General homebrew discussion, tips and help on kit and malt extract brewing, and talk about equipment. Queries on sourcing supplies and equipment should go in The Store.
New to this and find your site a great source of information (And a few laughs too)
Bought hubby a Coopers Micro kit and I think I'm more into it then him although I'm sure he'll become more interested when its ready to drink LOL Anyway, I have read through the stickys & am wondering about racking. Is there any special way you should transfer to the secondary fermentor? I probably wont bother to do this until we've made a few batches & have a little confidence but my stepdad has a spare fermenter he isnt using & am wondering if we should nab it & make use of it to rack? Its either that or I'll start another batch asap lol This is addictive !!!!!
P.S I have the first batch fermenting in the little ones bedroom while she is away so it can keep a fairly constant temp. Has been bubbling away since last Tues and keeping a fairly constant 20-22 degrees. I realise I probably shldnt have wrapped every spare blanket in the place around it as its probably too hot. Added yeast at 26 degrees. No freaking idea what we'll end up with beer wise but its been fun.
i get the idea that some people swear by it others say its unesesary i havent tried yet but am going to give it a go and see what happens
As for ur temps of ur current brew it should be fine i read somewhere that about 19degrees is ideal for ales and lower for lagers but as long as its not too hot and remains stable u should get good beer
Racking is not always necessary. There are meany reasons why you should rack. Bulk priming is the most common reason and is by far the easiest way to prepare your beer for bottling. Other reasons include dry hopping, to remove the beer from the primary trub, to recirculate the beer and get the yeast active again, etc.
If you decide you do want to rack, the above mentioned thread is an excellent guide as to how to do that.
Whereabouts on the mid north coast are you? Unfortunately, we are not well served with HB shops, and the one in Port has a relatively limited range, eg no liquid yeasts, limited hops, limited grains etc. I always call into Asquith HB shop when I'm in Sydney, or order stuff from CraftBrewer over the net. Have fun with your brewing, it's a great hobby, and quickly becomes addictive.
I'm in Port Macquarie too !!! We visited the HB store @ bellbowrie the other day & bought a few things but yeh I didnt think they had much. We did buy a Coopers Mexican Cerveza which will be our 2nd batch. I asked the lady there for advice & she suggested a brew enhancer so we bought one of them aswell. Although with the hangover I have today I can't even bring myself to look at the fermenter let alone get close enough to smell it
but its been fun.
