1st time home brewer- couple quesitons

[mongey]

heya

a long time beer lover nad 1st time brewer. for my birthday my sister got me a 26 litre plastic carboy and all the bits and peices and a fresh wort kit. had no idea what i was doing but with allot of google,and a couple phone calls to the brew shop where she got it , got it all in the fermenter yesterday and it seems to be doing the buisness

just have 2 quesitons. I have the carboy in my back room which is cool and pretty dim . no direct sunlight gets in there but a bit of ambient light. do I need to cover the fermenter from the light ?

Also I have figured out I'm gonna be a little short on bottles . been drinking a bit of Batch brewry stuff here in sydney and it comes in 660ml longnecks with no twist top. they seem perfect . I got the carbonation beads with all the stuff .says to use 2 for a 750ml . is it ok to use 2 for a 660ml ? same with small bottles . ok to use 1 for a 330ml ? ratehr not have exploding bottles in the back room pissing off the wife

Thanks

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Hey there,

Firstly welcome. You'll find a massive amount of information on AHB that will see you through your brewing journey.

With regard to the ambient light - it's not ideal, I prefer to keep my beer in the dark, but I've not had anything particularly nasty with ambient light. Direct light and heat (above 21 degrees for Ale Yeasts) are the biggest killers.

With relation to your priming (that's the word for sugar in bottle to carbonate) - another couple of options might be:

1. Ask around/gumtree/put a wanted to acquire for tallies that will fit your drops. There's usually someone (especially if you live in a capital) that is looking to offload them for nothing or near enough to.
2. Look at bulk priming. Basically that means dissolving the entire amount of sugar needed to bottle a batch and putting it into a second fermenter (the 'water drums' from Bunnings are cheap, food grade and do a good job) and 'racking' (transferring) your fermented beer onto it and bottling from there. Make sure sanitisation are up to scratch though.

 

[Grott]

Also welcome to you and good advice from the Lord Raja. I put the black bin liners over my fermenters to block out the light, works well. I have also used 1 sugar tab for 330ml bottles and 2 for the 660ml ones in the past without any problems and winter is the best time to do this. However I'd look to build stocks of 750ml bottles.
Cheers

 

[mongey]

Thanks for the welcomes


cool. I'll chuck a couple heavy black garbage bags when I get home this arvo over it to be safe. guess put a hole in the top for the breather ?

looks like i'll be drinking some non twist top 750 ml lonmgnecks over the neck couple weeks while ferementing

I actally have a bit of a stock pile of Duvel 750mls at the moment as I've been splurging .have to see if the caps will fit on those

 

[Grott]

You can put a hole in the top for the breather however I tend to leave it so the co2 bubbling out sort of encases the fermenter, but its no big deal. Talk to your local pub yard person and see if you can collect some bottles, the Coopers ones are great.
Cheers

 

[beercus]

Start drinking coopers sparkling in the long necks. Best local bottles... or get onto gumtree or evil bay and look for some old school bottles

beercus

 

[mongey]

Is there anything special about the sparkling longnecks over the others from coopers ? good stout weather, can polish off a few of those cooper stout a week pretty easy ,not a fan of the pale ale at all



also brewing the fresh wort kit finest brewing sparkling ale

this one.

http://www.esbrewing.com.au/beer-making/wort-kits/finest-round-wort-kits/finest-round-sparkling-ale-wort-kit.html

the website says 12 to 21 degress. my back room is pretty cool and the temp gauge on the carboy is showing 15 at this stage.

any benefit moving it to a slightly warmer room

 

[luggy]

Any of the coopers long necks are good, they're my preferred bottle

 

[wereprawn]

If it gets any colder in that room the yeast might knock off work early and go to sleep, so to speak. In general ale yeasts perform well at 18c.

 

[mongey]

thanks for the help everyone

was a little slow for the 1st 24 hours with a thin layer on top but overnght delevloped a pretty thick layer .not bubbling yet but it must be getting there . temp also went up from 15 to 16.5 , guess thats the fermenatation happening . gotta say when I saw that krausen , is that right term ?, this morning I think I may be hooked .I figure a few batches with the fresh wort kit to get this side of it down then I'll try getting a little more involved

am a big Chimay trapist and Duvel fan at the monet. so eyeing off the dark belgian dubble and the belgian golden ale fresh wort kits for the next batch. if its even half drinkable its gonna save me a ton of $

 

[yankinoz]

The plastic in the fermenters sold in Australia seems generally to be a pliable PVC. It stops most UV, but not all. Shading from strong light might therefore be a good idea, but watch temperature. Fermentation to five percent abv produces plenty of heat, which would raise the temperature about 30 degrees if all the heat were retained. Luckily PVC also passes heat easily, and I've never measured more than a two degree difference between ambient and wort temperatures. But if you put a plastic bag over it and create a dead air space, it could go higher. That could be good or bad, depending on ambient temperature. To vent the bag or not to vent, that is the question. Keep a watch.

 

[barabool]

"if its even half drinkable its gonna save me a ton of $"

LOL
You ever wonder why some of the old guys reply with 'Welcome to the slippery slope'
If you last the initial disappointments and challenges - you will eventually develop a kryptonite like aversion to most tap beers at the average Coles/Woolworths run pubs.
Your hop and grain bill will start to grow and it won't be about the price, its about the taste.
Welcome to a 'Hobby' - a hobby never saves you money.
P.S - but its totally worth it. 100%.

Cheers

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

LOL
You ever wonder why some of the old guys reply with 'Welcome to the slippery slope'
If you last the initial disappointments and challenges - you will eventually develop a kryptonite like aversion to most tap beers at the average Coles/Woolworths run pubs.
Your hop and grain bill will start to grow and it won't be about the price, its about the taste.
Welcome to a 'Hobby' - a hobby never saves you money.
P.S - but its totally worth it. 100%.

Cheers

Flamin' good call this one.

 

[mongey]

LOL
You ever wonder why some of the old guys reply with 'Welcome to the slippery slope'
If you last the initial disappointments and challenges - you will eventually develop a kryptonite like aversion to most tap beers at the average Coles/Woolworths run pubs.
Your hop and grain bill will start to grow and it won't be about the price, its about the taste.
Welcome to a 'Hobby' - a hobby never saves you money.
P.S - but its totally worth it. 100%.

Cheers

my major distraction is playing music in a couple of projects. dont worry . I'm well aware of the cost of hobbies , and so is my wife

 

[maxim0200]

Youl be kegging your own AG (all grain) before you know it.

As mentioned defiantly check out bulk priming and double check your calculations.
Use thick heavy bottles where you can the coopers 750ml are great.
Also store your beer in a cool area.
I did the opposite to all of these and nearly lost an eye from the exploding bottle, don't be put off bu this just be careful.

 

[mongey]

Way home from work bought a case of coppers stout longies. Will polish them off in time for bottling and will now have enough 750ml to cover it . Will just use the drops in 750 mls for the 1st brew. Will use the 660ml and bulk priming for the next batch. Happy to play it simple for 1st bottling.

48 hours in , brew is looking good. No bubbling yet but it has jumped up to 18 degrees. Will keep my eye on the temp now. Really interesting process.

 

[Burt de Ernie]

+1 for bulk priming.

When I bottle, a lot of the time I will use a mixture 750, 650, 500 and 330 ml bottles. When you bulk prime, bottle size isn't even a consideration as carbonation rates will all be equal.

 

[beercus]

Look at getting a bottle tree and rinser. Makes bottling day much easier...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bottle-Draining-Tree-Bottle-Rinser-Brewsanitize-home-brew-supplies-brewing-kits-/280903654252

Beercus

 

[beercus]

+1 for bulk priming.When I bottle, a lot of the time I will use a mixture 750, 650, 500 and 330 ml bottles. When you bulk prime, bottle size isn't even a consideration as carbonation rates will all be equal.

The only thing I hate about different size bottles, especially the 330's are the different heights, have to keep adjusting the capper! PITA

+1 for bulk prime.... Get on it....

Beercus

 

[Burt de Ernie]

The only thing I hate about different size bottles, especially the 330's are the different heights, have to keep adjusting the capper! PITA

+1 for bulk prime.... Get on it....

Beercus

Its definitely a pain when bottling but on the other side is always nice not to have always open a tallie.