Setting Up Your New Kit Fit the tap and sediment reducer to your fermenter. The sediment reducer should be facing upwards and the tap spout downwards. Attach the stick on thermometer roughly mid way up your fermenter. Fit the air lock and grommet to the lid of your fermenter. Sterilisation Sterilising your fermenter and any equipment likely to come in contact with the brew is THE MOST IMPORTANT STAGE IN BREWING GOOD BEER. The best way of achieving this is using Sodium Metabisulphate. Mix 1 tablespoon of Sodium Met with 3 litres of tap water. Rinse equipment in this solution. Allow equipment to stand for 30 minutes. (The fumes from this solution sterilises the equipment). Rinse equipment in tap water.
Mixing Your Ingredients Pour the contents of the beer can and dextrose into your fermenter. Add 2 litres of boiling water (roughly 1 normal size kettle full; into your fermenter (some of the boiling water can be used to help get the concentrate out of the can). In cooler weather it may be helpful to first warm the can in hot water for 10 minutes. Stir the mixture until all ingredients are dissolved. Top the mixture up to the required amount specified on the can (usually 23 litres which is marked on the fermenter). Check the temperature of the brew on the stick on thermometer. If the temperature on your stick on thermometer is not below 30C do not add the yeast. Leave brew to cool below 30C. When brew is at a temperature between 20 and 30C (68 to 86F). Primary Fermentation Fill the air lock with cooled boiled water. Fit the lid and airlock to the fermenter Within 24 hours bubbles of gas will begin escaping through the airlock (indicating fermentation has commenced). Usually fermentation will continue for 5 to 7 days (longer in lower temperatures). In the cooler months a heater mat or band can be used to accelerate the process.
Clearing Your Beer If you require a clear beer, Finings or Beer Clear should be added as the bubbling starts to slow (before fermentation is complete). Finings should be dissolved in one cup of boiling water and stirred lightly over the top of the brew. NB: If Kegging your beer please refer to keg bible for improved clearing procedures. Bottling Your Beer Check the specific gravity (SG) of the brew when bubbling has completely stopped. To Check SG draw a small amount of brew into a test tube, float your hydrometer in it. The SG should be below 1010. If it is not, leave it for a few more days and take another reading. If the reading has not changed in this time and is close to 1010 bottle anyway with a touch less sugar in each bottle. NB: If dextrose has been replaced by malt or corn syrup in your recipe the SG may remain above 1010. Malt has more unfermentable sugars in it giving a higher finishing SG.
Prepare 30 large brown beer bottles by thoroughly cleaning them with pink stain (or brewers detergent) and sterilising with Sodium Met solution. Stubborn grime may be removed from bottles using Pink Stain Remover (soaking for 24 hours). Place one carbonation drop in each stubbie and 2 carbonation drops in each long neck If using sugar instead of carbonation drops use only one teaspoon per long neck. Any more will result in your bottles exploding . Use your "blue bottler" (filling tube with valve) to fill the bottles to 50mm (2") below the rim of each bottle. Cap and store in a warm place, out of direct sunlight for 4 weeks. You can try your beer in two weeks but will greatly improve in 4 to 6 weeks. Put down another brew immediately to ensure a constant supply of beer in a months time
Equipment to Make Life Easy Brew Heater - for keeping a constant temperature during the cooler months Bench Capper - this makes capping your bottles effortless. This equipment is considered essential if using screwtop bottles. Bottle Tree - Over 60 bottles can be hung upside down to dry without too much bench space Bottle Rinser - For easy bottle sterilisation Sugar Measure - Very good for quick and easy bottle priming, especially for inbetween bottle sizes. Eg Grolsch bottles % Alchohol Most 1.7 to 1.8kg home brew kits will produce a beer with 5.0% alcohol if their instructions are followed. This 5.0% is made up by the following: 1. Beer Concentrate 2.5% 2. 1Kg Dextrose 2.0% 3. Bottling Sugar (1t/s) 0.5% TOTAL 5.0% You can vary your alcohol % by altering the amount of dextrose you add to the fermenter. Halve the amount of dextrose and you will get 4.0%. Leave it all out and your beer will be 3.0%. For an accurate alcohol reading follow the formula given on the hydrometer by measuring the starting and finishing SG.
Caps Most caps sold these days will suit both crown seal and screw lid bottles. Screw lid bottles can be capped using the normal method. The caps will screw off but may take a bit of extra persuasion. Alternatively, use a bottle opener. Clean Glasses Clean glasses are essential if good head retention is required. If your glasses get dirty - wash them with pink stain remover to remove the fine layer of grease and grime which results from eating chips or peanuts etc. while drinking. Keep cold in fridge or freezer.
Troubleshooting Airlock Not Bubbling The carbouy you have been supplied with usually forms a tight seal allowing no gas to escape except through the airlock. If bubbling does not commence with 24 hours (and the temperature of the brew is above 20C), check that you have screwed the lid on tight enough. Whatever you do, don't throw the brew out just because it is not bubbling. The two likely scenarios are: The beer is brewing and there is a small leak somewhere in your fermenter. Do not panic your brew will still turn out in this case. Note there will be a ring forming on the inside of the fermenter just above the wort (unfermented beer) line. Leave for 7 days and check hydrometer before bottling. or The yeast has been killed because the temperature of the brew was too high when it was added - should be below 30C. Simply add another yeast and brew as normal. This needs to be done within 24hours in order to save the brew. Test for taste and hydrometer before bottling. If in doubt bring me a sample.