New to Brew from Portsmouth

[BrannBrew]

Hi all, I’m new to brewing and live near Portsmouth, UK. Forgive the long post, this is my story.

This forum has helped a newbie so much, it is a great resource.

I don’t have much space at the moment for anything more than a few buckets as even though my wife bought me a starter kit for my recent birthday I am conscious that she wouldn’t want this new hobby to envelop the place.

My first kit I’ve just bottled was Wilkos Golden Ale, which after a pint or so of tasters last night after bottling I was very delighted with the outcome, I do like the Real Ales and IPAs but find sometimes the Ales from pubs can be abit hit or miss for my tastes. I would be very happy if I ordered and paid for a pint, this was even before conditioning.

I must say though I found the bottling process abit tricky, siphoning to another bucket for batch priming was fine and quite therapeutic watching it but then into bottles was where I came to problems, it took a good 90mins+ to bottle 13 swing tops and 2 Tap a drafts.

I ended up causing a bit of a mess on the floor and having to restart the siphon a few times, which I was concerned about with any contamination that it causes. I almost had a cry, as I had done so much research into things before hand, it wasn’t going as I wanted or expected and wanted it to just go right.

My wife came back in from work, giving me a hand with the last few bottles, she saw I was in a state with some puddles of beer around me. “There’s no use to crying over spilled beer” is what she said.
Some of the bottles aren’t as full as others, I have a Tap a Draft bottle in the fridge I’ll be hooking up for the weekend.

I just hope the in 3-4 weeks that the bottles are ok and I haven’t caused anything to effect the beer.

Guess you learn your own way of doing things, which I did eventually like using a tap attachment on my siphon instead of a bottle wand in the end, ran the beer down the inside of the bottle, some filled up really quick and overflowed.

I am encouraged by how well the kit came out so far, I already ordered BetterBrew’s IPA kit. I’ve made a list of all the kits I like to do as thats all I can really do, but my list is in double figures already.

The best thing I see about this kit is that it opens possibilitys of dry hopping.

I think I’ll order a bucket or keg with a tap to help bottling next time and practice with water and a few other bottles/glasses to get the knack of doing it.

So that’s it, looking forward to enjoying the beer and future ones too.

 

[clibit]

I don't use a siphon to fill bottles, it can be a real faff. A lot of people attach a wand directly onto a tap on their FV or bottling bucket.

My dirty secret, which I should not admit to in public, is that I use a pyrex jug to fill my bottles. Sterilize it, dip it in the beer to fill it carefully, and pour the beer carefully down the side of the bottle. It's quick and easy, and I waste nothing. There is an alleged risk of oxidation, but I've never had any problems.

 

[BrannBrew]

I don't use a siphon to fill bottles, it can be a real faff. A lot of people attach a wand directly onto a tap on their FV or bottling bucket.

My dirty secret, which I should not admit to in public, is that I use a pyrex jug to fill my bottles. Sterilize it, dip it in the beer to fill it carefully, and pour the beer carefully down the side of the bottle. It's quick and easy, and I waste nothing. There is an alleged risk of oxidation, but I've never had any problems.

I might try your secret next time, I have a jug I took from the kitchen cupboards as the level marks have all washed off, I thought running it down the bottle like you would be the best approach.
I don't mind buying another bucket or something similar but the bottom of the airing cupboard is getting quite crammed. I'll give anything a try once.

 

[McMullan]

I don't use a siphon to fill bottles, it can be a real faff. A lot of people attach a wand directly onto a tap on their FV or bottling bucket.

My dirty secret, which I should not admit to in public, is that I use a pyrex jug to fill my bottles. Sterilize it, dip it in the beer to fill it carefully, and pour the beer carefully down the side of the bottle. It's quick and easy, and I waste nothing. There is an alleged risk of oxidation, but I've never had any problems.

Some of my beers taste and look so good after 3-4 weeks in the primary FV, I don't bother bottling them :-P

 

[Chippy_Tea]

This forum has helped a newbie so much, it is a great resource.

.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the feedback :

 

[Snooky]

Welcome mate. Best of luck with your brews.

 

[MyQul]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Twostage]

Yep, done most of that, beer all over the floor, several times.

As someone famous once said - 'beer is a sign that God loves us', beer wants to be made and you have to really try hard to mess it up.

My Wife's favourite brew is a St Peters golden that I mixed with an all grain brew and messed up and it turned out to have too low an ABV, so I added some dry malt extract to bump it up. It was in a barrel and I've been giving it a head using a syringe. I've recently bottled it so I can chill it, it's labelled 'mongrel' as its such a mixture. So completely messed about and she still thinks it's great (and it does taste nice).

Brew on.

 

[Twostage]

I don't use a siphon to fill bottles, it can be a real faff. A lot of people attach a wand directly onto a tap on their FV or bottling bucket.

My dirty secret, which I should not admit to in public, is that I use a pyrex jug to fill my bottles. Sterilize it, dip it in the beer to fill it carefully, and pour the beer carefully down the side of the bottle. It's quick and easy, and I waste nothing. There is an alleged risk of oxidation, but I've never had any problems.

Next time take the pyrex jug from the cupboard and bottle without sterilising. Go on, I dare you.

(I've bottled by pouring through an un-sterilised funnel, from an un-sterilised FV into un-sterilised bottles, the result was beer :-D)

 

[clibit]

Next time take the pyrex jug from the cupboard and bottle without sterilising. Go on, I dare you.

(I've bottled by pouring through an un-sterilised funnel, from an un-sterilised FV into un-sterilised bottles, the result was beer :-D)

No ta, The work involved in dipping a jug in some Starsan is not worth worrying about. :thumb:

 

[ronnie]

I don't use a siphon to fill bottles, it can be a real faff. A lot of people attach a wand directly onto a tap on their FV or bottling bucket.

My dirty secret, which I should not admit to in public, is that I use a pyrex jug to fill my bottles. Sterilize it, dip it in the beer to fill it carefully, and pour the beer carefully down the side of the bottle. It's quick and easy, and I waste nothing. There is an alleged risk of oxidation, but I've never had any problems.

I did this for over twenty years but using a plastic jug just rinsed under the tap before starting the operation and almost all brews were very good to drink. Some being in the bottle over 6 months then some bright spark said I should use the little bottler as my beers would be better and more hygienic. Last year I began to do it this way after 20 years but my beers taste no better nor do they keep head any better. It is all in the mind.

 

[Garethgareth]

Welcome to the forum!