Hi all
I have been brewing for around two years now and I am still using a 'starter kit' FV. It has served me pretty well up until now, but a couple things about it are starting to annoy me.
Firstly it is basically just a plastic bucket with a lid. It has no airlock or anything which means than when fermenting I have to just sort of fit the lid loosely to allow air to escape. This isn't ideal when you have two inquisitive cats in the house.
Secondly, bottling is becoming a real chore. Siphoning directly into bottles always leaves me with a very messy kitchen and about 3 litres of wasted beer in the bottom of the FV. Batch priming in a keg is cleaner, but requires another vessel to be sterilized etc. Also the tap on the keg is extremely slow and it takes forever to bottle afterwards and I worry that the priming sugar won't be evenly distributed.
Can anyone recommend me some kit to make my life easier? Maybe a better FV with an airlock tap built in? Or a keg with a better tap? Or a neat bit of siphoning equipment that can get beer for FV to bottles quickly and without mess? I'm not looking to spend the earth, but up to £60 or so would not be out of the question. It doesn't need to be too large, the 25 litres of my current FV is fine.
Any responses appreciated.
I have been brewing for around two years now and I am still using a 'starter kit' FV. It has served me pretty well up until now, but a couple things about it are starting to annoy me.
Firstly it is basically just a plastic bucket with a lid. It has no airlock or anything which means than when fermenting I have to just sort of fit the lid loosely to allow air to escape. This isn't ideal when you have two inquisitive cats in the house.
Secondly, bottling is becoming a real chore. Siphoning directly into bottles always leaves me with a very messy kitchen and about 3 litres of wasted beer in the bottom of the FV. Batch priming in a keg is cleaner, but requires another vessel to be sterilized etc. Also the tap on the keg is extremely slow and it takes forever to bottle afterwards and I worry that the priming sugar won't be evenly distributed.
Can anyone recommend me some kit to make my life easier? Maybe a better FV with an airlock tap built in? Or a keg with a better tap? Or a neat bit of siphoning equipment that can get beer for FV to bottles quickly and without mess? I'm not looking to spend the earth, but up to £60 or so would not be out of the question. It doesn't need to be too large, the 25 litres of my current FV is fine.
Any responses appreciated.