complete novice - lots of questions

Hello chaps. I've been given a brewmaker beer kit which apparently contains everything i need to get started in the wonderful world of home brewing. I'm keen to get going, but after some reading any hopes i had of making tasty bitter with my awesome brewmaker beer kit have been dashed. Let's have a look at this quality product:-

Detailed instructions:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/pro2/instructions.jpg

Fermentation bin:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/pro2/fermentation.jpg

Plastic Keg:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/pro2/keg.jpg

Generic yeast:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/pro2/yeast.jpg

Siphon, steriliser and sugar (at least i hope it's sugar):

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/pro2/crack.jpg

As you can see, no expense has been spared. Do you think I can make any decent beer with this kit? The first thing i noticed was the absence of an air lock. I assume they're pretty essential. I think that would be easy enough to install though, and hopefully not cost too much. They did manage to include some steriliser, so hopefully we can sterilise everything properly.

The detailed instructions recommend just putting the tin in with some water and stirring it all up. This seems like a bad idea from what I've read. We may be able to source a large pan for boiling several gallons of water. Would boling up the kit in a gallon or two of water, adding it to the fermentation bin and then topping up with cold water be ok? Or would you recommend scrapping the tin altogether and brewing from scratch? I've also read that no-name yeast like we have can go off quite quickly. Is it a good idea to buy some better stuff? Do you have any recommendations?

Hopefully we'll be able to make some drinkable beer with this stuff.

First off, I would boil the wort myself...if it's hopped extract 20 minutes should do it. Try to cool it some before pouring into the bucket.

As for an airlock...if you have a way to drill a hole in the lid, then get an airlock with a grommet or stopper. Otherwise don't worry about it.

Personally, since you've got the tin I'd go for it...it's an easy intro and the beer should be fine. After going through it once you'll have a much better idea about what equipment you want to add for the next batch.

Your dry yeast is likely fine too, just make sure you proof it first...boil a cup of water and let it cool to 90F or so and dump the yeast in and stir a bit. It should start foaming a bit after a few minutes.

Take your fermenter lid to the local homebrew shop, buy a lock and have them punch a hole for the lock. Buy a bag of light dry extract and ditch the sugar (make sugar cookies). Use the same weight of DME. Get a fresh package of Cooper's (or any other dry yeast). [I will agree with TSN, if the provided yeast proofs, use it. Have the Cooper's as a backup] Go to www.howtobrew.com and read chapter one.

Brew!

thanks guys, I'll have a read of howtobrew.com. Should I go for any special type of extracts if i'm trying to make a bitter? Also, is using a keg or bottles recommended? Everywhere i've been reading seems to use bottles, leaving me a little apprehensive about my keg.

If you've got a keg use it! Most of those of us who bottle do it because we're not ready to take on the expense of kegging.

Most of us who keg are too lazy to bottle!

Not sure but if this is the keg he's talking about I think Id bottle.

Keg

that's the keg Waldo, will it be ok? I think I know what I'm doing now. Should I go for Dark Malt Extract if i'm making bitter? Does it need to be hopped or unhopped. My Basic Bitter tin kit is already hopped. What about buying some hops for finishing, or would it be a waste of time for my first batch?

littlewoy said:

that's the keg Waldo, will it be ok? I think I know what I'm doing now. Should I go for Dark Malt Extract if i'm making bitter? Does it need to be hopped or unhopped. My Basic Bitter tin kit is already hopped. What about buying some hops for finishing, or would it be a waste of time for my first batch?

Click to expand...

Well, this is where you have some freedom to do what you want.

Dry Malt Extract (DME) will come in a couple different colors (light to dark). If you use DME in place of your sugar (which I recommend you do), you can pick depending on how dark you want your beer to be. Dry Malt Extract, AFAIK, is always unhopped.

Another way to go is pick up another tin of extract (Liquid Malt extract, or LME), in which you'll probably have some more choices on color and style.

If you like your hops, I'd get another tin of hopped LME and use that. Additional hops would be another way to add more character (read, not a wast).

The only thing I'm not sure about is your keg. Is that thing air tight?

thanks lupus. The keg seems pretty airtight. It also seems to have a safety system for blowing a little pin from the cap if the pressure gets dangerous. Does the beer ferment further in the keg? How long should you wait before transferring from the fermentation bin the the keg?
I'll shall go to the shop tomorrow and pick up some DME and a few more hops.

Thanks for your help guys.

A week in the primary is a good rule. Your keg looks ok as a secondary fermentor and will probably do for serving. The biggest problem will be the introduction of air as you tap the beer. You might want to give it a week in the bin, two weeks in the keg and then bottle from the keg.

well i think the only way forward is to drink it all at once. How many brews do you guys have on the go at once? I'm not sure I like the idea of waiting for weeks before my next brew, especially if it's tasty.

First rule of homebrew: It's yours and if you like the way it tastes now, drink it! Most brews do get better with some aging, that's why so many of us have a lot of brews working. I currently have a barley wine, two kegs of IPA (one on tap, one aging), a new blackberry cider, a porter keg on it's last legs and a brown, just moved to the secondary. Working up a backlog is thirsty work, so you have to brew more.

littlewoy, you can pick up caps for the keg that will allow you to add C02, this will keep the beer fresh and give you the presure to pour and possibly get a decent head. Otherwise you may not be able to draw more than a pint or two with out Air bubbling back through the tap.

thanks orfy. I've read about priming in the bottling process. I assume the procedure is similar for a keg. Put some sugar in when you move from the fermentation bin to the keg. I'll have a look for those CO2 caps.