Advice for a first time brewer?

[Bobius]

Here's the problem: I don't want to spend a bunch of money on this right away. I want to get a feel, then if it's fun keep going.

My first plan is to make Kilju, then if that works, "Hobo wine" made with Diltuing juice. Basically, things that don't need a long time to mature so I can try the hobby quickly.

Here's a few questions:

What exactly will I need? I have a milk bottle to act as the fermenter, baloons are easy to get for an air lock and I have other plastic bottles to store it in when I'm done. I also have a glass jar that I can use as a "Yeast Activator" which I read can make things easier (It's a big jar pasta sauce came in).

I've read you should sanitise stuff, and an easy way is to mix bleach with water. What are the ratios and what should I sanitise?

How do I stop the yeast and anything else solid you add to it from getting in your final bottles? Right now my best plan is to get a funnel and some filter papers from the local Uni or coffee filters and use those, but perhaps there's a better way?

Can I get a really dumbed down step by step instruction to make Kilju? This is what I have so far.

Boil some water, add bleach, clean everything.

Boil more water, dissolve sugar in it. Put some in the jar with the yeast to get it started, put everything in the milk bottle with a baloon with holes poked in on top. Wait 3-5 days, pour into the other bottles.

Need some advice on quantities...

How will I know if I did it right? is there an easy way to see how alcoholic something is?


Finally, are there any recommendations for something I should make before this? I've seen archived threads from another forum and "Tepache" is mentioned quite a lot. Should I try this first?

 

[Priemus]

If your using bleach, which I have/still do use often enough then use a 20-1 mix, let it sit for half an hour, then rinse it, then rinse it, then rinse it...

...when your sure there is no more bleach left, rinse it 3 more times.

So far as the fermenting vessel, some people just cover with a towel and let it run, I personally use an airlock, which cost me like 20kr in norway, which is 1 pound 50p. You just make a hole in the lid, and stick the lock in, if there is some space, tape around it

The airlock is good because its a decent indicator of when the fermentation is complete, its not 100% though, but 99.9% of the time when its stopped bubbling, your finished.

The yeast will normally settle down to the bottom of the fermenter after about a week or 2, there will always be some invisible guys floating around, but youll neither see nor taste them usually. If you want them gone you have to add yeast stopper, or boil em out or something.

So far as transfering from 1 bottle to another forget about this picking it up and pouring thing. Youll oxydize everything and ruin the drink (or it will be ruined in a few weeks). Buy a lenght of hose, surgical rubber hose, pipe, rubber hose...garden hose? anything that is flexible that you can siphon from one vessel to another, also that stops you getting all the "trub" or yeast cake at the bottem into yoru final vessel...if yoru careful.

Failing the hose, consider buying a racking cain from your local homebrew store. cheap and very useful.

for a first attempt, try ed worts cider, or apple juice in general 1 leter of apple juice, add 50 grams of suger shoudl end up around 10% abv. Keep away from Orange juice, fermented orange juice resembles vomit in both taste and smell in my opinion.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I had a big answer posted, but ^^^^^^ is a better answer.

 

[Bobius]

If your using bleach, which I have/still do use often enough then use a 20-1 mix, let it sit for half an hour, then rinse it, then rinse it, then rinse it...

...when your sure there is no more bleach left, rinse it 3 more times.

So far as the fermenting vessel, some people just cover with a towel and let it run, I personally use an airlock, which cost me like 20kr in norway, which is 1 pound 50p. You just make a hole in the lid, and stick the lock in, if there is some space, tape around it

The airlock is good because its a decent indicator of when the fermentation is complete, its not 100% though, but 99.9% of the time when its stopped bubbling, your finished.

The yeast will normally settle down to the bottom of the fermenter after about a week or 2, there will always be some invisible guys floating around, but youll neither see nor taste them usually. If you want them gone you have to add yeast stopper, or boil em out or something.

So far as transfering from 1 bottle to another forget about this picking it up and pouring thing. Youll oxydize everything and ruin the drink (or it will be ruined in a few weeks). Buy a lenght of hose, surgical rubber hose, pipe, rubber hose...garden hose? anything that is flexible that you can siphon from one vessel to another, also that stops you getting all the "trub" or yeast cake at the bottem into yoru final vessel...if yoru careful.

Failing the hose, consider buying a racking cain from your local homebrew store. cheap and very useful.

for a first attempt, try ed worts cider, or apple juice in general 1 leter of apple juice, add 50 grams of suger shoudl end up around 10% abv. Keep away from Orange juice, fermented orange juice resembles vomit in both taste and smell in my opinion.

I guess cider works. Much better than beer - I can actually drink the stuff. I just figured there'd be nothing much that could go wrong with Kilju.

How long would Cider need to ferment? And would it be OK just sitting in a cupboard? How much yeast per litre?

 

[maddprofessor]

Look up the thread for Ed Wort's apple wine (apfelwein). It's very easy and similar to what I've made and has rave reviews. Cider can be as simple as apple juice and yeast. I add brown sugar which apparently makes it technically an apple wine. Mine (with sugar added) took 2-3 months to finish fermenting. One pack of dry yeast is enough for 1-5 gallons. This time around I've added yeast nutrient which should make it finish faster and maybe get rid of a slight off flavor I had before from the yeast being stressed. It's been 1 month and it's still bubbling away. With less sugar you'll get a finished product sooner. As a general rule if your brew tastes funky...let it age a bit and try it again.