Hello from Sadley Broke

[fbsf]

Well, Bradley Stoke - North Bristol, although the former could become a reality if I keep buying brewstuff!

I've just started out brewing again after about a 25-year gap when I used to help my father with his country wines and beer kits.

I've got a gallon of Orange Mead on the go, and am just about to start a Coopers APA kit, for which I've bought a BKE. I've got two 5 gallon fermenters with lid and airlock for the first fermentation, and glass beer bottles (varying sizes, from 300ml to 650ml) with a crown capper for after.

I remember my father used to do the first fermentation in the fermenter, then rack to sugar-primed airlocked demijohns for the secondary, then into lemonade bottles for storage. I remember his beer being flat though- something I don't particularly want for the APA, hence going straight into bottles.

Any tips? I was going to follow the kit to the letter for this first one as a control, and then think about tailoring future ones. I've heard people rack the primary into a second 5Gal fermenter for bottling. Is this really necessary?

Cheers, Fatboyslimfast (FBSF).

 

[calumscott]

Ah, Sadly Broke, one of my old stomping grounds!

35,00 people, one supermarket and three pubs... :lol:

Hello and welcome!

 

[fbsf]

Cheers for the welcome!

Oh, it's a little bigger than that now... 25,000 people, four pubs, and a shopping and leisure centre!
And a community radio station as well...that I may or may not be a presenter on (http://www.bsrfm.com)

But it's still Sadley Broke!

 

[graysalchemy]

Welcome to the forum

You could always move here

Better than living here though

 

[calumscott]

I seem to recall that the chippy just by the Bradley Stoke pub was quite good - many's a drunken Friday night sausage and chips was had from there!

For your beer then - check out the how to section - there's a good "make the most of your kit" one and a couple that I did, "the 'OMG I don't want to screw up my first brew' how to" and the "Tiny Kitchen Kit Brewers Guide". You should find what you need in those, but for your bottling I would suggest that you batch prime on account of your mixed size bottles.

So work out your total priming sugar, either draw off a little beer and disolve it in that or just use water, once cooled a bit add to second FV then rack your beer on top and bottle from there. The secondary then happens in the bottle and carbonates your beer.

 

[calumscott]

Welcome to the forum

You could always move here

Better than living here though

My distant relatives come from near here:

 

[graysalchemy]

Is it twinned with

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome.

 

[charlie_mead_face]

welcome to the forum :