Looking to get into home brewing

muboop1

Hey,

Just want a bit fo advice, I read the sticky on how to do home brewing, but i have to be honest, its a tad over my head... that or after 50 pages it all melded into one big mess!

So i googled around. Got a bit more info. I'm just curious where do you buy this stuff?

Whats a good beginners set, but one that i can upgrade or add onto if i take a big liking to it.
I don't like the idea of just chucking the old one when i decide i want better. Rather just upgrade bit by bit!

Also, does the type of kit differ whether i want an ale or a stout etc?
Idealy id like to creat either a nice stout, but with the option to give some nice rich beers. Something Different to the likes of budweiser etc... More like soem of the german or czech beers..

What type of space does this type of stuff take up?

And is it a costly habit?

I imagine initially buying equipment isnt cheap, but i hope its not ridiculously expensive either? I'm a student so... :pac:

Any advice or things i should know?

thanks for any help guys.
And i hope this thread is allowed by the mods...
Not to sure if it is!

BeerNut

A good, concise starter article.

muboop1 wrote: »

where do you buy this stuff?

TheHomeBrewCompany.ie is one of the better suppliers, but there are others, in Ireland and abroad.

muboop1 wrote: »

Rather just upgrade bit by bit!

You can do that with any of the starter sets on sale.

muboop1 wrote: »

Also, does the type of kit differ whether i want an ale or a stout etc?

The beer kit will say what kind of beer it makes, but the equipment is the same. Except for lager, see below.

muboop1 wrote: »

More like soem of the german or czech beers..

Lager is nearly impossible to make at home without very advanced equipment. Kits that say they are lager aren't, and are generally quite poor. Stout's dead easy, ale is easy too, and wheat beer is doable.

muboop1 wrote: »

What type of space does this type of stuff take up?

The footprint of the bucket: about two feet diameter by three feet high.

muboop1 wrote: »

And is it a costly habit?

It's flexible. You can start making beer with under €200 outlay, and it gets cheaper the more you make, and your equipment can be upgraded.

muboop1 wrote: »

Any advice or things i should know?

Just jump in and don't be afraid to ask questions.

OK, one tip to bear in mind: brewing is mostly cleaning. Be prepared for lots of washing and sanitising.

smartaform

Beernut's advice is perfect for you muboop1, I made my first batch of Ale before xmas - it was ready for xmas day, it turned out magnificent... I have a draught ready to brew now, it's all about necessary time to get the thing going.
I found the home brew co. to be the best source of information and also products (for me anyway).
I think i spent just under 150.00 to get started.

Once you finish your first batch you'll be hooked on Home Brew

Welease

You can get started for about 22 Euro!!!! (minus p&p and the beer)

I started about 12 months ago, and purchased the starter kits and to be honest 90% of the items contained in the kit have never been used.
I'm no expert on brewing, but what I brew comes out very nice (as it should) and friends who have subsequently done the same have the same results.

To get started, you need

Brewing Bin with Airlock, Bung and Tap – 18.49 Euro
http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_26&products_id=245
(I have the non tap bin and use a syphone with tap instead)

Hydrometer- 2.99 Euro
http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=94

Paddle – 1.20 Euro (it’s a long handle so reaches to the bottom of the brewing bin)
http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_27&products_id=80

I purchased 48 of their 1ltr bottles also, but I also reuse 21ltr Coke bottles etc and glass wine bottles etc. The experts will argue that the Coke bottles are not as good as other bottles etc. but imho they have worked perfectly for what I need them to do. For no cost you can use them. I have beer in them that was bottled on 9th March and it still tastes fantastic and is fully carbonated.

If you wanted to give homebrewing a go for a minimum outlay, purchasing the 3 items above, plus beer (~15 Euro) plus 7 Euro P&P (and about 1 Euro for cheap bleech to sterislise everything) will get you up and running for about 40 quid (less than the cost of a night out!). Evrrything can be reused, and from then on another 40 pts will just be the cost of the beer (~15 Euro).

Hope that helps.

muboop1

Hey guys!

Thanks,
Thats alot of helpful information!

My next question would be regarding supplies. Is there specialist stores i should go to? or buy online or are the ingredients mostly everyday type of things?

I looked at some of the ingredients on a website and tbh, some i know as different names in shops, others i don't...

Buy online again?

again guys, greatly appreciated... definitely giving this a go...

BeerNut

muboop1 wrote: »

My next question would be regarding supplies. Is there specialist stores i should go to? or buy online or are the ingredients mostly everyday type of things?

Short answer: buy online from a homebrew supplier. You don't need to start with ingredients: you can buy a pre-mixed kit (same principle as bread mix) which you just dilute and ferment. The 3kg kits are the best, like these or these.

If you want to get further into it (or jump in at a more advanced stage) you can buy malt extract (aka spraymalt), plus specialty malt and hops, and make your own recipes. There's a great guide to extract brewing here. But most people start with kits, just to get used to the sanitising, fermenting and bottling stages.

oblivious

muboop1 wrote: »

My next question would be regarding supplies. Is there specialist stores i should go to? or buy online or are the ingredients mostly everyday type of things?

The home brew company are by far the best in the country

Hop and grape have a bigger range but located in the UK

Welease

I buy online (P&P is 7 Euro) and he delivers next day

Purchase the basic kit listed and choice of beer from the links online
And from the supermarket, i purchase normal sugar (1Kg bags, I dont bother with the brewing sugar that can be purchased from the companies) and cheap thin non scented bleach.

Thats about it..

Edit to clarify - I am talking about the pre-mix kits beernut has mentioned when i respond..I don't create and brew my own receipe beers like those guys do.

MoominPapa

I got the starter kit from the Homebrew company a couple of months ago. While you could start cheaper I had my first kit brew bottled for less that 100quid. The advantage of getting a complete starter kit is that all of the instructions are about brewing, you could look up advise on how to much bleach, or whatever to use, but with the kit you get the manufactures instructions so you can't go wrong(disclaimer - things can still go wrong:P).

Its a lot of effort, particularly all the cleaning and sanitising, but you learn quickly(such as I will never attempt solo bottling at 1.30am again and use a tub for second stage fermentation - whats the point?) and by the end I've 35 bottles of pretty decent beer and this w/e I'm going to get wrecked on it. I plan to stick to kits until I'm totally comfortable and then move on to extracts

bill2176

Welease wrote: »

I buy online (P&P is 7 Euro) and he delivers next day

Purchase the basic kit listed and choice of beer from the links online
And from the supermarket, i purchase normal sugar (1Kg bags, I dont bother with the brewing sugar that can be purchased from the companies) and cheap thin non scented bleach.

Thats about it..

Edit to clarify - I am talking about the pre-mix kits beernut has mentioned when i respond..I don't create and brew my own receipe beers like those guys do.

I have to agree with you about the process.

Keep it simple.

Make sure your equipment is sterilised.

Bottle when the wort has fully brewed and you should have no problem.

Impatience can spoil a good brew.

Anoeta

One question on the brewing a 3kg beer kit. Would i need the spraymalt instead of normal sugar for this?

slayerking

3kg kits contain everything needed to make the brew. No additional fermentables, so no additional sugar or spraymalt is needed.
You basically just need to add water and away ye go.
A small amount of sugar is also needed when bottling but thats pretty much it.

oblivious

Anoeta wrote: »

One question on the brewing a 3kg beer kit. Would i need the spraymalt instead of normal sugar for this?

They are generally all malt kit and are self contained with out the addition of any other fermentables, which kit is it?

Anoeta

Cheers lads. Havent got the kit yet, ordering tomorrow. Probably the Woodfordes Admiral reserve but havent decided yet.

BeerNut

Good kit that.

mgmt

Welease wrote: »

You can get started for about 22 Euro!!!! (minus p&p and the beer)

I started about 12 months ago, and purchased the starter kits and to be honest 90% of the items contained in the kit have never been used.
I'm no expert on brewing, but what I brew comes out very nice (as it should) and friends who have subsequently done the same have the same results.

To get started, you need

Brewing Bin with Airlock, Bung and Tap – 18.49 Euro
http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_26&products_id=245
(I have the non tap bin and use a syphone with tap instead)

Hydrometer- 2.99 Euro
http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=94

Paddle – 1.20 Euro (it’s a long handle so reaches to the bottom of the brewing bin)
http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_27&products_id=80

I purchased 48 of their 1ltr bottles also, but I also reuse 21ltr Coke bottles etc and glass wine bottles etc. The experts will argue that the Coke bottles are not as good as other bottles etc. but imho they have worked perfectly for what I need them to do. For no cost you can use them. I have beer in them that was bottled on 9th March and it still tastes fantastic and is fully carbonated.

If you wanted to give homebrewing a go for a minimum outlay, purchasing the 3 items above, plus beer (~15 Euro) plus 7 Euro P&P (and about 1 Euro for cheap bleech to sterislise everything) will get you up and running for about 40 quid (less than the cost of a night out!). Evrrything can be reused, and from then on another 40 pts will just be the cost of the beer (~15 Euro).

Hope that helps.

Bump. I wanna read this later.

johnnyjb

Hi im new to homebrewing (didnt even start:D) and was wondering about making lager.

Im under the impression that you can make ales ,stout ,cider but a kit that claims its "lager" is not a proper one. Can it be done at home without thousands of euro worth of industrial equiptment ,what would this equipment be anyway ? or is it doable by the average homebrewer.

Thanks in advance !

BeerNut wrote: »

Lager is nearly impossible to make at home without very advanced equipment. Kits that say they are lager aren't, and are generally quite poor. Stout's dead easy, ale is easy too, and wheat beer is doable.

kenmc

johnnyjb wrote: »

Hi im new to homebrewing (didnt even start:D) and was wondering about making lager.

Im under the impression that you can make ales ,stout ,cider but a kit that claims its "lager" is not a proper one. Can it be done at home without thousands of euro worth of industrial equiptment ,what would this equipment be anyway ? or is it doable by the average homebrewer.

Thanks in advance !

Not feasibly, and certainly not for your first brews anyway. You need temperature controlled fermentation chamber to keep the temps down, usually these are fridges which are connected to a temperature controller.
Start with ales and practise where off-flavours have somewhere to hide before you go looking to make lagers.

johnnyjb

kenmc wrote: »

Not feasibly, and certainly not for your first brews anyway. You need temperature controlled fermentation chamber to keep the temps down, usually these are fridges which are connected to a temperature controller.
Start with ales and practise where off-flavours have somewhere to hide before you go looking to make lagers.

Thanks for your reply ken,

Any idea how much money would be needed though to actually try this, even a ballpark figure - secondhand gear?


Im just trying to figure out if i can emmulate some of the beers ive bought commercially or is that to much of a step for home brewing.

Just looking for a point in the right direction. Thanks again

BeerNut

That's too much of a step for home-brewing, unless you've already been at it for a while and know all about enzymes, water chemistry, diacetyl rests and the other stuff that comes with brewing experience. Even fairly serious commercial microbreweries have trouble trying to replicate the cleanness of flavour that the big lager breweries are expert at. It's always going to be easier, and probably cheaper, to buy your lager pre-made.

I think if you set out to try and make copies of commercial beer rather than just beer that's nice to drink you won't enjoy brewing as much.

Hondo75

Big selection of brewing kits at Tescos Naas, never seen so much in a Tesco before.

sharingan

Ow wow. Got to check Tescos then.

Its nice to get a look at the physical product before you buy.

Most people I know who get into brewing seem to go straight for beers. I took a different approach - really basic fermentation. Things like Ginger Beer, Elderflower Champagne, Kvass.

Sure its not pilsner, but its a great place to start. Less things to go wrong, cheap as hell, and you get some great results. Focusing on the basics allows you to upgrade to more technical brewing techniques later on.

For basics, a fermenter with a tap and bung is really useful. Stick on thermometers are good too, for getting your SG readings right. And of course a hydrometer.

Siphon tubing is useful, for sterilising fluid you can just use cheap baby bottle stuff from tesco. Secondary fermenters (for racking) are actually pretty useful, but you would be surprised at how you can improvise (19 Liter Water Dispenser 'carboys' are a personal favourite)

BeerNut

sharingan wrote: »

for sterilising fluid you can just use cheap baby bottle stuff from tesco.

The bleach and vinegar method is even cheaper, and is no-rinse.

Mashtun

johnnyjb wrote: »

Hi im new to homebrewing (didnt even start:D) and was wondering about making lager.

Im under the impression that you can make ales ,stout ,cider but a kit that claims its "lager" is not a proper one. Can it be done at home without thousands of euro worth of industrial equiptment ,what would this equipment be anyway ? or is it doable by the average homebrewer.

Thanks in advance !

The only extra gear you need to make a lager is something to control fermentation temperature. I used a chest freezer that a mate was goin to throw out and a frost stat that i bought on ebay for €15 and I needed a little relay too. It can be done easily but you have to be comfortable working with electricity.

It's just persistence that'll really get ya there above anything else, depends how motivated you are.

sharingan

Mashtun wrote: »

The only extra gear you need to make a lager is something to control fermentation temperature. I used a chest freezer that a mate was goin to throw out and a frost stat that i bought on ebay for €15 and I needed a little relay too. It can be done easily but you have to be comfortable working with electricity.

It's just persistence that'll really get ya there above anything else, depends how motivated you are.

I have heard this one before about the 'broken' chest freezer. A 40W light bulb is sufficient to heat it to a useful temperature for high temperature fermentation.

Mashtun

sharingan wrote: »

I have heard this one before about the 'broken' chest freezer. A 40W light bulb is sufficient to heat it to a useful temperature for high temperature fermentation.

Don't want to sound negative but this sounds absolutely uncontrollable

oblivious

sharingan wrote: »

I have heard this one before about the 'broken' chest freezer. A 40W light bulb is sufficient to heat it to a useful temperature for high temperature fermentation.

Mashtun wrote: »

Don't want to sound negative but this sounds absolutely uncontrollable

Yep, its temp control not just heating

Live4Ever

This thread is great, by the looks of things it's really cheap, saw kits on homebrew for E50 - E75! Decent! I'm really considering giving it a go!

Quick question: Can you make them as alcoholic as you like? For example, would I be able to make a 7-10% alchohol volume beer?

BeerNut

Live4Ever wrote: »

For example, would I be able to make a 7-10% alchohol volume beer?

Yes. Ordinary beer yeast will struggle beyond 9 or so, and if you're using dried you might need two sachets, but you can get other yeasts more suited to higher ABVs.

Some of the Brewferm kits, like Ambiorix or Grand Cru are good at those sorts of strengths. I wouldn't recommend taking one of the normal-strength ones and just trying to bulk it up with sugar.

Live4Ever

BeerNut wrote: »

Yes. Ordinary beer yeast will struggle beyond 9 or so, and if you're using dried you might need two sachets, but you can get other yeasts more suited to higher ABVs.

Some of the Brewferm kits, like Ambiorix or Grand Cru are good at those sorts of strengths. I wouldn't recommend taking one of the normal-strength ones and just trying to bulk it up with sugar.

Great thanks, it would be nice to make one with a bit of a kick (like a wine, but a beer obviously). 12% would be the max I'd go. Is there a tool that measures alcohol volume?

For a beginner, what would you recommend to brew first? The stout? To be honest, I'm not a big ale man. I've tried Smithwicks a few times, thought it was ok, went to the UK and had a pint of 'ale'. I hated it, this particular ale was flat... Didn't agree with me at all! Maybe I just got a bad pint, either way I haven't sampled ale since!

BeerNut

Here's a good article on getting started with kit brewing.