Just thought I would share some of my experiences so far. I started off buying Youngs Brewbuddy kit from Tesco.com. Starter pack £26 with extra extract can £12. Then I took ages to get started and looked on every website for tips etc. I then actually got round to brewing. First I ordered 6 mini kegs plus a beer king tap with CO2, 16g cartridges. A bottle capper, brewing sugar and caps, £88 before you could blink. I brewed my first Youngs Lager with normal sugar, but kept on looking in to the fermentor, introducing air!!! The lager was fine, especially in the bottles. The kegs were all foam and clear when no C02 added, but cloudy when added. Still tasted ok and 6 days ferment, 6 days in house and 3 days in fridge.
Second batch was the same, but with brewing sugar and fermenting was left for 7 days. 7 days in house and 7 days in fridge. Much better. No foam in kegs and CO2 added stayed clear. Unfortunately all 3 kegs went at Party last weekend and now all 80 pints gone in 5 weeks.
3rd order went to Brewsmarter.com for Coopers Canadian Blonde x2, European Lager, Sparkling Ale, spraymalt, brewing sugar, more caps, steriliser. 1x Canadian blonde is bottled/kegged, European Lager is fermenting behind me on the sofa. another £80. Add in £30 for a secondhand beer fridge (bargain as it was only a year old) and I have spent £240 for 240 pints so far.
I have used carb drops so far, but the last batch I disolved 300g sugar in 450ml of boiling water (600ml total) and used a syringe to prime as carb drops are very expensive for what they are. Will let you know the outcome.
So far so good and it is better then bought beer, even stella!
Second batch was the same, but with brewing sugar and fermenting was left for 7 days. 7 days in house and 7 days in fridge. Much better. No foam in kegs and CO2 added stayed clear. Unfortunately all 3 kegs went at Party last weekend and now all 80 pints gone in 5 weeks.
3rd order went to Brewsmarter.com for Coopers Canadian Blonde x2, European Lager, Sparkling Ale, spraymalt, brewing sugar, more caps, steriliser. 1x Canadian blonde is bottled/kegged, European Lager is fermenting behind me on the sofa. another £80. Add in £30 for a secondhand beer fridge (bargain as it was only a year old) and I have spent £240 for 240 pints so far.
I have used carb drops so far, but the last batch I disolved 300g sugar in 450ml of boiling water (600ml total) and used a syringe to prime as carb drops are very expensive for what they are. Will let you know the outcome.
So far so good and it is better then bought beer, even stella!
