket (c. £2) - use the water in the brewing or just make up the bottle into 5l diluted Starsan. Great for use in large quantity for sanitising FVs or corny kegs etc.
... and don't worry when it goes cloudy. As long as the PH is still low then it'll still work. You'll need some PH strips for this - dirt cheap off fleabay will be fine for this!

Other than that..
Patience - definitely.
Method - get the process correct and repeatable every time.
Resilience - eventually something will go wrong and you'll lose a batch to infection.

and most importantly... enjoy it!
Cheers!
DA
 
Last edited by a moderator:
r-evans said:
I have a 40cm SS paddle and just a cheap plastic spoon too, then a 15l Young's Fermenter that I'll use for storing things. Plan is to then direct the warm water coming out of the wort chiller into the bucket for washing everything up.
Click to expand...

DONT USE FERMENTATION BUCKETS (that you plan to ferment in) as Storage containers for anything that could scratch the inside, In fact simply Dont store kit in current fermentation vessels. A tiny scratch is all thats needed to hide an unwanted nasty and protect it from cleaning and sanitation schedules.

And the last thing you want to spot when filling a FV with valuable wort is a scratch in the FV wall as it will keep you up at nights worrying about the brew (or is that just me ??) :doh:

I switched to using FV's with narrow necks to stop the temptation of ruining another FV and relegating it to dedicated storage or gardening duties ;)
 
TartanSpecial said:
+1 on digital scales. Also I find brupaks antifoam handy..I prepare 50ml (with sterilised water) in a spray bottle on brewday.
As others have said starsan...I'd rate spray bottle of starsan as 'essential' (imo). I also have my own pyrex jug to re-hydrate yeast in.
finally...not sure if this is hardware or not..but a decent digital thermometer to hit your strike water and mash temperatures spot on.
Click to expand...

Digital thermometer is on my list of things to buy. Took a glass thermometer from my brother's Brooklyn Brew Shop kit that I helped him with last week, turns out it reads 80C when boiling. Didn't know that at the time, probably should have tested first ha

DethApostle said:
Don't be put off my the price of Starsan. You use it in such little quantity that 1 bottle of the concentrate will last for years!
I also bought a 5l bottle of water from the supermarket (c. �£2) - use the water in the brewing or just make up the bottle into 5l diluted Starsan. Great for use in large quantity for sanitising FVs or corny kegs etc.
... and don't worry when it goes cloudy. As long as the PH is still low then it'll still work. You'll need some PH strips for this - dirt cheap off fleabay will be fine for this!

Other than that..
Patience - definitely.
Method - get the process correct and repeatable every time.
Resilience - eventually something will go wrong and you'll lose a batch to infection.

and most importantly... enjoy it!
Cheers!
DA
Click to expand...

Cheers. Good idea. How long does the Starsan last once mixed with water?

Fil said:
DONT USE FERMENTATION BUCKETS (that you plan to ferment in) as Storage containers for anything that could scratch the inside, In fact simply Dont store kit in current fermentation vessels. A tiny scratch is all thats needed to hide an unwanted nasty and protect it from cleaning and sanitation schedules.

And the last thing you want to spot when filling a FV with valuable wort is a scratch in the FV wall as it will keep you up at nights worrying about the brew (or is that just me ??) :doh:

I switched to using FV's with narrow necks to stop the temptation of ruining another FV and relegating it to dedicated storage or gardening duties ;)
Click to expand...

No I know, the 15l FV was purchased for just this reason. I have a narrow neck FV for actual beer, haven't put anything into that.
 

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