Zapp Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Yep, you can certainly reuse bottles. Go for ones that have had bottle conditioned beer in rather than lager though, as they are much stronger and believe me when I say that bottle bombs are seriously scary and very dangerous. If they are manky, or any other brewing equipment for that matter, get some unscented "oxygen cleaner" from the detergent aisle in the supermarket. Put half a teaspoon in each bottle, fill with hot water leave overnight and then rinse well - job jobbed. A pressure barrel or fermenter needing cleaning will need 1-2 scoops depending on how bad they are. If/when you look at all grain, a mate of mine runs a homebrew supplies company and can build the equipment for you at a very good price. Give me a shout and I'll put you onto him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Cheers guys. Zapp, I'm necking a lot of St Austell beers at the moment, mainly Tribute and Proper Job. The former isn't bottle conditioned, the latter is. Bottles look the same though. It may be a while till I do the all grain thing as I want to get a few kits under my belt first. But if and when I do I'll give you a shout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Brown bottles that contained ale are trustworthy, you should be able to use both of those without issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mecman Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 morning homebrewers. need some help about 1 month ago i made 40 pints of milestones beer cant remember the exact name and can't find it in any store on here must be discontinued but anyway made and bottled it as per instructions bottled it in various type and size bottles noticed after bottling only four of them were working everything.was stererlised from start tried one last night it was flat as you know what haven't tried one that was working yet,any ideas please. ' thanks.for any replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds chimp Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Did you put it somewhere warm then cold after bottling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 morning homebrewers. need some help about 1 month ago i made 40 pints of milestones beer cant remember the exact name and can't find it in any store on here must be discontinued but anyway made and bottled it as per instructions bottled it in various type and size bottles noticed after bottling only four of them were working everything.was stererlised from start tried one last night it was flat as you know what haven't tried one that was working yet,any ideas please. ' thanks.for any replies. you made your first mistake by going by the instructions. they are written in the mind that everything works out 100% all the time. when in reality most home brewed kits often require 10 days fermenting. or longer. when i brew, i sanitise and rinse excessively. then i oxygenate the beer. then i throw in the yeast. the yeast uses the air (oxygen) in the beer juice to produce lots of other yeast. when there is no more oxygen, the yeast switches to convert the beer juice into alcohol instead of other yeast. it should all churn through the sugars in the beer. then it is ready for bottling. add a little sugar in pre cleaned bottles, top off with beer and cap. then leave in the same room as you did the brew to first ferment. then after a week or more, store in a cool room and wait for a few weeks. i do that with all my beer and i have as yet too loose a batch. dont forget, brewing is about keeping a yeast culture in exellent condition. the by product of that is beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mecman Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 cook i'm more confused now because you tell me not to go by their instructions but your instructions are the same but thanks for your reply anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shootist Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 morning homebrewers. need some help about 1 month ago i made 40 pints of milestones beer cant remember the exact name and can't find it in any store on here must be discontinued but anyway made and bottled it as per instructions bottled it in various type and size bottles noticed after bottling only four of them were working everything.was stererlised from start tried one last night it was flat as you know what haven't tried one that was working yet,any ideas please. ' thanks.for any replies. Carbonation in the bottle comes from a combination of priming sugar and warmth. I suspect that either you didn't prime with sugar sufficiently or more likely that you didn't keep the freshly bottled beer in a nice warm room for a couple of weeks before storing in a cool place for the beer to absorb the Co2. To rescue your situation I'd bring the bottles back into warm place (18C +) for a couple of weeks. The yeast will wake up and finish off carbonating your beer. Then return the beer to a cold location for the beer to absorb the Co2 and generally condition. As to kit instructions, they do tend to be a bit optomistic as far as time scales go, time is the cheapest and best ingrediant you can add to homebrew to improve the results ! So for your next kit, as a set of more realistic time scales i'd suggest: Ferment 10~14 days if your busy and cant bottle/barrel when it's ready leave it longer rather than do it early 3 weeks wont hurt Carbonation 14 days minimum in a nice warm place thats over 18C 24 hrs a day if it gets cooler at night leave it even longer Conditioning 1 month in a cool location as a MINIMUM, longer will improve the beer Hope that helps :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 cook i'm more confused now because you tell me not to go by their instructions but your instructions are the same but thanks for your reply anyway. most instructions say ferments in 4 days, but in reality it can take about 10. when its done its done. most mistakes are bottling to early or unsanitised conditions. most new homebrewers dont realise the yeast has a lifecycle, once you understand that, it becomes easyer because you understand what the yeast is doing. for instance, the normal yeast packets are 5grams, and when added to low aerated wort, will struggle to ferment properly, due to low yeast ammount, the yeast uses oxygen in the wort to make lots of other yeast, so all those yeast can churn through the food you guve it. proper homebrewers oxygenate the wort, then chuck in a large culture of yeast or use a minimum of 11gram yeast sachet. this multiplies the yeast numbers alot, and all those yeast can easily eat through the sugars you give it. ie it ferments cleanly through. the yeast is actually the X factor of the beer. when you you start it can be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mecman Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 thank's for your latest reply's chaps i will do as you suggest next time and let you know how i get on CHEERS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 OK, gonna dip my toe into this home brew malarkey. My first attempt at this since some very ropey Boots kits in the 1980s. I've got a St Peter's Brewery IPA on the go. I MAY give the all grain stuff a go at some stage, just see how I get on with a couple of kits first. OK, so today was first tasting. On my third pint and I foresee many more to come tonight. Because It tastes absolutely ******* epic, I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted November 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Uh oh, looks like the bug has bit another one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Uh oh, looks like the bug has bit another one... i still wish i had started years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds chimp Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 i still wish i had started years ago. I have about 70-80 bottles of wine now ...and the same in different beers... Its so easy to do and saves loads of money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 Just put another brew on today. A Woodforde's Wherry. The St Peter's IPA I did is awesome, I'm genuinely chuffed at how good it tastes and I think I've exorcised my home brew prejudices based on a very indifferent experience with it last time around (1980s). I put the St Peter's in a pressure barrel, I'm going to bottle the Woodforde's so that if it turns out OK I can give the odd bottle to mates to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatcatsplat Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 If you use kits, spend a couple of quid extra and get good ones - Woodforde and St Peters are good, as are Milestone and Muntons. Difficult to cock up and splendid to drink. If you like your continental stuff, Brewferm are pretty good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds chimp Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 If you use kits, spend a couple of quid extra and get good ones - Woodforde and St Peters are good, as are Milestone and Muntons. Difficult to cock up and splendid to drink. If you like your continental stuff, Brewferm are pretty good too. disagree there completely... My fav brew is Hoppy copper from wilko or LHBS.... cracking pint and £10....sometimes i tart it up with a 1kg brewpack and can taste the differance tho done the woodforde and not really much in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedd-wyn Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 Anybody know of any wild wine ingredients about that can be collected and brewed this time of year? Only started making wine last month so most of the fruits and flowers have started to rot. All new to me so would appreciate some advice. All the best Heddwch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatcatsplat Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 Sloes, Damsons, Rose Hips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedd-wyn Posted November 12, 2013 Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 Sloes, Damsons, Rose Hips Already got a tidy batch of sloes in the freezer was going to make some sloe gin but could always use them to make wine. All the damsons and rose hips that were left on the branches had all turned into mush unfortunately Probably chosen the worst time of year to start brewing wine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 anyone got any recomendations of a mild to brew? cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 Anyone tried one of these? http://www.moonshinedrinks.co.uk/ Just seems to simple to be true, but you never know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) .Edit. Note to self. Don't post giberish on PW with a skinful after a work **** up! Edited December 11, 2013 by Blunderbuss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 I've made a few batches of home brew from extract tins now,and they've all turned out mostly fine, apart from one thing - they all seem to taste or feel a little "thin" in the mouth. The flavour is good but doesn't linger as much as a professionally made pint and doesn't give the sense of filling the mouth with flavour. What can I do to improve the mouthfeel and enhance the length of flavour? Should I try different water? I'm currently using mineral water to brew with instead of tap water. Or should I use less water to increase the ratio of extract to water? Anyone got any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 Heads up. Wilkos are doing Woodforde's Wherry kits at just £15.20 at the moment (I paid £23 in a local home brew shop a while ago). As I have already tried that, I bough a Milestone Green Man kit from them, which are also reduced at the moment from £22 to £17.60 I got it made up and into the fermenter tonight. Has anyone tried it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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