New To Brewing

[Fingerlickin_B]

It sounds to me like it would be a good idea to have a barrel with two taps at the bottom. Would this be an easy modification to do?

No, but still very possible. Just depends on how "handy" you are.

Personally I haven't had problems with infections from the tap yet. Has anyone actually experienced this problem, or is it rare enough to ignore?

Remove, dismantle and clean the tap every time you clean your fermenter...it's super-rare then.

PZ.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

i bought a brewkit from brewcraft and ive put off brewing it for a week or so. is it best to keep it in the fridge??

Considering what is has been through during its trip from the point of manufacture to your shopping bag, I'd say it hardly matters...just pop it in the cupboard until the time comes to use it.

PZ.

 

[OCC]

it's cool, did you get it outta the fridge at the hb shop ?????
put the yeast in the fridge if it is liquid !

 

[petesbrew]

Righto, here's another dumb arsed question from me re: hydrometers

There's an engineer in my office who's relatively new to the HB scene. Been talking to him lately, only cos I heard him talking about starting... other than that, well, you know what engineers are like!

I mean, I'm only a kit brewer, brewing for only 2 years, and I still reckon I know sweet FA about it all.
He, as all engineers, comes across like he knows it all. Asked him how his latest Malt Shovel Oatmeal stout came out, and what the percentage was. His reply was "Na, i'm not interested in using the hydrometer."
WTF!?!?!

Yeah, he just takes it off at 7 days. But what if it hasn't finished? "Well it just goes into the secondary fermentation stage in the bottle, and I'm only using plastic. And I like the lower percentage beers".

I'm sorry but what an absolute knob.

 

[tarlox]

Righto, here's another dumb arsed question from me re: hydrometers

There's an engineer in my office who's relatively new to the HB scene. Been talking to him lately, only cos I heard him talking about starting... other than that, well, you know what engineers are like!

I mean, I'm only a kit brewer, brewing for only 2 years, and I still reckon I know sweet FA about it all.
He, as all engineers, comes across like he knows it all. Asked him how his latest Malt Shovel Oatmeal stout came out, and what the percentage was. His reply was "Na, i'm not interested in using the hydrometer."
WTF!?!?!

Yeah, he just takes it off at 7 days. But what if it hasn't finished? "Well it just goes into the secondary fermentation stage in the bottle, and I'm only using plastic. And I like the lower percentage beers".

I'm sorry but what an absolute knob.

I tend to use a hydrometer, but not always. However, my father and both brothers in law don't use them at all and I don't think they are knobs . In fact, they make some great beers. :beerbang:

 

[blackbock]

Righto, here's another dumb arsed question from me re: hydrometers

There's an engineer in my office who's relatively new to the HB scene. Been talking to him lately, only cos I heard him talking about starting... other than that, well, you know what engineers are like!
...
His reply was "Na, i'm not interested in using the hydrometer."
WTF!?!?!

Yeah, he just takes it off at 7 days.
I'm sorry but what an absolute knob.

Maybe he should move down here to the south coast - I regularly meet old farts who have been "brewing for years" who insist that there is nothing better than Coopers Lager and 1kg cane sugar. Some of them even ask the LHBS for out of date cans for "half price" because there's "nothing wrong with it". Yeah Right. Each to their own I suppose... :lol:

 

[Brooksy]

Wouldn't worry too much about it Pete.
A mate of mine has been brewing the same kits for years and no longer uses a hydrometer. His environment is pretty well controlled - more by accident than design. Same kit, same dextrose, same time, same charge, same bottles. No detonations, ever.

Almost the same as Blackbock's, but his is Coopers Lager + 1kg Dextrose in 25 litres.

When your injunear has blown a few bottles he'll either give brewing away or use a hydrometer.

 

[petesbrew]

Wouldn't worry too much about it Pete.
A mate of mine has been brewing the same kits for years and no longer uses a hydrometer. His environment is pretty well controlled - more by accident than design. Same kit, same dextrose, same time, same charge, same bottles. No detonations, ever.

Almost the same as Blackbock's, but his is Coopers Lager + 1kg Dextrose in 25 litres.

When your injunear has blown a few bottles he'll either give brewing away or use a hydrometer.

Fair enough then. Apologies to all non-hydrometer users if any offence was caused. :beer:
Just this bloke is a knob

 

[Adamt]

What a complete and utter disgrace to engineers everywhere. Being a new brewer and not using a hydrometer is asking to get warm smelly beer splattered everywhere courtesy of bottle bombs.

I hope for the engineer's sake he was just being smart; he may have a refractometer.

 

[Brooksy]

Fair enough then. Apologies to all non-hydrometer users if any offence was caused. :beer:
Just this bloke is a knob

No offence taken Pete.

Yeah ol' mate used a hydrometer for about 3 or 4 months then saw it as a complete waste of perfectly good beer. The seals on his fermenters (2) really don't hold enough pressure to make the airlock bubble, but enough to hold a differenial level in it. Everything is wrong (as some might see it), but old mate can tell by smell and looking down the A/L at the brew surface just when it is time to bottle. Every brew is the same, boring, but the same. That's his bag, lives right out of town and is drinking good cheap beer. Will not drink anything under 5 months in the bottle, normally 6 months minimum.

He's got a great view from his front verandah - South side of a hill looking South down the Pages River Valley as it heads towards the Hunter River. Sitting there knocking down a jug or 2. :chug:

Geeze life's a worry.......


I.B.
P.S. My total brewing exp. is about 5 or 6 years breaks excluded. He's been doing it about 25 - 30 years continuous.

 

[simpletotoro]

The trouble with taking samples from the tap is that you'll get a sticky goo in the tap, which can lead to infecting all your bottles if you use it then. Also, you need to remove the airlock to avoid sucking its contents into the fermenter.

I'd say use the tap for samples OR bottling, not both.

i've often wondered about this as well...i reckon they should make taps with 2 heads on the single thread can't be that bloody hard ...maybe they already do..
cheers simple

 

[petesbrew]

What a complete and utter disgrace to engineers everywhere. Being a new brewer and not using a hydrometer is asking to get warm smelly beer splattered everywhere courtesy of bottle bombs.

I hope for the engineer's sake he was just being smart; he may have a refractometer.

Yeah, I mean it comes with the Coopers kit.. why not use it? Helps you to understand a bit about brewing.

I'd say he doesn't have a refractometer.... he's the kinda bloke to say "well, IIII have a refractometer, aren't I gooooood?!?!"
There's one in every office.

 

[sudsmcduff]

im new to brewin my self and yes there are nobs everywhere im a shearer my self and know plenty

 

[Woggy_g]

Hi All,

I see in some places the LME is boiled and in some they are just dumped into the fermenter with hot water. I am so confused - as a newby that has not brewed yet and about to start a brew i'm lost.

what does the boiling give over the mixing with hot water ?

 

[boybrewer]

When I first started brewing all I did was tip everything into a sanitsed fermenter screw the lid on take a hydrometer reading ( so I know what the alcohol % will be in the end ) chuck in the yeast and keep the ALE under 20* C so it won't taste like **** , take a few hydro readings after a week or two , so I would KNOW it was finished fermenting and bottle straight from the tap no issues and no bottle bombs cause I knew IT HAD FINISHED FERMENTING . It would sit in the fridge for a week or two or three or four once I get motivated to bottle it . This was to let the yeast settle and the beer to clear give the tap a clean with some sanitiser and bottle . RDWHAHB . Yes you go through the phase of did I do anything wrong cause it's not bubbling no it was just the lid was not sealed properly and the Co2 was leaking out the side .Now I just the rubber O ring from under the lid as a giant rubber band and glad wrap no airlocks to worry about and I can see what is going on . Just read and read some more watch some U - Tube videos and after the 3rd or 4th brew you will relax and won't worry about it until it has done its thing .

Now I have moved on to All Grain and built a series of brew stands and won a few prizes for my beers all I do now is RDHAHB and sanitise which is MOST important and keep the ale under 20*C and the lagers under 12*C.

 

[Coodgee]

Hi All,

I see in some places the LME is boiled and in some they are just dumped into the fermenter with hot water. I am so confused - as a newby that has not brewed yet and about to start a brew i'm lost.

what does the boiling give over the mixing with hot water ?

Depends what you are doing. With extract brewing, boiling serves two purposes; to sanitise the malt extract to eliminate organisms that could cause infection in your finished product and secondly to cause chemical compounds in the hops (alpha acids) to change (isomerise) which adds bitter flavour to the beer.


If by LME you mean Liquid Malt Extract, and it's coming out of a sealed can then it will already be sanitised so you won't need to boil it for that purpose. If you are talking about powdered LME then you need to should probably boil it for at least 15 minutes to kill any bugs. You might get away with not boiling it but it's probably best to be on the safe side. Also if you have liquid malt extract that has been dispensed from a big tub of it at a home brew shop and exposed to the air then you also need to should probably sanitise it through boiling. But if your recipe calls for un-hopped LME then you will need to add some LME, water and hops and boil it according to your recipe. If you just add hops to the fermenter with un-hopped LME then you won't get any bitterness in your beer.

Also happy 11th birthday to this thread.

 

[Woggy_g]

Depends what you are doing. With extract brewing, boiling serves two purposes; to sanitise the malt extract to eliminate organisms that could cause infection in your finished product and secondly to cause chemical compounds in the hops (alpha acids) to change (isomerise) which adds bitter flavour to the beer.


If by LME you mean Liquid Malt Extract, and it's coming out of a sealed can then it will already be sanitised so you won't need to boil it for that purpose. If you are talking about powdered LME then you need to should probably boil it for at least 15 minutes to kill any bugs. You might get away with not boiling it but it's probably best to be on the safe side. Also if you have liquid malt extract that has been dispensed from a big tub of it at a home brew shop and exposed to the air then you also need to should probably sanitise it through boiling. But if your recipe calls for un-hopped LME then you will need to add some LME, water and hops and boil it according to your recipe. If you just add hops to the fermenter with un-hopped LME then you won't get any bitterness in your beer.

Also happy 11th birthday to this thread.

Yes- i should have specified.. It is a can of Coopers australian pale ale liquid malt extract. I have a kg of dextrose / light malt that will be added.
20g of mosaic hops to be added as well.

it looks like the boil is the way to go .

 

[Woggy_g]

first brew went in now. made it per instructions. lets see how she goes.

 

[boybrewer]

Try and keep the ferment under 20*C it will make a far better beer . Do you have any temperature control or is it just sitting somewhere out of the light ?

 

[Rocker1986]

Some interesting comments on the first page of this thread. "Don't take SG samples and bottle from the same tap because the samples will leave residue in the tap which could cause infection." Obviously never heard of spraying out the tap with Starsan or whatever after taking the sample. I've always done it that way and never had any infections in bottles at all. :icon_cheers: