Newbie beer kit info needed

[Kimbo]

Well my Blackrock Pilsner is about 4 weeks old now,

And tastes pretty bloody good IMO! :D
not too shabby for a first attempt :dance:
It just needs a little more head (story of my life :shock:
got any tips?

[MacStill]

Well my Blackrock Pilsner is about 4 weeks old now,

And tastes pretty bloody good IMO! :D
not too shabby for a first attempt :dance:
It just needs a little more head (story of my life :shock:
got any tips?

Flowers and chocolates :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

[The Pope]

Try a fresh wort kit from your local HBS.
I found I would get a metallic "twang" whenever I used those cans of goop, but now I do all grain brewing the beers are 10000 times better...

[SBB]

Well my Blackrock Pilsner is about 4 weeks old now,

And tastes pretty bloody good IMO! :D
not too shabby for a first attempt :dance:
It just needs a little more head (story of my life :shock:
got any tips?

Flowers and chocolates :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

If that doesnt work try high octane UJSM

[Frank]

but..seriously ...just in case (this time) he wasnt talking about fellatio :shock:
Kimbo
four weeks is not enough maturation time for K&K at least. I never drink mine until 50 days after bottling, and even then its too early normally.

Mate, I'm pretty sure it'll be worth it to leave 'em for a few more weeks, although your problem re head may be due to not enough priming sugar (I use cabonated 'drops') in the bottle and/or a less-than-truly-clean drinking receptacle (eg a glass with soap film on it will always makes your homebrew 'flat').

So...in, say, Mid-December, pouring into a water-only cleaned and air-dried glass....... ;)
Anyway, glad you are liking it already.

[Kimbo]

Thanks Frank,
just the sort of info i was after,
i recon it is the bottles, coz they are gassy, just no head ;)

[maheel]

yeah give em a few more weeks it's hard to wait but worth it. trick is to build up some stock...

the CO2 will absorb into the beer as more is produced and they should carb up nice.

make sure you really wash the glasses clean, i always rinse mine with really hot water trying to get tall the detergents out of them.
even then most of the time my "head" does not last that well.
but could also be the ingredients in my all grain

[Kimbo]

Thanks Maheel ;)

[busman]

knob-job jokes aside, some beers just don't have a good head, even when fully carbonated, and some glasses just won't keep a good head. It can all be a bit of a lottery, but as long as it tastes good who gives a fuck what it looks like (NOW you can make some dirty jokes :laughing-rolling: )

[Kimbo]

very wise words, thanks mate ;)

[Jimmy1]

Kimbo,
To get good head retention in kit beer (I always get lacing in my schooners from kits) I found sanitising my fermenter with a chlorine or bleach used to kill the head. I now use cheap nappy san.
Also if you use 50/50 DME and Dextrose gets great head, and adding 10% dried wheat malt increases the "creamyness" of the head. (but adding malt makes brewing a pilsner pointless IMO so try to get a light malt with the wheat malt added)
Brewing at the slowest rate your yeast will allow (lower temps or colder place in the house with wet towels each day).
And I have only ever used white sugar to prime my bottles which has never added the fruitiness of sugar to my beers.
And a minimum of 3 weeks to age in the bottles always helps.
Sorry this reply is a little late but I've been in Kiwiland helping the .... what happens in the sheep pen stays in the sheep pen :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
Jimmy

[Kimbo]

Thanks Jimmy,
i will try the 50/50 next time.
i only ever use napisan also ;)

[googe]

Mcstill, the best brew ive ever done is a brigalow new, 50/50 LDM dextrose. Ferment at around 10-18c for 13-15 days or till you get around 1004-1008 fg. Rack it for another 2-3 days then bottle. I use 1 carb drop and 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar 1/2 teaspoon white sugar to prime. Use headmaster Glasses and you'll have all the head you want ;). I only ever use pet bottles, never had a prob with them. HAve to agree napysan is the go :handgestures-thumbupleft: . Euro lager is another good one. I guess if your used to drinking xxxx then cat piss would be a step up :)) . Good luck mate.

[Divey]

I have been brewing for about 30 years and it took me a long time to determine that fermenters need to be cleaned with Caustic Soda. You can buy caustic at Woolies and it's pretty cheap. Once your fermenter is empty, simply add about a 1/3 of the little plastic container into the fermenter add fill up it with tap water and let it soak. All the crud will come off the sides of the fermenter and it will be squeaky clean when rinsed out. Be very careful not to get any of this shit in your eyes. I always wear glasses when handling the stuff.

Yeast hate chlorine.

As has been said, don't bother about running your ferments at 26°C as this will cause all those funky flavours (fusal alcohol) that you often get in home brews that are fermented in garden sheds in summer time. :puke-huge: Keep your ales at about 18°C and your lagers should be fermented at temperatures between 10°C and 14°C. Having said that, make sure you use a good lager yeast which is supplied with the quality kits like the Thomas Cooper series. Just because a kit has lager printed on the tin, don't assume it is supplied with a lager yeast...most are supplied with an ale yeast so the ferment does not stall. You can buy quality lager yeasts at your local homebrew shop.

Edit........I should have also mentioned the fact that there is one excellent strain of lager yeast which is made by both Whitelabs and Wyeast that has the unique ability to ferment at ambient temperatures which would normally be suited to Ales rather Lager and give a real clean fresh lager style beer. I would doubt that there would not be many to claim the beer was not fermented at normal Lager temperatures. These two yeast are Whitelabs WLP 810 San Francisco Lager Yeast and Wyest's 2112 Californian Lager Yeast. They are both crackers for the person who does not have a fermenting fridge. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

ok it's time for me to bite the bullet and brew some beer, just got a keg fridge with tap & gas connected but drank all the beer :laughing-rolling:

So.

What are the basic essentials I'll need to brew some decent kit beers ?

I dont want to fuss around too much, just want some basics to get me going & get a keg in the fridge.

Cheers.

[home_brewer]

Fresh wert kit better than any can of goop

[mullamulla]

You'll slip into it easy I reckon Mac :handgestures-thumbupleft:

IMO the most important basic factors for beer are sanitation, temperature control and yeast.

Sanitation's easy, keep everything well scrubbed and your two thirds there.... a bit of starsan or iodophor will take care of the rest, I use starsan as its soak, drain done.

For temperature control I reckon you cant go past an old fridge and a heat mat/belt controlled with something like a Tempmate/fridgemate/stc1000 these things control the power to the fridge/heatmat... you just dial in a temperature and the device will complete the circuit if the temp is over the setting (for cooling) or under setting (for heating)... they're much cheaper than the sound ;-)

Yeast makes a massive difference to beers, if your just buying a kit & kilo of sugar I recommend the first thing you do is chuck the yeast packet in the bin and buy something better to suit the style of beer your making.... Wyeast make great stuff, but it can be easy to underpitch if your making a heavy beer, the dried yeasts like fermentis have much higher cell counts and are probably the best option until you learn a bit more.

Apart from that how are you thinking about starting, kits? fresh wort kits?, or balls out all grain?

[MacStill]

Fresh wert kit better than any can of goop

Great response, thank you :angry-banghead:

[mullamulla]

It's true, and easier if your not going the full monty ;-)

le' good shit http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=88

[MacStill]

You'll slip into it easy I reckon Mac :handgestures-thumbupleft:

IMO the most important basic factors for beer are sanitation, temperature control and yeast.

Sanitation's easy, keep everything well scrubbed and your two thirds there.... a bit of starsan or iodophor will take care of the rest, I use starsan as its soak, drain done.

For temperature control I reckon you cant go past an old fridge and a heat mat/belt controlled with something like a Tempmate/fridgemate/stc1000 these things control the power to the fridge/heatmat... you just dial in a temperature and the device will complete the circuit if the temp is over the setting (for cooling) or under setting (for heating)... they're much cheaper than the sound ;-)

Yeast makes a massive difference to beers, if your just buying a kit & kilo of sugar I recommend the first thing you do is chuck the yeast packet in the bin and buy something better to suit the style of beer your making.... Wyeast make great stuff, but it can be easy to underpitch if your making a heavy beer, the dried yeasts like fermentis have much higher cell counts and are probably the best option until you learn a bit more.

Apart from that how are you thinking about starting, kits? fresh wort kits?, or balls out all grain?

I'm just wanting to start with k & k for now, as with any new hobby things are better off going in small steps.

Till now I've only drank carton or pub beer & am happy with it, I'm not overly fussy but do enjoy a cold beer on a hot day & would like to get drinking it as soon as I can & progressing naturally into AG etc etc.

Problem for me is just going out AG straight up is funds and equipment, so simple is best for now :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks MM :D