Young's Beer Buddy - Help!

[Dirk]

Hi
Me and my flatmate have bought a Young's Beer Buddy kit, neither of us having brewed before.
We've just got to the fermentation stage (put it in our airing cupboard) and only just (stupidly) decided to look into buying a pressure barrel. We've realised that we are way out of our depth and have no idea what we are doing here so are looking for some info and help concerning what it is we need to buy as we need to sort it out sharpish. What we need to know is:
How does a barrel work?
Is it just a barrel thats needed? (as I've seen talk of something called an S30 valve??)
Can we buy a second hand barrel?
How do we use the hydrometer properly?
and any other information you think we may need about the process that I havent mentioned.

as I said earlier we are brand new to this so literally any information and help we can get will be much appreciated.
Thanks very much

[fatnurse]

"How does a barrel work?"- It holds your beer and it dispenses when you want to drink it

"Is it just a barrel thats needed? (as I've seen talk of something called an S30 valve??)"-most (if not all) new plastic barrels will have a S30 valve fitted to the cap, so you will need a S30 Co2 cylinder..oh and a syphon tube to get your beer from your fermentor into the barrel.

"Can we buy a second hand barrel?"-yes

"How do we use the hydrometer properly"-by reading the instructions that come with it, its really not difficult

good luck

Cheers

Matt

[Dirk]

Cheers matt, sorry if these seem like stupid questions, just want to make sure I do everthing right

So we can just leave the beer in the barrel until we have drunk it all?

I've tried to test the hydrometer like it said on the instructions but it just sink's to the bottom and and doesnt rise like it said it would :S

thanks for the info on the valve, another thing if im using a gas cylinder I assume the pressure or Co2 conent in the barrel has to be kept at a certain level, if so how is this done?

Thanks

[Jack Hackett]

I've tried to test the hydrometer like it said on the instructions but it just sink's to the bottom and and doesnt rise like it said it would :S

You need a deep enough vessel to use it in, a pint glass is not deep enough, a 'Trial Jar' is much better as they are about 24cm high/deep or leave it floating in the fermenting bucket.

another thing if im using a gas cylinder I assume the pressure or Co2 content in the barrel has to be kept at a certain level, if so how is this done?

pure judgement without fitting some fancy pressure gauge, you'll soon get to know what pressure is about right.

[fatnurse]

" another thing if im using a gas cylinder I assume the pressure or Co2 content in the barrel has to be kept at a certain level, if so how is this done?"-good rule of thumb is if your beer is coming out really slow or not at all you need more co2, if is gushing out, there's too much, there is a rubber ring aroung the s30 valve, you can displace this to release pressure.


As for hydrometer, are you plopping it straight in the fermenter? (I leave mine in there during the whole process) if it's sinking to the bottom in that it looks like you have a faulty hydrometer...

Oh and there are no stupid questions..... Just questions people stupidly don't ask....

I do recommend getting yourself a brew book, I have 'how to brew'-John Palmer and 'radical brewing'-Randy Mosher(gotta love that name), I prefer 'radical brewing' but the J Palmer book is very good tech wise.

Be prepared for brewing to be come very addictive, I starting brewing with kits in November just gone and I just completed my 6th all grain brew last night

And remember to relax, brewing is well zen

[gregv12345]

Hello,

I just read you post and I was inthe same position as yourself a few months back, used a brew buddy kit and carried ontfrom there...Here's some tips from me.

Pressure barrel - you can buy one with a bottom tap from Wilkinson for about twenty quid I think, the cheapest & simplest ones don't have any CO2 valve on the lid, you just screw it on & leave it!

Hydrometer, you'll need a trial jar, or just bung it in your FV after you've cleaned it as thoroughly as you can with sanitising solution or bleach (and rinsed it thoroughly).

If you figure out the hydrometer, then wait until the reading on it doesn't change for 3 days, then you are ready to barrel it. If yuo don't figure it out, then just leave it for 10-14 days and do it anyway.

To barrel it, sanitise your barrel. remove some beer from the FV into a saucepan (without contaminating it), heat it and stir 85g of sugar into it (or however much the instructions tell you) and put that in the pressure barrel. Put your FV on a stool/table/chair and the pressure barrel on the floor. Fill your sanitised hose with water from the tap, with your finger over the top end of the hose, drop the other end into the pressure barrel and then put the top end just under the surface in the FV, voila, beer will flow! Keep the bottom end of the hose under the surface as you don't want to unsettle it. You'll find you can get almost all of the clear beer out from the FV without sucking up the yeast.

When it's all gone, remove the hose and screw the lid on the barrel. Leave it in the warm for a week. This is called secondary fermentation during which time CO2 is being produced, but don't worry, the lid is designed to release excess pressure. After a week move it into the cold for a couple of weeks (a month they say but I've never managed that long!).

When you pour it will be under pressure so you'll get a good head. If it doesn't taste nice, just leave it a few more days. As the barrel drains the pressure will drop. At the point where there is insufficient pressure to push the beer out you will have to loosen the lid a bit, try not to let air bubble through the beer from the tap though. CO2 will continue to be released by the beer which will protect it to an extent.... you'll find that 8-10 weeks after barrelling it will start to go a bit flat but there's no way it's gonna last that long with 2 of you quaffing it down is there....

Hope that helps, sorry if I'm repeating what others are saying. It was a reasonable pint, and I will try it again soon.

[Dirk]

Thanks guys, this has been really helpful,

Got the hydrometer working now (test jar wasn't deep enough). Thanks for the book suggestion fatnurse i'll look into.

Greg your info has been priceless, just been down to wilkinson's typically they were out of stock so will be going down later in the week to collect a barrel when they get some more in. I really appreciate the step by step guide, no doubt I will be referring to it a lot over the next few weeks.

Thanks again

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I would recommend a nice easy book to Start with.

Grahams BYOBRA is as easy to follow as any book for a beginner into Brewing.

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSear ... pe=Froogle

I would also recommend checking out Horden Hillbillys site as he has some really good step by step how to guides.

http://uk-homebrew.tripod.com/index.html