First homebrew

[ilikepints]

Hi folks

I've just started my first ever Homebrew.

I bought this kit

Home Brew Online Standard Beer Starter Equipment Pack With Bottles
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ELHENN8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SWsDDbCJGWMJM

And I used the St Peters IPA two can kit. Love the St Peters IPA but I can't get it in Scotland so I decided to give it a go brewing my own.

I mixed the ingredients up yesterday and it's currently foaming away nicely in the FV.

I plan on giving it a little longer in the FV than the packet suggests per some things I've read online.

I'm a little unsure of the best course of action after that though. The kit came with carbonation drops, and numerous bottles. I've ordered a 25L pressure barrel. Can I carbonate the brew in this? Do I need to siphon it, or can I simply pour it into the pressure barrel? Or am I better bottling it and carbonating in the bottle? If I do carbonate in the pressure barrel, can I then bottle it from the barrel when carbonated and ready to drink?

Apologies for the silly questions, but I'm pretty clueless!

Thanks

 

[BrewInspector]

I can't comment on the pressure barrel but I will say ...

NEVER just pour fermented beer from one container to another. Use the siphon and avoid splashing. Oxidation from pouring will ruin your beer

Carbonated beer can be bottled but again you risk oxidation with every transfer. If you expect to serve from bottles, carbonate in bottles.

 

[mongoose33]

First, welcome! I think you'll enjoy this.

Second, you might want to get a book on homebrewing; it looks simple, and at some levels it is, but the more you know about the process, the better your beer will be. Take @BrewInspector's comment above as an example. Palmer's "How to Brew" is an excellent choice.

Once your wort is fermented into beer, you need to carbonate it. One way is to bottle it, using a carbonation drop in each bottle. That "drop" is sugar; when you transfer beer to the bottle, it still contains yeast floating within it. It will eat that sugar, producing a bit more alcohol, but also producing a fair amount of CO2. That's what carbonates the beer. You bottle the beer, add the carb drop, seal them up, then store them at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. Then....beer!

Another way is to transfer that beer to a keg (or perhaps, where you are, pressure barrel). You can, if it's your desire, add a requisite amount of corn sugar or carb drops to that barrel, and "bottle condition" in the keg. Same thing, room temp, 2-3 weeks.

Or, if you have access to CO2 and a regulator, you can hook the pressure barrel up to the CO2 and carbonate the beer that way. You can either set the serving pressure you want and wait 10 days to 2 weeks, or you can force carb it faster by using a higher pressure. There's more to it than this, but that's the general idea.

One thing I sometimes see new brewers do is move very fast at the outset before they really understand what they're doing and why. I'd suggest you do some reading, get Palmer's book, look online at "how-to" guides and so on. A little time invested now will pay big dividends.

I always want to see new brewers be successful in their first brew; be as sure as you can that you're doing it the correct way. In brewing, the process is everything. Most new brewers think it's the recipe that matters most, but they're wrong. It's the process. Almost all recipes will produce good beer IF your process is good, but no recipe will salvage a bad process.

Anyway, good luck, and if you're not having fun doing this, you're doing it wrong!

 

[ilikepints]

Thank you both for the replies.

I'm aware of moving too fast, but it's always good advice to remind beginners like me of this.

I will need to purchase a syphon then. Still undecided as to whether to bottle or transfer to the keg/barrel

I will also take your advice and pick up the book. Plenty of time to learn the correct method whilst it is brewing in the FV

Thanks again folks

 

[RM-MN]

I will need to purchase a syphon then. Still undecided as to whether to bottle or transfer to the keg/barrel

You could do some of both. Bottles are convenient to carry places, kegs are handy to pour half a glass if you want. Don't limit yourself.

 

[mongoose33]

Thank you both for the replies.

I'm aware of moving too fast, but it's always good advice to remind beginners like me of this.

Part of the fun of learning to brew, for me, was all the interesting stuff I learned. And I'm not done. There's a whole language to it, terms that have no particular meaning outside of brewing: sparge, strike water, strike temperature, mash temperature, refractometer, hydrometer, hot liquor tun, mash tun, DME, LME, alpha acids, alpha amylase, beta amylase, pH, and there is a bunch more.

But while all of those carry various levels of difficulty to learn them, there is one thing I believe is THE most difficult thing for new brewers to learn:

Patience.

Think about where you want to be in six months, a year, and do everything you can to learn at a pace that improves the outcome.

BTW, I was not immune to this. I doubt anyone is. We're anxious, there's all this promise of great beer looming, we can make anything we want, it's fun--and we want to get there yesterday. So don't think you're special in this regard, because you're not. Every new brewer faces this.

BTW, II: I'm a huge adherent of continuous quality improvement. That is, try to do something better each time you brew. Timing, additions, bottling, sanitation, whatever, do something better every time. You're already doing this--note your "siphon" post above.

Your beer will continuously improve, and at some point you'll be a little shocked by how good it is. Meanwhile, enjoy the journey.

 

[ilikepints]

Thanks all

I'm a little clearer from the replies

Cheers again

 

[Alex4mula]

Thank you both for the replies.

I'm aware of moving too fast, but it's always good advice to remind beginners like me of this.

I will need to purchase a syphon then. Still undecided as to whether to bottle or transfer to the keg/barrel

I will also take your advice and pick up the book. Plenty of time to learn the correct method whilst it is brewing in the FV

Thanks again folks

You are not moving fast. I started keging from my first beer. 18 brews so far and all great. I did spend a lot of hours reading here before I started. It helped a lot. I highly encourage you to do the same. Good luck!