Intro and Question on ingredient kit

[Bobby_M]

Hi,

I've been lurking and while trying to learn and I'm interested in brewing my own. The wife learned of my interest and unfortunatly bought me a "make your own beer" kit when I really wanted to get the right equipment the first time. This isn't a Mr. Beer, but it's probably pretty close. It came with a little 1 gallon fermenter, an airlock, 6 plastic bottles (woo hoo), some DME, flavoring grains, hop pellets, yeast, sanitizer, and a lot of dextrose.

I made one batch per instructions which tasted OK, but it never quite carbonated in the bottles.

I'm done with this 1-gallon batch BS and plan to step up to at least 3 gallons. I'm going to get two 6 gallon buckets with spigots so I can do primary/secondary, then back to the first when bottling.

Now, the wife also got me a refill kit that is supposed to be used for three additional batches (which I would like to use). All three batches are supposed to be different recipes using different flavoring grains but they're all based on either light or dark DME. I may just experiment. Is there any hope for this or should I just start with fresh equipment and an ingredient starter kit?

Why would a kit like this call for 3/4 cup of dextrose to be added to the wort prior to fermentation? Is this their cheap way out of including more DME? After reading up it seems dextrose is usually only added prior to bottling to carbonate.

Finally, has anyone used those Coors Light plastic bottles? They come in an 18 pack "cooler box" and thought they'd be an easy way to avoid capping.

I really appreciate any help getting started.

Bobby

 

[Born Brewing Co.]

Finally, has anyone used those Coors Light plastic bottles? They come in an 18 pack "cooler box" and thought they'd be an easy way to avoid capping.

I think it would be more of a pain to screw on all the tops as opposed to crimping bottle caps. Also, I would want my final product coming out of glass as opposed to plastic, JMO.

 

[G. Cretin]

About the bottles. Those are PET bottles and should be fine to use just sanatize them.

 

[SteveM]

One six gallon tub will not require a spigot. In fact, in my opinion you should avoid a fermenter with a spigot as it is a potential source of leaks and a challenge to sanitize. If you stop in at a home brew store or search the web (there are tons of web vendors for brewing supplies) you can find a very servicable beginners kit for $60 - $80 bucks or so.

 

[Bobby_M]

Maybe I'm just lazy or uninformed but I was under the impression that a spigot + hose on the primary is an alternative to a racking cane. I figure its better to not have to pull a siphon. Thoughts?

Bobby

 

[Exo]

Maybe I'm just lazy or uninformed but I was under the impression that a spigot + hose on the primary is an alternative to a racking cane. I figure its better to not have to pull a siphon. Thoughts?

Bobby

It is difficult to sanitize all the nooks and crannies created by putting a spigot into a bucket. That's why they are not recommended on a primary or secondary. Your beer is too young and will get infected easily.

A bottling bucket is satisfactory and cheap. I'd buy 3 buckets and dedicate one to each stage...primary...secondary...bottling.

 

[EdWort]

I've always used a bucket with a spigot for my Primary. Sanitizing is a snap. I remove the spigot and immerse the bucket in my big sanitizing tub for a while. I then reinstall the spigot and wrap it in plastic wrap. It makes racking to my carboy a snap and I've never has a problem with the nasties, but then again I'm anal retentive when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing.

 

[SteveM]

No need to get your back up. I did not mean to imply that anyone was lazy or uninformed or anything else. There are severals ways to do the process of brewing beers. I offered an opinion of something that I would avoid based on my experience and style of brewing. Almost any topic raised here, there are differing opinions, and in the end just about everyone makes good beer, because the process is very flexible.