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Adam's Apples

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Hi everyone.

I have just become interested in home brewing. Having been interested in drinking for ages, I have no idea what took me so long!

After buying a house with 3 apple trees in the garden I decided to follow a very simple cider recipe I found in a book I bought off a car boot sale, with ok-ish results.

The thing is, bitter is what I drink preferably, so I desperately want to get started making some bitters and other ales. I am reading everything I can on the subject of homebrew and, frankly, am surprised at how in depth it can all get. I definately want to produce my own beer as much as possible and would rather not buy any kits that produce the same beer as anybody else who may have bought them.

I have a few questions about things I'm not sure about and about which I have been given conflicting advice, which hopefully some of you more experienced brewers wouldn't mind clearing up -

1.) I have bought a large 'fermenter' plastic bin. The guy in my homebrew shop said to make sure I don't put the lid on tight and to make sure there is a gap when fermenting (this is what I think is referred to on this site as the 'primary' fermentation?). There is no hole cut for any airlock on the bin. My question is- is it ok to just leave the lid loose and have no airlock when primary fermentaion is happenning?

2.) Instead of syphoning when transferring to secondary, is it possible to just buy a fermeter with a tap on it and let the juice run in? I will have to give syphoning a go if not, but it sounds like a bit of an art form!

3.) I have heard talk of a carboy on this site. Is this the same as a Demijohn?

Any help is appreciated. I will carry on reading on homebrew methods etc until I have enough cash to get everything I need to start brewing properly.

Cheers
Bernie
 
Sounds like we need an American to English translator!

I believe that demijohn == carboy.

As for keeping the lid cracked, few people here would advocate that method. You should drill a hole, get a rubber gasket and a carb-lock for it. A carb-lock is a plastic doohicky that allows air to go out, but nothing to get in. Most people here will recommend siphoning. It's very easy to do, and unlike a spigot, there's less chance of infections.

Congrats on the new house, and welcome to the World's Best Hobby.
 
Thanks for the reply Cheesefood.

I will try some siphoning with just water I think, to avoid any accidents!

I might invest in a new fermentor with airlock, I know you can get them and shouldn't be too expensive. The extra bucket I have now may come in handy too and I might try fitting my own airlock on it at some stage.

I am so excited about making my own beers, but know I have a lot to learn too.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Do you use kits or do everything from scratch? What kinda results have you had?

Cheers
 
Welcome. I'm sure you can use the plastic fermenter you already have just drill a hole, grab a stopper to fit it, and an airlock. A hole is free and an airlock is like $1.

If you insist on buying another fermenter, you can get one with lid pre-drilled, and airlock for around $10 or so.

I would not advocate leaving the lid cracked. It MIGHT be OK while fermentation is vehement, but once it slows down things will be able to get in. Wayyy back people fermented in open bins (with wild yeasts contributing to flavors) but I can almost assure that their beer wasn't near as good as it is today. And if it was as good, it definitely wasn't as consistent as today (i.e. today you can make 10 batches without spoiling one with good sanitation, back then it was much more likely to get infected). Just go the above route and be safe.

As for siphoning, it is quite simply the science of suction/gravity. Not hard at all. They even make nifty "autosiphons" for $10 or so. If not, you can go the carboy cap route as well for a little cheaper, but I prefer the autosiphon.

Check out MidWestSupplies.com if you don't have a homebrew shop around. I really like that place for mailorder.

Good luck!
 
Adam's Apples said:
Thanks for the warm welcome. Do you use kits or do everything from scratch? What kinda results have you had?

Cheers

A lot of people (myself included) started with kits until we learned the basics. Then we moved on to following the recipes of others or fooling around with them to create our own recipes. Most people on this site are pretty honest and if they post a recipe and later decide that its horrible, they'll come back and post that it's not worth making. Likewise, if you see a recipe that you think looks interesting, send a note to the people who have made it and they'll happily provide feedback.
 
On the kit issue:

I've made one "kit" thus far and the rest I improvised by "modifying" kits (adding additional ingredients, etc.) or placing together my own recipes from what I've read on here and/or in books such as "Complete Joy of HomeBrewing", "Brewmasters Bible", etc.

The thing about kits is, 3 people here could make the same kit and it could come out tasting slightly (or maybe even very) different. The process you go through to brew effects the taste (sanitation, water used, temp at which you steep your grains, yeast pitching methods, what temp it ferments at, etc.) so its hard (at first) to make consistent batches even with the same "kit".

I would highly suggest starting with extract brewing and then working up to partial mash/all grain brewing. I'm still in the extracts and don't plan on getting out for a while...

The site I referred to earlier has some nice "kits" that can produce good, proven beers and still give you the entire brewing experience. Sanitize, Steep, 1-Hour Boil, Cool, Pitch Yeast, Ferment, Rack to Secondary, etc... Stick to these basics until you are comfortable before moving in over your head.
 
Ya, kits are a great idea for your first couple of batches. The only difference between a kit from a good shop and following a recipe is measuring your ingredients. You'll have enough to worry about getting the procedure down - no need to complicate things right off the bat.

Midwest, Norhtern and Austin all have nice kits and I know that there are bitter kits available too.
 
Cheers guys.

Sounds like good advice. If all the kits do is give you the quantities and don't simplify things down to a 'just add water' level, I think I will use one as a starter, before trying variations of it. Then I may try one of your guys tried and tested recipes before I try and invent my own.

I take it you guys just experiment with different types of malt and hops (and yeast?) in order to concoct your own recipes? Do you ever add fruit or other things to a beer as well to make different flavours?

Thanks for all the tips!

Cheers
 
Glad your getting into this great hobby.:ban:

As mentioned before I would use the airlock method rather than risk getting infections/spoilage of your hard work. Some of the web suppliers even sell lids pre-drilled so that you know what size rubber stopper to use for the airlock.

Definetly recommend the "Auto-siphon" for your siphoning steps. VERY easy to use and you can control it better than having a spigot at the bottom of the pail for reducing debris from the bottom of the pail going over to your next vessel.

From what I have seen the demijohn is a more shaply style of carboy and the pictures I have seen don't seem very sturdy like the thick glassed walls of the carboy.
 
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