New inexperienced brewer

[lukeyx]

Hello all noobie brewer here,

I have decided to give brewing my own ale a go after sampling a friends homebrew, which was bloody gorgeous I must add.

I have just purchased a starter kit (well the mrs has for an xmas pressie) from my local brew shop.

The Ale I got with the kit is American Amber Ale A.A.A, I wanted a darker ale but they didn't have any with the kit I went for.

The kit is this one; http://www.homebrewcentregy.com/american-amber-ale-micro-brewery-starter-kit

I have not got a clue where to start and will be following the instructions very carefully lol.

One question I have for now is, the co2 gas bulbs, how do you know when to release them into barrels?

Any guidance on anything would be very much appreciated.

Thanks alot guys,

Luke

 

[Spapro]

Once you have taken some beer (a good few pints out of the pressure barrel) you will reach a point where the beer stops flowing and you then need to re-pressurise the barrel with CO2.

As you remove beer then the space created inside the barrel needs to be refilled with CO2 effectively.

Good luck with it, and worth testing your barrel with just water for leaks before puttingany beer in it. If you have a leaky tap, better to sort the leak before its filled with precious golden beer !

 

[lukeyx]

Once you have taken some beer (a good few pints out of the pressure barrel) you will reach a point where the beer stops flowing and you then need to re-pressurise the barrel with CO2.

As you remove beer then the space created inside the barrel needs to be refilled with CO2 effectively.

Good luck with it, and worth testing your barrel with just water for leaks before puttingany beer in it. If you have a leaky tap, better to sort the leak before its filled with precious golden beer !

Thanks alot buddy :)

Yeh I will test the tap, the owner of the shop said they are guaranteed for a year aswell so thats good.

 

[lukeyx]

Another question :), sorry if it's a stupid question.

After fermenting I am going to transfer into a barrel, and leave for the required amount of time.

My question is, after 4-5 weeks or however long it will take in the barrel, could I bottle a couple by the tap straight from the barrel? Or do I have to either bottle OR barrel?

 

[Featherhat]

Another question :), sorry if it's a stupid question.

After fermenting I am going to transfer into a barrel, and leave for the required amount of time.

My question is, after 4-5 weeks or however long it will take in the barrel, could I bottle a couple by the tap straight from the barrel? Or do I have to either bottle OR barrel?

The only stupid question is the one you should have asked and didn't. I've never tried bottling from the barrel, never saw the point but straight from the tap, without a bottling wand, is probably gonna leave you with a flat and oxidised pint. Others, with more knowledge, may advise you better but I would say bottle or barrel or both at the same time, bottle some to keep, barrel the rest to drink.

 

[lukeyx]

The only stupid question is the one you should have asked and didn't. I've never tried bottling from the barrel, never saw the point but straight from the tap, without a bottling wand, is probably gonna leave you with a flat and oxidised pint. Others, with more knowledge, may advise you better but I would say bottle or barrel or both at the same time, bottle some to keep, barrel the rest to drink.

Cheers bud.

As soon as I do a couple and get to grips with everything I will learn more. At the moment it seems simple when you follow the instructions directly from the ready-to-brew packet.

But when I read threads about people brewing from grains etc I feel lost and confused lol.

 

[Spapro]

You need to bottle/keg at the same time - but you can do a bit of both.

What I mean is, say you want to fill 10 x 500ml bottles and the rest in a keg (approx. 17litres in the keg if you have brewed to 23l initially with a litre wasted in the bottom of your primary bucket) you should ideally syphon into the 10 bottles first then syphon the rest into the keg.

You need to prime each bottle with the required amount of priming sugar (per 500ml) in each bottle (before syphoning your beer in). Just use bog standard white tate and lyle type sugar for priming.

Then add priming sugar to the keg (based on however many litres you will be putting into it) and syphon the rest of your beer ontop of it into the keg.

Make sure you clean then sterilise your bottles and the keg thorougly before putting your beer in.

When you syphon into the keg, when you get near the bottom of your primary bucket its worth gently tipping the bucket so you can get most of the beer out using the syphon. If you dont gently tip the bucket you will leave say 3litres wasted in the bucket - tipping the bucket gently means you only waste a small amount left in the bucket. hope this makes sense. You are trying to get most of the beer out without disturbing too much sedimint at the bottom of the bucket.

 

[emil]

Once you have taken some beer (a good few pints out of the pressure barrel) you will reach a point where the beer stops flowing and you then need to re-pressurise the barrel with CO2.

As you remove beer then the space created inside the barrel needs to be refilled with CO2 effectively.

Good luck with it, and worth testing your barrel with just water for leaks before puttingany beer in it. If you have a leaky tap, better to sort the leak before its filled with precious golden beer !

I used to live near the Fur and Feathers pub that brewed the Wherry. Is that from a kit or a clone. If from a clone maybe you could post the recipe here.:p

 

[lukeyx]

You need to bottle/keg at the same time - but you can do a bit of both.

What I mean is, say you want to fill 10 x 500ml bottles and the rest in a keg (approx. 17litres in the keg if you have brewed to 23l initially with a litre wasted in the bottom of your primary bucket) you should ideally syphon into the 10 bottles first then syphon the rest into the keg.

You need to prime each bottle with the required amount of priming sugar (per 500ml) in each bottle (before syphoning your beer in). Just use bog standard white tate and lyle type sugar for priming.

Then add priming sugar to the keg (based on however many litres you will be putting into it) and syphon the rest of your beer ontop of it into the keg.

Make sure you clean then sterilise your bottles and the keg thorougly before putting your beer in.

When you syphon into the keg, when you get near the bottom of your primary bucket its worth gently tipping the bucket so you can get most of the beer out using the syphon. If you dont gently tip the bucket you will leave say 3litres wasted in the bucket - tipping the bucket gently means you only waste a small amount left in the bucket. hope this makes sense. You are trying to get most of the beer out without disturbing too much sedimint at the bottom of the bucket.

Thanks for the advice mate.

Seems a bit of a waste 3 litres . I cant wait to start it, its an xmas pressie from the mrs but she wont let me have it till xmas lol.

 

[emil]

Another question :), sorry if it's a stupid question.

After fermenting I am going to transfer into a barrel, and leave for the required amount of time.

My question is, after 4-5 weeks or however long it will take in the barrel, could I bottle a couple by the tap straight from the barrel? Or do I have to either bottle OR barrel?

I have been bottling straight from a 5 gallon bucket for about 10 brews now with no bad results. I leave the beer for up to 6 weeks . I prime the bucket with sugar(boiled) attach a hose to the tap after cleaning everything,then bottle from the bucket. I place the tap just high enough from the base so as not to get any yeast.
:drink:

 

[Wontigonk]

Hi Luke,

When barrelling, I'd recommend a thin layer of food grade silicone grease, which helps the seal around the tap and top. Use the stuff the same consistency as vaseline, not a spray. Its on eEbay cheaply.

You'll need to change your seals from time to time as well as they wear out or break. I lost a batch of beer to that some years back- gutted!

I barrel condition before bottling for about 4 weeks - it gives a good result. You can decide if you want to reprime the bottles or not - I have a mate who batch primes in barrel and then goes straight to bottles which saves fiddling around getting sugar into each bottle.

Barrels are easier, but you can't keep the beer for ever (to recall how much your technique improves with practice), so bottling is a good idea; it also lets you have more in stock esp if you can find a supply of free bottles. When bottling make sure you don't let any air get in contact with the beer. I've recently bought a bottling stick, which has made life so much easier.

 

[lukeyx]

Thanks for replys guys.

Have just started a turbo cider before doing my ale.

Just a bit of an experiment i suppose, I'll see what it comes out like :) cheap as chips though nearly 5 litres of strong fruity cider for less than £4.

Hope it tastes nice :)

 

[Wontigonk]

Good luck - experimentation is what its about! Just about to bin a failed experiment of mine......