Recent content by CurtTheCop

Thank you for the info guys - very informative for someone who knows literally nothing about wine making! I topped it up but the boiled water seemed to take ages to cool so I boiled the kettle and topped up with cold tap water and kept checking it with the thermometer to get it to approximately...

I can always angle the funnel to minimise splashing - i.e so the water mainly runs down the side of the demijohn. Will room temp water be oK? Edit: also - is there any methodology behind only adding 1.8l in the first stage? Why can you just start off with 4.5l?

Just a quick question guys! Ok long story short - got a Wilko Wine starter kit to make 4.5l. Said to start with 1.8l then on the 3rd day to up to 4.5l with cooled boiled water. Today is the 3rd day - now this is what I need to know - does it matter if it splashes into the wine when I pour it...

Ncbrewer - I'm currently only doing extract kits so it doesn't even get left longer than a couple of minutes. Resonator - I am using the new coopers fermentation vessel with no airlock (if you have seen it) so I wonder if it isn't as good as they reckon out....

Thanks for that! I use VWP sanitiser. I always bottle a brew, then clean and sanitise the fermenter, rinse, and then get another fresh brew on the go straight away. If the fermenter gets left to one side then I will sanitise it again before use. People often refer to me as a clean freak in...

That is a great idea for glass - but most of my bottles are PET plastic so would warp at high temps. I've just been rinsing thoroughly after drinking, air drying then sanitising immediately before bottling.

Cannman - unfortunately this is the only photo I took. Resonator - thanks for your reply. Is this quiet an uncommon sight for brewing then? And would you say it is still safe to drink? I removed the collar and stirred in priming sugar before bottling so I hope nothing has got into the beer...

Ok guys, new brewer here. This is my 3rd kit and I had this around the edge of the fermenter/krausen collar (coopers new fermenting vessel) when it came to bottling... I don't think any of it had resided on top of the beer but it certainly didn't look appetising. Anyway it's bottled now so Im...

I could probably do with an extra fermenting bucket so sanitise bottles in actually, would be a lot quicker and easier than doing it in the sink.

Thanks for the tips - I'll definitely look into acquiring some no-rinse when I next need to buy some. At the moment I've got a lot of VWP left, and also two boxes of tablets so it'll be a while yet - might aswell use them up! How long do you usually leave the bottles in the sanitiser before...

Just about finishing off drinking this batch of beer - it's nice - nothing special or worth showing off, but it's ok. I didn't use any malt in this kit which I think is it's downfall, so I know for next time at least.

Just tasted a bottle today - smelt a bit 'raw', will probably try another bottle in another week or so.

You say there's no need to rinse - would this apply to all sanitisers? I use VWP at the moment, I was under the impression that you had to buy special 'no-rinse' sanitisers if you was going to skip the rinsing stage as they may leave a chemical taste in your beer? So would you say I could get...

Thanks everyone for your replies - really helpful. I understand what you're saying about using a hot cycle, but the bottles I'm currently using are Coopers PET bottles (plastic), so I can't use a hot wash on them unfortunately as I guess they'll warp pretty easily. At the moment I'm rinsing...

Quick question for anyone in the know! I'm only on my 3rd brew, and was wondering (as I'm currently only using bottles), would it be ok to use the dishwasher with nothing but sanitiser in the tablet compartment to sanitise my bottles? It would save a massive amount of time compared to doing...