Another Complete Newbie.....

[daveyk]

Hey yall,

Just thought I would say hi. At the moment I'm a brewing virgin but hope to change this soon. Busy reading and researching to aviod as many pitfalls as I can on my first attempt.

Managed to pick up some basic equipement from Ebay, thermometer, hydrometer, crown capper, test tube thingy! Also busy collecting bottle 'cause "i can't wait to get going" (but dont want to end up with 5gals of beer and nowhere to put it).

I do have a few questions thought and hope you all might be able to help...

1) Where do you all get your bottles from? I'm opting for the reusing route by drinking as much as I can and getting friends / family to save the bottles.

2) How do you prepare your bottles.... so far I have soaked in warm water and scrubbed with a scourer thing to remove labels and glues.... I'm assuming these will need to be steralised prior to use.

3) The location i have my eye on for my fermenting bin is the cupboard under the stairs... I've been monitoring the temperature and it consistently sits between 16.5 and 18 degrees C. I'm thinking this is a little cool.

Right so here is the real topic!!! WHAT SHOULD I BREW FIRST??

I think I would probably prefer to drink larger but would it be more advisable to start with ale? If I was going for the ale, I would be after somthing fairly light.... my fave draught beer is Black Sheep Best... what kits would people recomend? i'm after a high sucess rate.

Cost of the kit is not so important.. I don't want to save a few quid at the expense of flavour....

Any help MUCH appreciated.

Dave.

[dean_bpm]

There is a guy i work worth who drinks 4 bottles of newcastle brown a night so i have an endless supply of bottles off him

All i do is soak them in the bath to get labels off them and give them a scrub then before i come to actually use them i sterilise them in the bath with VWP powder (available from your local home brew shop) then give them a good rinse after.

[booldawg]

Always worth tapping up your local pub. I struck lucky and was given over 100 Bulmers Cider bottles with crates.

To sterilise I pour in a bleach dilute (3ml bleach to 1 litre of water). I fill up about 8 bottles a time, let them soak for 20 minutes and then pour into the next 8 bottles (as I'm tight). I then rinse off with cold tap water about 3 times per bottle. I do this a day before the brew is ready. Last time the brew took a few days longer to ferment so I hope the bottles are OK!

I then stand the bottles upside down in the crates to drain.

A 28p 2 litre bottle of bleach has lasted me for 4 brews (all equipment and bottles)

Kit wise I'd be tempted to try a Brupacks 'Pride of Yorkshire' range. Fixby Gold is good.

[nicktherockstar]

brupacks brewers choice all the way

chuffin awesome kits

[nicktherockstar]

you might notice theres a theme of brupacks....

[oxford brewer]

Brown bottles are better for storage as clear glass can lead to skunking of the beer.
After drinking the contents rinse the bottles out a few times(you dont need to get rid of the labels if you dont want to )and leave to dry(inverted if you can)then wrap a piece of tin foil over the opening and store until needed.
I use a no rinse sanitiser(betadine) and just 1/4 fill the bottles with sanitiser and swirl it round the bottle a couple of times(the contact time needed is for me 2 minutes,others on this forum will have different times in mind)and allow to drip dry.
Fermentation temp is a little low,try for 20c but should be ok with a blanket or so wrapped around it.

As for what kit to get!!!you could try Brupaks Fixby Gold.

[Curious Brew]

I'm going to buck the trend here, I'm a noob myself and have just done my first kit - a Cooper's one-can kit with an added kilo of spray malt.

Found it very easy to make up and it got so lively last night it made a mess on the floor. Dirty boy!

[HomeBrewSels]

I've just completed my first succesful brew (dont ask about the first one!) and it was lovely - Brupacks Colne Valley bitter. I was leaning more towards a lager kit but this was a real success.

By the way, if I'd found this website earlier, I could've been confirming my 2nd successful brew...

[Wauny]

I re-use bottles, definitely use brown bottles as Oxford Brewer says. Rinse out well after use, then I gave my last lot a wash in soda crystals as they had been laying around a while.

I did all this on the same day as bottling:

Soaked in a bleach solution (3ml per litre of water, tesco value thin bleach, unscented - the thin bleach rinses off easily) for 20 minutes. I used a 25l FV and got around 15 bottles in that.

Rinsed 3 times in cold water, then I gave them a quick rinse in sodium metabisulphite solution to neutralise any traces of chlorine left from the bleach. This doesn't need to be rinsed either.

And away you go.

Regarding a good beer, I'd recommend from the Brupaks Pride of Yorkshire range 'Almondbury Old' if you like dark, rich malty brews (perfect for this time of the year )

[oxford brewer]

By the way, if I'd found this website earlier, I could've been confirming my 2nd successful brew...

All in good time HBS

But anyway tell us about the 1st one

[daveyk]

Well... this weekend has seen a few developments....

Managed to get to the local HBS. Came away with Brupacks Pride of Yorkshire "Birkby Bitter"

Need to fit out the understairs cupboard with some shelves and then get the kit going.... so watch this space, I'll let you know how it goes.

As a little point, I was planning to brew the kit as per the instuctions... do people think this is a good idea or are there any 'mods' you would advise?

Dave.

[CrownCap]

Birkby was the first 5 gallon kit I did earlier this year. I went with the basic Brupaks instructions and it came out very well. Its a good malty, not too hoppy ale and was extremely moreish!

Having tinkered with a few kits and left others 'as is' I'm now of the opinion that most premium kits are best left as the manufacturer intended.