Newbie Questions

[DrewCarey82]

Something anything please!

 

[barls]

the same as is what i do

 

[Ross]

When priming ginger beer do I need to prime it any differently to normal beer or just do it the same way?

Cheers.

[post="102316"][/post]​

DC,

Depends on whether you want it carbonated to the same level as your normal beer - If so, yes - If not, adjust up or down accordingly...

cheers Ross

 

[davewalk]

Gday all. This is my first post and I hope I'm in the right area to ask questions.
I recently bought a Coopers kit after tasting a homebrew from a local bloke who's small farm I sold and have bottled 2 brews using the PET bottles provided which seem like a good method, however I would prefer to use stubbies from now on
( it's great to tell the wife how urgent it is to have to buy more boxes of beer and drink em quick so that I have a supply of bottles for the next brew).
My question is can the twist tops be washed, sterilized and re-used on the stubbies they came off?
Also, the local brew supply store bloke has talked me into doing a Ginger beer brew for my boys ( rather slick salesman, should employ him) and I thought I'd collect and use regular soft drink PET bottles but as these come in various sizes I was wondering if there is a formula for calculating the amount of sugar for each bottle ie grams per mililitre.
I can see how this hobby can become an obsession as I find myself going downstairs many times times a day to check on the brew and sit mesmerised by the gas escaping through the airlock and worrying about the temperature being right. My boys who are 8 & 10 are heavily involved, helping with the whole process and tasting the beer after we check the sg, they've become instant taste critics. I've had one doing the bottling whilst the other does the capping and we're all loking forward to next Thursday when we sample our first bottle. Trust good old beer to enhance family unity! B)

 

[dirk]

davewalk i havnt heard of reusing the twist top caps anyway they are cheap enough to buy from hb shops. stubbies and longnecks are the way to go. as for the soft drink bottles never done them myself but belive they work. dont know the formula for the sugar but i am shure someone else will know that one.

cheers
dirk

 

[Stuster]

If you have lots of different sized bottles, the best thing may be to try bulk priming. It is another step, (I hope you are not reading this PoL) but I think it'll make your life easier. Have a look at Doc's excellent Frequently Requested Links/Topics thread, and check out the first Bulk Priming Link. It's really not that hard and, for me at least, saves heaps of time.

Glad to hear the obsession is taking hold. There's no looking back now.

It's not a habit, it's cool,....

Cheers
Stuart

 

[Prof. Pils]

Depends on how long U want to condition yr bottles Davewalk. For 18lt I bulk prime with 60g dextrose if the're going to be more than 3 mths, more up to 100g if U want to drink sooner.The longer U leave it , the more bubbles.No matter what yr 1st brew tastes like, each successive one will be better. Good luck.
Cheers Glenn.

 

[davewalk]

davewalk i havnt heard of reusing the twist top caps anyway they are cheap enough to buy from hb shops. stubbies and longnecks are the way to go. as for the soft drink bottles never done them myself but belive they work. dont know the formula for the sugar but i am shure someone else will know that one.

cheers
dirk

[post="102703"][/post]​

Thanks Dirk,

just thought I'd try the original tops to see if friends noticed a difference when unknowingly drinking hb.
Cheers
Dave

 

[davewalk]

If you have lots of different sized bottles, the best thing may be to try bulk priming. It is another step, (I hope you are not reading this PoL) but I think it'll make your life easier. Have a look at Doc's excellent Frequently Requested Links/Topics thread, and check out the first Bulk Priming Link. It's really not that hard and, for me at least, saves heaps of time.

Glad to hear the obsession is taking hold. There's no looking back now.

It's not a habit, it's cool,....

Cheers
Stuart

[post="102706"][/post]​

Thanks Stu, will check it out.
Dave

 

[mika]

Twist tops can be had from ~$3 per 100, you could probably re-use them but the risk of infection is really high compared to the price.
If you can't get to the HBS too often, you can bulk buy something like 10,000 for $120

Search the forum for "carbonation" there was a thread running somewhere for the grams per litre rate of most brews, not sure about Ginger Beer though.

Welcome to the Hobby and the forum !

 

[davewalk]

Depends on how long U want to condition yr bottles Davewalk. For 18lt I bulk prime with 60g dextrose if the're going to be more than 3 mths, more up to 100g if U want to drink sooner.The longer U leave it , the more bubbles.No matter what yr 1st brew tastes like, each successive one will be better. Good luck.
Cheers Glenn.

[post="102707"][/post]​

Thanks Glenn, as it's Ginger beer for the kids they'll not be wanting to wait too long to drink it so maybe I'll try around 120g for 23 litres. How's that sound?


Cheers
Dave

 

[bradmcm]

Thanks Glenn, as it's Ginger beer for the kids they'll not be wanting to wait too long to drink it so maybe I'll try around 120g for 23 litres. How's that sound?

Cheers
Dave

[post="102713"][/post]​

That's quite a light carbonation, around 5g/L. Which is great
if you want it to be fairly flat.
If you want it at a high fizz level go for around 8g/L.

 

[PistolPatch]

Hey there Dave!

Wrote a response to you about an hour ago but must have pressed a wrong button!

I did a search for you and you could have a look at this...

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=bulk%20priming

Also you could try searching (top right corner) for "priming bottles", "bulk priming", etc.

Anyway. my last post had more info!!!! I am only new to this site but it is great, so read as much as you can. I have so far brewed 125 litres of really bad beer which all could have been avoided if I'd known about this site!

If you have any questions you think are too basic to ask, message me and if i don't know the answer, I'll ask for you!

Cheers!

 

[Uncle Fester]

I just used the "benchmark" of a teaspoon of sugar for a longneck to mean half a teaspoon for a stubby or a Grolsh bottle.

Also equates to 8 teaspoons for a 6 litre Tap a Draft bottle, and hence 2 teaspoons for a 1.5 litre PET etc....

If I ever am unsusre about a measure, I go conservative (eg for a 1.25 litre bottle I would use 1.5 teaspoons, and not 2). never had anything blow up yet h34r:


Otherwise, as everyone else has mentioned, Bulk Priming seems to be the way to go.


M

 

[davewalk]

Twist tops can be had from ~$3 per 100, you could probably re-use them but the risk of infection is really high compared to the price.
If you can't get to the HBS too often, you can bulk buy something like 10,000 for $120

Search the forum for "carbonation" there was a thread running somewhere for the grams per litre rate of most brews, not sure about Ginger Beer though.

Welcome to the Hobby and the forum !

[post="102711"][/post]​

Thanks everyone for your help, I think I'll go the way of bulk priming and coincidentally I've had a friend drop off his old brewing kit today so I can use that
fermenter for this.

God, all this writing is making me thirsty..... B)

 

[DrewCarey82]

Guys,

Off Ebay I've brought some hop pellets cascade to be exact, do I just dissolve them in a teacup and throw them in with my kits n bits when making my wort?

And how much should I use in a 20 litre mix.

Cheers.

 

[Samwise Gamgee]

Depends what effects you want from hops.

Do you want flavour? bittering? aroma?

In regards to amount, what purpose are you using it for? Then it will depend on how much of that effect you want (eg if you want a strong aroma you'll use more etc)

need more details

 

[Ross]

Guys,

Off Ebay I've brought some hop pellets cascade to be exact, do I just dissolve them in a teacup and throw them in with my kits n bits when making my wort?

And how much should I use in a 20 litre mix.

Cheers.

[post="103669"][/post]​

Drew,

I'd be dry hopping to secondary - IE do not dissolve in water - just add loose, direct to your cube/fermenter after racking to secondary. I would suggest a hopping rate of 1gm/Litre to start (I use at least double this in APA's) & leave for minimum 3 days, ideally 7...

Cheers Ross...

 

[DrewCarey82]

Yeah aroma and flavour not bittering.

Will do and thanks for the advice Ross.

 

[Samwise Gamgee]

the dry hop will sort you out for aroma.

you could boil up some for about 15 mins in about a 500ml water then add to fermenter with your kit and sugars etc.

I've never done it but would assume it would do the job.