Home Brew Help.

[Franco Pipenbeans]

So, the world has gone mad; prices are going in one direction and one direction alone .
A pint of my favourite has now gone up to £4.60; this is untenable, especially if the threat of energy prices spiralling upwards is added to the mix so I’ve been looking at home brewing some beer.

I’ve personally never done home brew - an Uncle used to make something he quaintly called “Hedgerow Wine” which my dad used to say was worse than drinking Jeye’s Fluid!

In terms of equipment, what do I need?

A bucket or a barrel to mix and ferment? Thermometer? Yeast? Something to sterilise vessels?

Do you need to bottle it up or can you leave it in the bucket?

How long will it last for before going off? 40 pints is quite a lot to drink if the drink:rotten ratio is short?

Any hints and tips?

All help gratefully received.

 

[badbeard]

I've been homebrewing for about 10 years now, and the equipment will depend on your goal.
Bare basics for Ale brewing using a malt extract and some specialty additives (like caramel malt, etc):
Large, preferably stainless pot, 5 gallons or so (19L)
A large, long metal(again stainless if you can) spoon for mixing.
Some mesh bags for the hops, or a fine sieve to strain them out of the wort.
For fermenter you can use a 5 gal bucket, or you can get glass carboys for the purpose.
You'll want some type of airlock for the fermenter that will allow the co2 to escape during primary fermentation.
A hydrometer for measuring specific gravity before and after primary fermentation, so you can determine if you've hit your alcohol target, and see if the fermentation is finished.

Sterilization is important, and this can be accomplished with iodophor, star-san, and I've even heard of some guys using very dilute bleach(I am not a fan).

You'll want a bucket with a tap on it so you can attach a bottling wand to it if you're going to bottle. If not, you can certainly get a "Pressure Barrel" and let secondary(the carbonation fermentation) happen there. Beer will basically keep in the barrel until you've finished it, as long as you keep it in the mid to low 50's. In bottles, as long as they are kept cold, they will keep indefinitely.

There are various other things you could get that will make things easier, but that's the bare bones.
If you were interested in "All Grain" brewing where no malt extract is used, then the list would be considerably longer. If your goal is Lager, then you will also need a way to control the temperature of the primary fermentation(a lot of people use mini-fridges with temp controllers to do this). I am not a Lager fan, so I've never delved into this.

I might also recommend finding a book by Graham Wheeler, titled "Brew Your Own Real Ale at Home". Great book with simple but fantastic recipes. CAMRA has a few books with great clone recipes of the popular ales.

 

[AJL67]

I've been homebrewing for about 10 years now, and the equipment will depend on your goal.
Bare basics for Ale brewing using a malt extract and some specialty additives (like caramel malt, etc):
Large, preferably stainless pot, 5 gallons or so (19L)
A large, long metal(again stainless if you can) spoon for mixing.
Some mesh bags for the hops, or a fine sieve to strain them out of the wort.
For fermenter you can use a 5 gal bucket, or you can get glass carboys for the purpose.
You'll want some type of airlock for the fermenter that will allow the co2 to escape during primary fermentation.
A hydrometer for measuring specific gravity before and after primary fermentation, so you can determine if you've hit your alcohol target, and see if the fermentation is finished.

Sterilization is important, and this can be accomplished with iodophor, star-san, and I've even heard of some guys using very dilute bleach(I am not a fan).

You'll want a bucket with a tap on it so you can attach a bottling wand to it if you're going to bottle. If not, you can certainly get a "Pressure Barrel" and let secondary(the carbonation fermentation) happen there. Beer will basically keep in the barrel until you've finished it, as long as you keep it in the mid to low 50's. In bottles, as long as they are kept cold, they will keep indefinitely.

There are various other things you could get that will make things easier, but that's the bare bones.
If you were interested in "All Grain" brewing where no malt extract is used, then the list would be considerably longer. If your goal is Lager, then you will also need a way to control the temperature of the primary fermentation(a lot of people use mini-fridges with temp controllers to do this). I am not a Lager fan, so I've never delved into this.

I might also recommend finding a book by Graham Wheeler, titled "Brew Your Own Real Ale at Home". Great book with simple but fantastic recipes. CAMRA has a few books with great clone recipes of the popular ales.

What do you think of the all in one home brew “kits” i know a couple people that use them and seem to be successful and love them, perfect for the person that just wants brew without the hassle i guess.

i know one of them use one of NB’s kits like this

Northern Brewer - Essential Brew. Share. Enjoy. HomeBrewing Starter Set, Equipment and Recipe for 5 Gallon Batches (Block Party Amber) https://a.co/d/5nLP40K

 

[badbeard]

What do you think of the all in one home brew “kits” i know a couple people that use them and seem to be successful and love them, perfect for the person that just wants brew without the hassle i guess.

i know one of them use one of NB’s kits like this

Northern Brewer - Essential Brew. Share. Enjoy. HomeBrewing Starter Set, Equipment and Recipe for 5 Gallon Batches (Block Party Amber) https://a.co/d/5nLP40K

I actually started out with an earlier version of that very kit! They work great, but you'll still end up buying a few odds and ends. Star-san sanitizer is a must, as the packet sanitizers they give you can not be trusted to do the job.
Northern Brewer's recipe kits are also very good.. almost no-fail as long as you sanitize things well. You can even get away with no strainers if you put the specialty grains in Northern Brewer's BIAB bag. You can even do full all grain batches with that bag, and using your main pot as a mash tun.

Oh.. I forgot in the my last post.. you are going to want a very accurate thermometer. Instant read, or glass, to make sure you hit the correct mash temps for the specialty grains.

 

[badbeard]

And for yeast.. I found liquid yeasts to be surprisingly inconsistent. Probably due to the storage requirements involved at retailers - you could never really be sure what they had been through. I have had almost perfect repeatability with SafAle dry yeasts. Lalvin yeasts if you are making Mead, which I also do from time to time.

Also worth trying - When I lived in Oregon, I was walking distance to Ninkasi Brewing. The brewers there were perfectly happy to give me a jar full of their yeast slurry at the end of a batch, for free. You can often times get the best yeast this way, even signature yeasts from commercial beers you enjoy. Most breweries are happy to do it, as a lot of it gets discarded.

 

[lightxmyfire]

Hey hey!

So IDK what you'll have available to you over in the UK vs. what we have here in the US, but I've been homebrewing since 2010 and worked in a commercial brewery for a few years as well. I can give you a general idea of what you'll need! Depending on what you end up wanting to do the initial cost for all the equipment can get pricey but the cost of the beer it's self much lower so it works out. This is gonna be a big info dump so strap in! I hope it's more helpful than overwhelming!

The two schools are basically what's called extract brewing where the mashing step is taken care of for you, or all grain which is what breweries do. I would recommend doing 5-gallon batches to start, either way, you'll get the most out of the beer with room for loss.

Also, you should start with extract and see if the bug bites you and you want to go all the way to all grain which is more work and equipment, but generally more control and even cheaper ingredient cost.

I'll break down the steps and ingredients for doing an extract brew so you have an idea of what you're looking at work-wise and what the equipment I'll tell you about later is actually for, I think this will also answer some of your questions too.

1. Get you some malt extract. There are a ton of recipes out there and even places that make kits for specific beer styles or even copies of popular beers. The extract comes in two forms dry or liquid, dry is a powder and liquid is kin to molasses or Lyles golden syrup. They both work the same and will yield similar results.
2. You'll need hops, again follow a recipe or get a kit that comes with them or tells you what to get.
3. You'll need Yeast, see above, there are all different kinds of yeast, and you'll again have a choice between liquid and dry. I prefer liquid, I find it more reliable and there are companies that make pouches that are pitch ready (aka ready to go straight into 5 gal of beer without extra effort).
4. Water! Tap is fine for this as long as your tap is potable and doesn't taste bad.
5. Some kind of sanitizer, you can and should get brewing-specific stuff from an online shop or local homebrew store if you have one.

The actual basic Process:

1. You'll heat generally 6+ gallons of water for a 5-gallon end result. (I'll cover equipment for this down the line) You're gonna lose some liquid during the boil and fermentation which is why you start with more.
2. Add your extracts, and mix well. Check your beginning gravity (sugar content)
3. Bring this mixture now called "wort" to a boil.
4. Add your hops.
5. Boil for 60 minutes.
6. Cool down. This can be done in many ways you generally want to do it as quickly as possible and keep everything as sanitary as possible from now on. It needs to get under 70F at least before you add yeast.
7. Transfer the beer to your sanitized fermentation vessel (could be a bucker or carboy) leaving behind the hop mess. Check your pre-fermentation gravity.
8. Add yeast, mix well, put the airlock on, and now you wait. Leave it in a dark warm-ish place, a closet or pantry that's 65-75F is perfect.
9. After at least 4 days but closer to a week you'll check your gravity again. This will tell you how much sugar the yeast ate and how close it is to being finished fermenting. Your recipe will tell you what to look for.
10. Once that is done, you can allow it to age another week in that same vessel or transfer it to another sanitized vessel for a "secondary fermentation" that will clean up the beer and get more of the yeast out.
11. At this point, you'll transfer it again to a sanitized bottling vessel usually a bucket with a tap at the bottom. Stir in a little sugar, or malt extract so the beer will carbonate in the bottles.
12. You'll need at least 54 bottles if you ended up with all 5 gallons, but it will probably be less, they need to be sanitized along with the caps.
13. You'll fill and cap the bottles, and then leave them in a dark warm place again for roughly two weeks, this gives them plenty of time to carbonate.
14. Chill and Enjoy!

So there's a bunch of clean-up in there too, and it seems like a lot but this is generally maybe 2-4 hours of work for the boiling day, and then an hour or two for bottling once you get there.

My biggest tip would be to try and find or even order a starter kit like this one: Deluxe Homebrew Starter Kit - https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/deluxe-brewing-starter-kit

That's gonna have a lot of what you need already in it, and then you can add a boil kettle I recommend something with a tap at the bottom or adding one if you're handy, picking up to pour, or using a siphon to transfer the beer around is a physical pain/danger or slow. You also want to get a chiller if which I do highly reccomend, you want to get the beer cooled down quickly and cleanly and a chiller will make your life much easier.

You will need a stove that can fit the big kettle or your best bet is an outdoor burner like what's in this kit that also comes with the kettle which is about the right size for 5-gallon batches: 8 Gallon Brew Kettle & Burner Kit - https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/8-gallon-brew-kettle-burner-kit

That's the gist of it! Welcome to the hobby and do keep us posted on what you're up to!

Cheers!

 

[El Capitán]

Never made homebrew beer but when I had my brief stint in prison I made prison wine. Just wanted to put a laugh in here.

 

[AJL67]

T

And for yeast.. I found liquid yeasts to be surprisingly inconsistent. Probably due to the storage requirements involved at retailers - you could never really be sure what they had been through. I have had almost perfect repeatability with SafAle dry yeasts. Lalvin yeasts if you are making Mead, which I also do from time to time.

Also worth trying - When I lived in Oregon, I was walking distance to Ninkasi Brewing. The brewers there were perfectly happy to give me a jar full of their yeast slurry at the end of a batch, for free. You can often times get the best yeast this way, even signature yeasts from commercial beers you enjoy. Most breweries are happy to do it, as a lot of it gets discarded.

his is interesting,when i lived in SD we toured a small batch brewer that was actually in the yeast business, they produced yeasts for most of the brewers large and small in all of California and a few other places, basically the beer you got to try was different yeast types and it was how they tested the yeasts, then they would sell 10 or so tickets a day and pawn the test beers off on the tour people, it was interesting and cool how many yeasts their all all made to spec for different brewers.

 

[AJL67]

Never made homebrew beer but when I had my brief stint in prison I made prison wine. Just wanted to put a laugh in here.

A good toilet wine is nothing to laugh about!

 

[lightxmyfire]

What do you think of the all in one home brew “kits” i know a couple people that use them and seem to be successful and love them, perfect for the person that just wants brew without the hassle i guess.

i know one of them use one of NB’s kits like this

Northern Brewer - Essential Brew. Share. Enjoy. HomeBrewing Starter Set, Equipment and Recipe for 5 Gallon Batches (Block Party Amber) https://a.co/d/5nLP40K

I too started on one of these types of kits! They're great indeed and like @badbeard you will need to add a few odds and ends, but nothing crazy!

I went from one of those kits pretty quickly into all-grain brewing and have done a lot of upgrading to my setup. Including a temp-controlled conical fermentor, clearly, the bug bit me hard. I still use a bunch of the stuff that came in the kit albeit for different purposes in some cases but the stuff is necessary, and lasts!

 

[lightxmyfire]

And for yeast.. I found liquid yeasts to be surprisingly inconsistent. Probably due to the storage requirements involved at retailers - you could never really be sure what they had been through. I have had almost perfect repeatability with SafAle dry yeasts. Lalvin yeasts if you are making Mead, which I also do from time to time.

Also worth trying - When I lived in Oregon, I was walking distance to Ninkasi Brewing. The brewers there were perfectly happy to give me a jar full of their yeast slurry at the end of a batch, for free. You can often times get the best yeast this way, even signature yeasts from commercial beers you enjoy. Most breweries are happy to do it, as a lot of it gets discarded.

That's awesome how close you were to Ninkasi, I love their beer! This is also true of most breweries as long as they and you aren't a jerk about it! haha

@Franco Pipenbeans Maybe Samuel Smith would be willing to scrape you some Yorkshire square yeast off the top of a batch! now I'm jealous!

 

[badbeard]

I just wanted to also add a note on Pressure Barrels. If you are like me and hate bottling, and you don't like fizzy beer, and you don't want to mess around with expensive kegs and large co2 bottles. A pressure barrel is going to give you beer closer to the standard level of carbonation in most English Bitters you'll find on tap at the pub.
They are cheap, and you can get them in different sizes, and they have a co2 pin valve on top that you can use inexpensive co2 bulbs to prevent oxygen from getting in there and staling the beer.

Something like this:

5 Gallon Plastic Beer Barrel - Bulb Co2 PIN VALVE

5 Gallon Pressure Beer Barrel With Lid with a pin valve to use the 8g Co2 Bulbs

www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk

I actually have that same pressure barrel, which I had to import because they are virtually impossible to find here in the states. They are common all over the UK.

 

[simong]

Beer is so cheap now in the different supermarkets, I really wouldn't bother with all the home brew malarkey. You can even get small kegs delivered to your door, which works out even cheaper still!

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I actually started out with an earlier version of that very kit! They work great, but you'll still end up buying a few odds and ends. Star-san sanitizer is a must, as the packet sanitizers they give you can not be trusted to do the job.
Northern Brewer's recipe kits are also very good.. almost no-fail as long as you sanitize things well. You can even get away with no strainers if you put the specialty grains in Northern Brewer's BIAB bag. You can even do full all grain batches with that bag, and using your main pot as a mash tun.

Oh.. I forgot in the my last post.. you are going to want a very accurate thermometer. Instant read, or glass, to make sure you hit the correct mash temps for the specialty grains.

To be honest, I think I’m going to go with a starter kit and go from there. Think of it as if I was buying a corn cob pipe and some OTC baccy; test the waters so to speak but thank you for your advice.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Beer is so cheap now in the different supermarkets, I really wouldn't bother with all the home brew malarkey. You can even get small kegs delivered to your door, which works out even cheaper still!

Ah but there’s no fun in that!

 

[simong]

Ah but there’s no fun in that!

Very true! Lol
I'll see you down the boozer in 6 months time, when you've blown the shed up & hanging out for a decent pint!

 

[badbeard]

To be honest, I think I’m going to go with a starter kit and go from there. Think of it as if I was buying a corn cob pipe and some OTC baccy; test the waters so to speak but thank you for your advice.

Keep in mind that you are still probably going to need a few things that many kits do not directly supply. A large pot and a thermometer would be my first thought. Most also do not include a hydrometer, but that isn't strictly necessary until you want repeatability.
You might want to try one of the Coopers kits with the plastic bottles, and everything you'd need. I tried one and it made a surprisingly drinkable bitter. Has everything you need to make 40 pints, minus sanitizer. You don't even need a pot. You don't get the process of boiling, and hopping, but it makes a decent beer and gets your feet wet with the fermentation process.

 

[crashthegrey]

Great answers already. Brewing your own is a great experience.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Very true! Lol
I'll see you down the boozer in 6 months time, when you've blown the shed up & hanging out for a decent pint!

The above is more than likely true!

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Nothing more to add that has not been mentioned!