New to the game, a few questions.

[RedRum]

I am currently on holidays and would like to get into the beermaking game for some fun.

I currently have a few ideas about how brewing is done, but am not 100% about the exact processes or equipment needed. I'm going to go through what I 'think' I am supposed to do, but if i'm wrong in anyway please correct me.

1. Cook up your kit following the instructions eg. John Bull, Youngs, etc.
2. Pour that into your fermentor. Bung fermentor. (I read somewhere that you have to insert an airlock into the bung? Could someone explain. Also are plastic fermentors OK or am I better off getting a barrel?)
3. Leave stand for 2 weeks
4. Pour contents into bottles. I was recommended to use used .5l brown beer bottles. (Can I recap these using their original caps? Will 2litre plastic soda bottles do? Also can I pour the contents directly from my fermentor or do I need a bucket? Must I get a syphon?)
5. Leave stand for a week.
6. Enjoy

Could anyone clear up my questions? All help would be appreciated.

 

[Genghis77]

Sounds like you haven't yet purchased brew equipment. Best to start with a 2 pail brew set up, maybe add a carboy. The John Bull, Coopers and other brew ingredient work better supplemented with additional DME or LME to replace sugars and increase good fermentable sugars. ww.morebeer.com www.northernbrewer.com and others sell the basic brew kits. An intermediate kit would be your best bet.

Soda bottles will work, but I would recommend using brown beer bottles to prevent skunking the beer. Even at risk of having to drink them empty.

Extract only kits are probably the best way to start and definitely the easiest. If you use John Bull, Coopers and such, I would suggest addingmore hops to their recipes.

Hope this helps. Always glad to see someone get into the hobby. Invaribly your first brew will be so good you will be hooked for good.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.htmlThis is a good free source for brewing info:

 

[loopmd]

In the order you asked...

1. yes

2. Plastic fermenting bucket with airlock. (many different styles of airlocks, mine looks like a "P" trap that you see under sink drains, basically you put a little water in one and it becomes a one-way valve letting air out and nothing back in)

3. yes, or until it's done.

4. you do want to add "priming sugar" to carbonate the bottles as well, you can't reuse crown caps on beer bottles. I've heard of people putting their beer in plastic 2 liter bottles, but I don't. It is possible to take your beer directly out of the bucket and put into bottles, but most of us siphon to another bucket.

5. yes, or longer

6. of course