Tell me about Home Brew :)

[Black Sheep]

The wife and I have mentioned having a go at home brewing before but never got round to it, I've helped her aquire a taste for blonde / IPA ales (a landlord's daughter who doesn't like beer???) instead of that wierd larger stuff, and lacking inspiration for what to get her for christmas though a starter set to have a go at home brewing might do the trick.

 

budget is about £40, I keep seeing packs online that say they're starter sets but don't specify if they come with the entire kit needed to produce and store etc or are just the kit you need to make that beer assuming you have the items to mix / store it in.

 

If anyone can recommend where to look to purchase and what to be looking out for I'd appreciate it,

 

ta

[Devo63]

Cooper's Brewery here in Adelaide make a wide selection of kits for largers, ales and bitters etc. which are available in the UK. Locally (the land of Oz) you can buy their starter pack which comes complete with a brewing vessel and all the associated equipment plus 30 x 750ml PET bottles (though I prefer glass) for A$95.00, about the £40.00 you mentioned. I don't know if this starter set is sold in your part of the world but it is very handy if you want to try out a bit of home brewing. 

 

I have made a few from their range in the past but nothing recently. Some of my favourites are their Irish Stout and the Real Ale. Around here we are very proud of the company as it is the largest Australian owned brewery and still owned by the members of the Cooper family. Not bad for a business founded in the mid 1860's. I think they are the largest home brew supplier in the world (or were a few years ago). 

 

The main thing to remember with home brewing in cleanliness. As I used glass bottles I would always sterilise them before bottling and seal the mouth with cling wrap until required. The biggest problem with glass I've had is a few exploding bottles. Sometimes I would get half a dozen go bang in the middle of the night from one batch while at other times I could go three or four batches with no problems what so ever. At least a couple of broken bottles and a bit of spilled beer are not as bad to clean up as when my last ginger beer plant blew up in the back shed - it was at the time my main model railway layout area.

 

Dave

[jonny777]

Have a look here - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/homebrewonlineshop/

 

Yes, I know it is an Ebay shop, but I have ordered from them and their service is very efficient.

 

Everything is sent Royal Mail 48hr tracked and there is usually no lengthy wait for items to turn up.

[Fat Controller]

Have a look at this site, and others like it:-

http://www.home-brew-supplies-uk.co.uk/

I used to live in a 'dry' village (Methodist pit owners), so used to brew my own. As the only local beer at the time was gassy fizz, I'd have probably done so any way. At the very least, you need a dedicated plastic container for the initial fermentation and a barrel (or stock of bottles)for the finished product. You'll also need something for measuring the progress of the fermentation (IIRC, these are called 'Hydrometers)- you start with the to-be-fermented 'wort', which should be around 1040, and watch the relative density fall to about 1000, as the sugars turn into alcohol. If you don't check the rate of fermentation, and simply watch for bubbles rising, then during cold spells, you might bottle prematurely. The result would be, as the bottles warmed up, there could be broken glass everywhere.

I used to use a couple of plastic barrels of about 25 litre capacity- one would be on tap, whilst the other would be stabilising. During normal times, the barrel would last about three weeks; when we had visitors, it would go down much quicker. I used to use malted grains and hops, cooked up in a large jam-making pan, to make the wort, as the malt pastes were hard to get hold of at the time. I'd add some hops to the wort, then some more to the barrel when I put the fermented wort into it. The spent grains would go in the hen mash- the chickens loved brewing day.

If/when I finally move to France, I might start brewing again; it's a satisfying process, and the end product would be an improvement on bottled lager.

[Pete S]

Water is a vast improvement on bottled larger!

Real ale is even better.

 

Peter.

[Torper]

Many years ago I used to make my own using, I seem to recall, a combination of crystal malt, tinned malt extract, goldings and fuggles hops, sugar and water. I think I may have used some powdered malt as well.  It produced a very good brew.  Later on, largely as a result of domestic complaints about smell and mess (of the brewing process!) I tried some kits, but none produced anything as good as my home-made and, in fact, rather put me off the whole business.  I must try it again although I'm disappointed to see that malt extract for brewing only appears to be available in 1.5kg cans - back when I made beer we were able to buy smaller cans (2lb?) and one of these was enough.  I don't know if ordinary malt extract would do the job - ensuring, of course, that one doesn't go for the type with the cod liver oil.

 

DT

[New Haven Neil]

About 30 years ago we used to make our beer using 'Geordie' (well I would, wouldn't, I, being a .....) home brew kits - it wasn't bad.  That was, until we took out our old hot water cylinder in the airing (brewing...) cupboard and fitted a combi boiler.  The beer was never the same without a nice warm place for the first stage.  We gave up.

[Siberian Snooper]

I used use a baby burco, to mash in, then I had a couple of 5 gallon buckets for fermentation and 3 5 gallon barrels for temporary storage. The place used to smell like a brewery for a couple of days after mashing, which could be every couple of days.

 

I upset some Jehovah witnesses one afternoon when I answered the door with a freshly poured pint, they asked if I was having a good day and I replied that it would be if I could get the contents of the glass down me neck without interuption. They've not been back since and that was around 30 years ago.

[Torper]

I used to covet a baby Burco, but the (then) domestic authorities deemed it an unnecessary addition to our kitchen. 

 

DT

[Horsetan]

Water is a vast improvement on bottled larger!

Real ale is even better.....

Then there's poteen.....

[Welly]

1970s was the decade of home brews, Dad brewed all kinds of stuff in the demijohns and buckets - even my old nappy bucket with lid was re-purposed for home-brewing!

 

Ah! I loved that smell even if the taste wasn't quite right.

[Dava]

Support your local home brew shop, if you can find one, they'll get you started & have useful things like Co2 bottles for your pressure barrel. A lot easier than bottles.

 

Wilko are also good & do the recommended Geordie Winter Warmer for £12, brew now for Xmas!

 

I've been brewing for 30 years & still use some of the original kit. Therapeutic hobby, my workshop is also the home brewery.

 

Dava

[Horsetan]

1970s was the decade of home brews, Dad brewed all kinds of stuff in the demijohns and buckets - even my old nappy bucket with lid was re-purposed for home-brewing!

 

Ah! I loved that smell even if the taste wasn't quite right.

Was that due to the nappy bucket?

 

It wasn't just home brews, but also homemade wines. The stories about the deadliness of elderflower wine and its derivatives are legion.

[Robert]

If you don't check the rate of fermentation, and simply watch for bubbles rising, then during cold spells, you might bottle prematurely. The result would be, as the bottles warmed up, there could be broken glass everywhere.

 

That happened to a colleague of my Dad's.  He brewed Ginger Beer and then stored it in demi-johns.  Apparently, one of them went off like a bomb in the pantry and when he went to see what the noise was there were large pieces of broken glass embedded in the plaster.  Thank goodness there was nobody in the room at the time - after that, he gave up home brewing!

[Joseph_Pestell]

Have a look at this site, and others like it:-

http://www.home-brew-supplies-uk.co.uk/

I used to live in a 'dry' village (Methodist pit owners), so used to brew my own. As the only local beer at the time was gassy fizz, I'd have probably done so any way. At the very least, you need a dedicated plastic container for the initial fermentation and a barrel (or stock of bottles)for the finished product. You'll also need something for measuring the progress of the fermentation (IIRC, these are called 'Hydrometers)- you start with the to-be-fermented 'wort', which should be around 1040, and watch the relative density fall to about 1000, as the sugars turn into alcohol. If you don't check the rate of fermentation, and simply watch for bubbles rising, then during cold spells, you might bottle prematurely. The result would be, as the bottles warmed up, there could be broken glass everywhere.

I used to use a couple of plastic barrels of about 25 litre capacity- one would be on tap, whilst the other would be stabilising. During normal times, the barrel would last about three weeks; when we had visitors, it would go down much quicker. I used to use malted grains and hops, cooked up in a large jam-making pan, to make the wort, as the malt pastes were hard to get hold of at the time. I'd add some hops to the wort, then some more to the barrel when I put the fermented wort into it. The spent grains would go in the hen mash- the chickens loved brewing day.

If/when I finally move to France, I might start brewing again; it's a satisfying process, and the end product would be an improvement on bottled lager.

 

Most French supermarkets stock some decent beers not just lagers ("blondes"). Most common brand is Jenlain by Brasserie Duyck but watch out for the kick as it is 7.5%.

 

But I used to homebrew as well during my student days in France.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Support your local home brew shop, if you can find one, they'll get you started & have useful things like Co2 bottles for your pressure barrel. A lot easier than bottles.

 

Wilko are also good & do the recommended Geordie Winter Warmer for £12, brew now for Xmas!

 

I've been brewing for 30 years & still use some of the original kit. Therapeutic hobby, my workshop is also the home brewery.

 

Dava

 

I would be interested in CO2 bottles. Was told earlier this year that shops had stopped doing them due to new testing regimes on the bottles (Health & Safety again!).

[Horsetan]

I would be interested in CO2 bottles. Was told earlier this year that shops had stopped doing them due to new testing regimes on the bottles (Health & Safety again!).

Are these the same as the pressure canisters as sold in gun shops for air pistols?

[Fat Controller]

I would be interested in CO2 bottles. Was told earlier this year that shops had stopped doing them due to new testing regimes on the bottles (Health & Safety again!).

If you can't get bottles, there is the expedient of adding a little sugar when putting the beer in the barrel; not too much though, as you could end up spraying beer everywhere. Looking at some of the sites, it would seem that the small CO2 cartridges used for dispensing 'pop' might be used, if you can't get a refillable steel bottle. The CO2 doesn't just give a head, it acts as a 'blanket' to stop off-flavours and oxidation occuring.

[Fat Controller]

Are these the same as the pressure canisters as sold in gun shops for air pistols?

A tad bigger, I suspect- I recollect mine were about 6-9" long, and 2" in diameter, weighing a few pounds.

[jonhall]

That happened to a colleague of my Dad's.  He brewed Ginger Beer and then stored it in demi-johns.  Apparently, one of them went off like a bomb in the pantry and when he went to see what the noise was there were large pieces of broken glass embedded in the plaster.  Thank goodness there was nobody in the room at the time - after that, he gave up home brewing!

 

My brothers Blackberry wine did something similar, but it just blew the cork out and painted a corner of his kitchen ceiling purple!

 

My local makerspace has a proper apple crusher and press, so we have made cider - seems quite simple so far.

 

You do see lots of home brew kits on freecycle so that might be an avenue?

 

Jon

[Dava]

I would be interested in CO2 bottles. Was told earlier this year that shops had stopped doing them due to new testing regimes on the bottles (Health & Safety again!).

Hambleton Bard supply the CO2 cylinders via home brew shops, they are still available. But a visit to Wilko suggests that the threaded valve on the barrel cap you use with these also works with their fitment for small disposable gas bottles used for soda water siphons etc. So more flexible options.

 

http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-accessories+equipment/wilko-co2-injector/invt/0022563

 

Dava

[Joseph_Pestell]

If you can't get bottles, there is the expedient of adding a little sugar when putting the beer in the barrel; not too much though, as you could end up spraying beer everywhere. Looking at some of the sites, it would seem that the small CO2 cartridges used for dispensing 'pop' might be used, if you can't get a refillable steel bottle. The CO2 doesn't just give a head, it acts as a 'blanket' to stop off-flavours and oxidation occuring.

I want it as a "blanket". And I need fairly large quantities. But I can't be bothered with all the faff of dealing with the likes of BOC. I know that some industry colleagues come to an arrangement with a local pub and might go down that route.

[jcm@gwr]

Re the CO2 bottles, try your local car acc. shop,

it sounds like the cyl. used for MIG welding

[Joseph_Pestell]

Re the CO2 bottles, try your local car acc. shop,

it sounds like the cyl. used for MIG welding

 

I don't know much about welding (nearly got the opportunity to learn when working in an engineering co. and greatly regret that it did not happen). But surely not CO2???

[Horsetan]

Re the CO2 bottles, try your local car acc. shop,

it sounds like the cyl. used for MIG welding

Welding with homemade beer. Hmmmm...