Newbie: Barney the Newer Brewer

[Barney]

Hi all,

I'm a virgin brewer, who is to be the receipient of a Coopers kit for Chrissy... I've been trying to absorb the collective wisdom here over the past week (would like to make the maiden brew a winner and keep on from there!) but would appreciate your sage advice on how to take my Xmas pressy and its can of Lager mix, and brew a good'un first time out...

I loved the sound of Daron's Coriander, Lime and Honey Lager, but don't know how I'd go winging it without a secondary fermenter (yet... after reading much of what I've got to, it's on the list...).

Anyhow, please mould my malleable mind!

[beercanuck]

The best beer is what you'll make. The worst beer is what happens to the taste of almost every commercial beer after you start homebrewing!

My advice for the first homebrew -
- Ditch the recommended kg of sugar and use the Brew Enhancer 1 instead.
- Visit a hbs local to you and chat up the propieter. Get some different yeast, or at least use more than the 7g provided by Coopers under the cap.
- Try to keep that fermenter as cool as possible - use a 2nd fridge or the t-shirt tub o'water trick.
- The lager is going to smell like off-eggs while fermenting. It's ok. It's not gone off. Don't pour it down the sink.
- First Taste - Try some after two weeks in the bottle. And then leave it alone for 2 more weeks. It will be much better. If you can leave it for longer, it'll get better.

Try different things when you brew. Be prepared for some possible disasters. I & others on this site can tell you all sorts of advice, but quite frankly the best method is just to try it. Chicken Beer. Chilli Beer. Coffe Roast Stout. The worst thing is that you might have to pour it out as a last resort. Save a bottle or two in back of the cupboard to try in a couple of months. Miracles happen!

Keep a brewers diary. Nothing is more painful than to crack a bottle open, taste shangri-la, and then realize you have no idea how you made it & how to make it again. Write down tasting notes. Like wine. Sometimes beer gets better with a bit of aging. Sometimes it gets worse. By keeping notes you'll know exactly when to crack into that Honey Framboise that's been waiting for you for 6 months.

Brewing is a machine. You've got to start the machine up, & then keep on brewing. In a while, you'll have 200+ bottles of HB all hitting the prime time. Stop the machine and face HB drought. Those are painful times, when you drag yourself to Dan Murphys to buy mediocrity.

Anyway, just my two cents.

[Barney]

Thanks bc!

All sound like good ideas. I'd been looking at the sugar/alternative question with great interest...

I'm looking forward to getting the ball rolling...

[Cheeno]

Barney, listen to BC's wise words. Although a rookie, my efforts so far are superior (by mutual agreement) to the efforts of a friend with the same fermenter a few months previously. All I did was exactly as suggested above. I know I have more to learn but it helps when you have something drinkable to inspire you. My advice would be to keep it fairly simple to start off, maybe a clone recipe from your HB shop. Remember you will have to wait a month to get an idea of the outcome-plenty more time for getting on something more exotic. Heed BC's caution about keeping up production, its no accident that monks brew beer.



Good luck

[MHD]

ignore the temperature range on the coopers HB kit...

try to brew 18-22 degrees, it is much nicer!

Agree re the sugar, keep it and use it for priming, (use the drops first). Use the brew booster or visit your local brew shop for liquid or dry malts... and grab some Hop "teabags" while you are there...

[Aussie Claret]

Barney,
You've come to a good web site and will get all the help and advise you need. Whilst BC's advise is good, for your first attempt, I would try to keep things as simple as possible, after you've done a couple of brews and mastered the basics think about what type of beer you like and go about trying to re-create it.
The biggest bit of advise I would give you is to sanitise and keep everything clean. Anything that will come in to contact with your beer or wort MUST be sanitised. Keep a diary as suggested because the brews you like you may wish to make again and those that you're not fond of well simply do bother making again.

With the kit you got a Cooper's beer probably the lager, draught or ale, probably some dextrose or brewing sugar and a kit yeast. I'd simply stay with these ingredients follow the instructions, and you will end up with a beer that is already better than the mega swill you buy. I would say that once you made your first batch, tasted it and raved on to all your friends then you may like to progress onto something a little more challenging.
Try to keep the temperature of the wort in the low 20's as all of these kits come with an ale type yeast.
Just remember the most important thing is sanitise and you'll be drinking beer within 4 weeks, the longer you leave it the better it will. I'd leave the primary fermentation between 7-10 days check the FG with a hydrometer two days in a row with the same reading which will likely be around the 1007 mark and your ready to bottle, 2 weeks later and your drinking.

Good luck
AC

[Barney]

Thanks guys!

While we're talking tips, and sanitation, how many of you are using Milton sterilising formula or tablets? We've got another of our offspring due in March, and have always sterilised the bottles (2 already under 4 y.o) with Milton... and I saw it mentioned in other parts. For the baby gear, I've found it dead set easy, and would be interested to hear what you folk recommend for you brewing gear.

[MHD]

Milton will work fine... but why bother when household unscented bleach also works fine...

Watch the video that comes with the coopers kit... it is quite good

[501]

1x lager is supplied OR for something tastier first out try

1x morgans blue mountain lager, - nice light colored brew.
1kg dry ultra blend
1x finishing hops Hallertau etc
250 g of dextrose
easy peasy.

Also the coopers premium selection are tasty and easy.

just a can of premium lager, bitter, or draught and
1 x can of thomas coopers light malt extract.
an all malt brew first time out ?

If you wanna use up the lager that comes with the kit first try.
you could just throw in a coopers brew enhancer 1 or be2.

I made a few coopers pale ales with the be2 and they were
quite tasty cheap and easy brews.

merry pistmass
501

[gregb]

The above is all good advice.

Sanitise is number one. Ditch the white sugar number two. My third would be dont be afraid to experiment, and equal third always take it to the bottling stage and dont make a final judgement untill after it is cold and carbonated.

Cheers,
Greg

[yardglass]

for a newbie, (we're all newbies to a degree), beercanuck hit the nail.

just keep it relatively simple to kick off, don't stress about all the BS that you can quite easily become involved with, (it'll come later, trust me. ).

sanitation and temperature imo, are primary for a beginner.

if you havn't already, do a search on both and go from there.

let us know how you go
good luck and cheers


yard

[tyrone]

much good advice!Consider leaving the larger for winter and brew a wheat or ale now.The temps arn't right for a larger unless you have 200 to spend on a wine cooling fridge.Merry crissie bye the way

[Beerpig]

Milton solution is fine

I use it on bottles before bottling & fermenter gear before putting down a brew

Cheers

[Barney]

Thanks guys! I'll keep all your advice at the forefront of my mind. Grabbed a bag of Brew Improver 1 last night, and am considering putting the lager tin aside for a pale ale (will purchase before the missus notices)... stay tuned in the new year for Barney's bash at brewing!

[yardglass]

bash on brother Barn

[Dogger Dan]

Barney,

You aren't a big purple dinosaur are you?

Dogger

[Barney]

Barney,

You aren't a big purple dinosaur are you?

Dogger

Depends on what (and how much) I drink...

[undercover1]

Barney,

You aren't a big purple dinosaur are you?

Dogger

That's a cheap shot DD.

[grabman]

good one Dogger, I bet others were thinking it, but you just had to ask the question!

[Dogger Dan]

Sorry,

I didn't mean for it to be cheap

Dogger