i-brew instructions

Paulyh

hey would anyone that has an ibrew be able to scan the instructions and post them???
or know where i can get them online? i've searched for a while but am not finding anything
many thanks in advance

paul

Paulyh

Paulyh wrote: »

hey would anyone that has an ibrew be able to scan the instructions and post them???
or know where i can get them online? i've searched for a while but am not finding anything
many thanks in advance

paul

Yes, ok, i am an idiot!! they are printed in the back of the box!!! now i hope my second brew is as tasty as my first :cool:

Sonovagun

What is an ibrew?

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Sonovagun wrote: »

What is an ibrew?

iBrew is a website (the irish version .ie doesn't seem to be working any more?).

Paulyh, which one did you do? I got one of their Ale kits as a present.

The first batch was ok-ish, I drank from the supplied keg after about 6 weeks of the initial brew-day, and while it was drinkable, it was nothing special.

I left the second keg for about 5 months, and when I drank that it was very good.

So, I started the second batch three and a half weeks ago, fermented for 2 weeks, then I used Ikea Swing-Top bottles instead of the kegs.

Leaving them until at least August to open.

Paulyh

I got the lager kit, it worked really well. The fist keg bottle was'nt great as i didnt fit the CO2 canisters properly so was a bit flat.
The second keg was sweet, nice and fizzy.
The lager ferments for 7 days, and then you transferr it into the 2 bottles and leave for 14 days.
Then you fit the tap and gas.
And thats it

its really handy to prepare as well, i started my second brew last night, and it took me about 15 mins of work plus 20min wait for sterilizing.
I hope it turns out as good as the last time.

The irish ibrew site seems to be down, i'll need to buy some supplies so will have to buy from the UK site:(

edit: did you add suger to the bottles?? i wondered about using small bottles, but would you not need add suger or something to carbonate them??

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Yep, I added sugar to the bottles.

Oh, btw, I've changed supplier.

www.thehomebrewcompany.ie

Have lots of equipment that didn't come with the ibrew kit, and a good range of beers kits too.

Paulyh

Des wrote: »

Yep, I added sugar to the bottles.

Oh, btw, I've changed supplier.

www.thehomebrewcompany.ie

Have lots of equipment that didn't come with the ibrew kit, and a good range of beers kits too.

I had been looking at their website before i got the ibrew, but decided the ibrew would be a good introduction to brewing for me.
i like the idea of the home brew company being just one guy selling it as a 'hobby' (well it used to be anyway).
And reckon i'll be moving on soon to more advanced brewing methods and experimenting with flavours and stuff.
but for now, its the speed of the ibrew that does it for me, its ready to drink in 3 weeks.

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Paulyh wrote: »

but for now, its the speed of the ibrew that does it for me, its ready to drink in 3 weeks.

I started the first keg of my first batch after the specified time, and it was ok. Only ok.

I left the second keg for 4/5 months, and it was a million times better.

Currahee01

Paulyh wrote: »

The irish ibrew site seems to be down, i'll need to buy some supplies so will have to buy from the UK site:(

Any news on this?? my friend is trying to buy the kit as well but the UK site wont deliver to ireland because of the CO2!
I brewed my second batch this week, i find it pretty tastey after about a month:D

Paulyh

Currahee01 wrote: »

Any news on this?? my friend is trying to buy the kit as well but the UK site wont deliver to ireland because of the CO2!
I brewed my second batch this week, i find it pretty tastey after about a month:D

yep, i ordered the CO2 things from thehomebrewcompany.ie. My beer has been ready for over a week now but the CO2 cartriges are crap!! when i load them into the tap they 'hiss' into the bottle but beer is dead flat, when i take the 'empty' cartridge out more gas hisses out, so the cartridges dont seem to release all their gas :mad: i am really pi$$ed off with it now.
Can someone tell tell me if i can just transferr the beer into bottles at this stage with suger and let it carbonate that way??? and if so, what suger do i use??? i think its about a tea spoon per bottle??? and how long do i leave it??

thanks, paul

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I used an iBrew kit.

For the first of the two batches, I followed the instructions and used the kegs+co2 bulbs, and found that about half way through the keg, the co2 ran out, I didn't bring spare bulbs with me, so was drinking flat, sediment filled beer the rest of the night, poured straight from the keg :mad:

For the second keg, for which I had 4 bulbs, they lasted until the last two or three pints, over a number of nights.

However, for the second batch, which I brewed a few weeks ago, I've put them straight into swing-top bottles, and primed with about 5gms of glucose per 500ml beer, and they seem to be fairly "gassy" with a nice smooth head. This is judging by one "test" bottle which I opened after 3 weeks priming in the bottle, I plan to open the rest in mid August.

Paulyh

Des wrote: »

I used an iBrew kit.

For the first of the two batches, I followed the instructions and used the kegs+co2 bulbs, and found that about half way through the keg, the co2 ran out, I didn't bring spare bulbs with me, so was drinking flat, sediment filled beer the rest of the night, poured straight from the keg :mad:

For the second keg, for which I had 4 bulbs, they lasted until the last two or three pints, over a number of nights.

However, for the second batch, which I brewed a few weeks ago, I've put them straight into swing-top bottles, and primed with about 5gms of glucose per 500ml beer, and they seem to be fairly "gassy" with a nice smooth head. This is judging by one "test" bottle which I opened after 3 weeks priming in the bottle, I plan to open the rest in mid August.

ok, that seems to be the way i need to go. have you any ides where to buy bottles? i suppose i'd need about 20 or so.

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Paulyh wrote: »

ok, that seems to be the way i need to go. have you any ides where to buy bottles? i suppose i'd need about 20 or so.

2 options

Ikea Swingtop Bottles - these are what I have my iBrew in at the moment, they are clear glass, so need to be kept away from sunlight when the beer is inside them. You don't have to buy a specified amount of these.

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/50108908

Alpack Swingtop Beer Bottles - I've also got some Elderflower Champagne in these (the 750ml variety). They are brown glass, so better for beer. Although they are cheaper than the Ikea ones, you do have to buy 28/40 of them per tray. (Me and another poster clubbed in to buy a batch of these). I'm unsure if they deliver.

http://www.alpack.ie/Beer_BottlesSwing_topGrolsch_Bottles/Default.292.html

13 of the Ikea ones will do for one batch of the iBrew beer, well they did for me anyway.

However, most other kits, like the ones available at thehomebrewcompany, will make roughly double the amount of beer a single iBrew kit makes, so buying the larger batch might be better for you if you want to keep up the hobby after the second iBrew batch runs out.

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Oh, one other thing.

If you are anywhere near Ikea, go in and buy this

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/70153179

you will most definitely need it, as syphoning directly into bottles is just not worth the hassle without it.

Paulyh

thanks for that help, yes i was only talk to the OH about popping into ikea this weekend
i definately will be continuing with home brewing after this. But i will probably move onto some of the homebrewcompany stuff next.

so just one more thing now, is it just regular glucose from the supermarket that you used as a primer?? i have heard that using different sugers, glucoses, geives differing flavours.
i'll have buy more sterilizing stuff too can you pick that up anywhere, like stuff for sterilzing a babies bottle???
im just asking as i want to get this done over this weekend

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I don't know about the flavour properties of different sugars. I do know that something called spraymalt is recommended over table sugar/glucose for beers though. It's available from thbc too.

I just used some glucose I had that was doing nothing else for the foreseeable future and my beer seems to taste ok

I used Milton as a steriliser, but there is a weird/wonderful steriliser "recipe" hereabouts somewhere which involves thin bleach and white vinegar. But I used Milton, and rinsed the bottles out very well after just to make sure none of the Milton taste was left behind.

I see you are in Dublin 3, myself and the other poster who clubs in with me on the hbc orders are in Finglas, maybe we should meet if we are ordering again in the future, save on the delivery.

Paulyh

Des wrote: »

I don't know about the flavour properties of different sugars. I do know that something called spraymalt is recommended over table sugar/glucose for beers though. It's available from thbc too.

I just used some glucose I had that was doing nothing else for the foreseeable future and my beer seems to taste ok

I used Milton as a steriliser, but there is a weird/wonderful steriliser "recipe" hereabouts somewhere which involves thin bleach and white vinegar. But I used Milton, and rinsed the bottles out very well after just to make sure none of the Milton taste was left behind.

I see you are in Dublin 3, myself and the other poster who clubs in with me on the hbc orders are in Finglas, maybe we should meet if we are ordering again in the future, save on the delivery.

That's great! i'll get my bottles and sterilizer over the weekend and grab some glucose in the shops. Because i'm moving at the end of next month, so want the beer ready before that so its not disturbed in the move
Sure pm me next time you guys are ordering, and i'll do the same. Thanks Paul.
(BTW i'm just moving to the same area, so will still be handy to order together)

mayto

I tried the supposed vinegar water thin bleach (Do Not Mix Neat) no rinse sanitiser, but ruined a few batches of beer for me. I used the correct proportions but still got infected beer. I moved on to Starsan no rinse sanitiser and the stuff is great . You can make it up (1.6ml per litre) and use with a spray bottle. Leave for 30 seconds and let drain, all done. When bottling I half fill a fermenter with water, add appropriate starsan, dunk the clean bottles in it and let drain on the bottle tree which is sprayed with starsan too. I actually do not mind bottling anymore :eek: as I can get a batch done in less than an hour. You can easily put the caps on the bottles in 5 min with a bench capper.

Mantel

How are the IKEA bottles with pressure? I got a few and they look a bit on the thin side to use for anything carbonated.

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Mantel wrote: »

How are the IKEA bottles with pressure? I got a few and they look a bit on the thin side to use for anything carbonated.

Mine haven't exploded

The beer has been bottled about 6 weeks now, and looks to be doing fine in them.

I used ~5gms glucose per 500mls beer, dissolved in water to prime them, and there's a nice head on the beer, well, on the test bottle I've opened already.

There was a discernible "fizz" sound upon opening.

eoinf

Des wrote: »

Mine haven't exploded

The beer has been bottled about 6 weeks now, and looks to be doing fine in them.

I used ~5gms glucose per 500mls beer, dissolved in water to prime them, and there's a nice head on the beer, well, on the test bottle I've opened already.

There was a discernible "fizz" sound upon opening.

Did all the bottles suvive? How did they get on with the elder flower wine?

The IBrew keg i have didnt work too well the first time , the gass seemed to go very quick.

Think i might bottle the second brew.

What timelines are you using at the moment?

Thanks in advance.

mini5476

Do the CO2 bottles actually carbonate the beer or just pressurise the bottle?

Also I'm making my second ibrew lager batch but used all my CO2 bottles on the first one, will the NO2 bottles from here work with the ibrew cap system and what effect does the difference in gases have?

Paul, do you still need someone to post the instructions?