I was bought a homebrew kit, well, four years ago this Christmas. Despite my best intentions of “absolutely, definitely going to get a brew going this weekend”, it has sat in the garage ever since.

However, I am absolutely, definitely going to get a brew going this weekend. I’ve got all the bits out of the garage and I’m looking at them now. They are:

– a brew bucket, bubble valve and tub of sterilizing powder

– stirrer, hygrometer and thermometer

– a syphon and a load of plastic screw top bottles

– a big foil bag of malt syrup stuff

– a vacuum-sealed foil bag of hops

– some priming sugar

– a sachet of yeast

So, the questions:

1) Am I missing anything?

2) I assume the malt, hops and yeast will have gone off by now, am I right?

3) Any tips for a first-time kit-brewer (it’s not quite first time to be fair, I did one years ago but it was a bit crap)?

Fresh ingredients are part and parcel of good brewing, but at this stage it is all about getting your eye in so I would go full speed ahead with what you have.

Are you planning a boil? Or were you going to add those hops dry to the fermenter [some kits do this].

Ta. Just to be clear though, the ingredients I have are all four years old, are they all still okay? Surely the yeast will be dead by now?

According to the instructions, I add the hops on day 5, after soaking/pulverising them for a couple of minutes in 500ml of boiling water.

The yeast could well be deceased after 4 years, yes. As it’s the critical component probably best to pick up a new packet at the brew shop tomorrow morning.

STW, yesterday.  May be of interest?

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/suggested-homebrew-kits/

If you do nothing else, buy a new packet of yeast. Wilko’s will do.

It’s not clear from your description whether your kit is an extract kit (you will need to boil the malt and add the hops at specified times), or a standard kit where you put the malt in your fermenter, and add water, with the hops intended for dry hopping. If it’s the former, you will need a pan big enough to boil the malt extract and the required quantity of water.

I’ll grab some yeast tomorrow, and a big plastic jug.

From your description it’s a standard kit. The instructions are essentially warm/soften malt, put in into fermentation bucket, add water to 23l, 22degC, leave for five days, add hops, leave for another five days, bottle (with appropriate hygro checks along the way).

Can I syphon/bottle straight from the fermentation bucket, or am I best syphoning into another bucket first?

You have to transfer to a second bucket for bottling – there will be detritus / yeast trub accumulating in the fermenter, plus hops if they are loose, so the beer must be racked off all of this.

Plus you need to add a small amount of priming sugar for bottling in most beers – easy to just add this a sterile solution to the bottling bucket.

From your description it’s a standard kit. The instructions are essentially warm/soften malt, put in into fermentation bucket, add water to 23l, 22degC, leave for five days, add hops, leave for another five days, bottle (with appropriate hygro checks along the way).

Great. That’s easier. I would leave it at least two weeks though, whatever the instructions say. I usually ferment around 18-19 degrees.

Can I syphon/bottle straight from the fermentation bucket, or am I best syphoning into another bucket first?

It’s much better to rack to a second bucket, but it’s not essential. I usually rack into an old pressure barrel, with the priming sugar solution going in first. I attach a bottling wand to the tap and fill from there. Much easier and cleaner than trying to pinch a syphon tube closed. You can go straight from the fermenter if it’s properly settled – stir the priming sugar solution in very gently though. A sediment trap on your syphon will help to reduce the crap being sucked into the bottles: https://www.brew2bottle.co.uk/syphon-sediment-trap-350mm.html

A bottling wand on the other end of your syphon allows you to stop the flow between fills: https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-bottling-wand-with-tap/p/0441127

I usually put the dry hops into a bag: https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Nylon_Hop_Bag_with_Drawstring.html

Cheers chaps.

The syphon I have comes with a sediment trap like that one, and has a tap on the end (well, nearly the end, there’s about another six inches of tube after the tap. That bag looks handy to help trap any hoppy bits though, I’ll see if they have one at the hardware shop in town, they stock homebrew stuff, and I might splash out on another bucket and a bottling wand.

Actually, when you say you ferment for two weeks, do you mean five days, then add hops, then nine days. or seven days, hops, then seven days? And 18-19deg is perfect, that’s the temperature of the pantry 🙂

Actually, when you say you ferment for two weeks, do you mean five days, then add hops, then nine days. or seven days, hops, then seven days? And 18-19deg is perfect, that’s the temperature of the pantry

I would ferment for 10 days, add the hops for 4 days, then bottle. But do make sure that fermentation has finished – you should get the same value on your hydrometer two days in a row. Wait until airlock activity has finished. If it’s finished a bit high (say 1018) then give it a stir with a sanitised spoon, that’s usually enough to finish it up. Nothing wrong with waiting a few more days.

The main thing to focus on is hygiene – everything the beer contacts must be sanitised. As your bottles are plastic, you can’t use hot water on them – lukewarm should be fine with your sterilising powder. A builder’s trug or two is handy for cleaning and storage.

Well, the initial bit on Saturday went pretty well (I think), and the fermentation bucket went into the pantry with a blanket round it. However, nearly two days later. I ain’t not got no bubbles through the airlock. Should I be worried?

FWIW, the liquid temp when the bucket was sealed was about 24C, the ambient temp in the pantry is about 19C, and I stuck the thermometer down between the blanket and the bucket and it’s measuring a gnat’s over 20C.

I normally leave my brew fridge at 22C. 20C should be OK but will be a bit slow. I wouldn’t expect massive bubbling 2 days in.

For bottling, best thing I did was to add a tap to the bucket – makes bottling a doddle.

Those small plastic airlocks can be a bit rubbish with plastic brew buckets IME (I don’t bother with them).You rarely see a text book flow of bubbles, so it tells you nothing. The hydrometer tells the tale of the ale.

For bottling, best thing I did was to add a tap to the bucket – makes bottling a doddle.

You bottle straight from the fermentation bucket then? It’s a bit late for me to fit a tap now, obvs, but interested for next time.

Assuming all goes well, and I eventually get beer into bottles, how long should I condition them for before drinking? And how long will they keep?

I wouldn’t worry about the airlock

1) Sometimes the yeast takes a couple of days to get going, the initial phase it’s mostly consuming nutrients and multiplying, it’ll do this until the dissolved oxygen runs out just like any other organism. Once it turns anaerobic it starts turning sugar into alcohol.

2) Buckets dont always seal airtight, the bubbles may be escaping elsewhere.

I would give it 10-14 days to ferment, then think about checking the gravity. Opening it up every day for that time to pointlessly check it is just more chance for infections to get in and removes it’s protective blanket of CO2. Beer generally gets better the longer it’s left to ferment. Commercial brewers can do it in a few days with accurate controls, stirring, oxygen bubbling etc.  A home brew bucket always takes longer, and produces not so ideal off flavours due to the uncontrolled temperatures, giving it a few more days/weeks lets the yeast re-absorb/metabolise those off-flavours to make better beer.

Once the hops go in it’s a balance between leaving it long enough to absorb their aroma, and leaving it too long and the aroma evaporates again. So you don’t want to be waiting weeks/months for the beer to condition after the hops have been added. Ideally you would be drinking it from a cask with the hops still in it on day 5 so it’s best if the beer is almost perfect when the hops go in.

Assuming all goes well, and I eventually get beer into bottles, how long should I condition them for before drinking? And how long will they keep?

Minimum of 2 weeks to bottle condition, some say 4 weeks but 2 has always been enough for me. I’ve never had to keep any bottles more than 6 months but for optimum freshness I think that’s enough of a shelf life.

The other thing that slows fermentation starting is not having enough oxygen in the brew. I fill using a clear hose from the tap and ensure there’s a sufficient drop to aerate.

I bottle straight from the bucket after cold crashing to 5C. Much more CO2 stays in solution at low temperatures so there’s no foaming. I mix 50-100g of sugar with a little boiling water and stir in. I then sterilise the bottles – after that the yeast has settled to the bottom again.

I do end up with a little yeast in the bottle – but that’s what does the carbonation. It’s easy to pour without disturbing the yeast or you can pour it in like Cooper SA Beer = Cloudy But Fine.

Okay, so, an update.

– The fermentation bin has been at about 20/21degC, tenth day was yesterday.

– I have two hydrometers it seems, not sure how/why. Anyhoo, I tested the reading on Sunday (day 8) and it was 1020 on one, 1018 on the other, tested it again yesterday and it was 1019/1017. So, a consistent drop on both.

– As suggested above, I gave it a bit of a stir yesterday.

– I put the hops in yesterday too.

Plan is to test again on Saturday and Sunday and, assuming the readings are stable, bottle Sunday.

Can I sanitize plastic bottles in the dishwasher?

I believe so, but i’ve Never tried it, not sure how consistent the cleaning would be.

a bottle Tree is a useful addition to your kit

Can I sanitize plastic bottles in the dishwasher?

No. Wash them then use starsan or similar.

Do you know what your original gravity was? Is it a particularity strong brew?

That seems a very slow fermentation. Although I don’t brew kits, I brew all grain and I believe that it ferments quicker.

Can I sanitize plastic bottles in the dishwasher?

I have never bothered myself. Some people say yes, some say not. Personally if you ever intend to brew a few times I would buy some non-rinse santiser, Star San or similar. Lasts for ages and is a godsend.

https://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=81033

Do you know what your original gravity was? Is it a particularity strong brew?

No, I don’t know the original gravity, I forgot to take a reading…

That seems a very slow fermentation.

Yeah, that’s my worry. It’s not been bubbling through the airlock, but as above people seem to think that’s not an issue. What would a healthy fermentation look like? There were no bubbles/foam on the top of the liquid when I opened the bucket, just some brown clumps of stuff, which I assume is the dead/expired yeast?

It’s this kit, BTW:

https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/sheepdogs-pride-suffolk-bitter-beerworks-craft-brewery-series/

What would a healthy fermentation look like?

It’s a while since I did any brewing, but I would have expected to see a healthy layer of foam on the surface after a day, or so, lasting the best part of a week.

Did you get fresh yeast?

With a 4% beer, you would probably expect an OG of 1040 and a FG of around 1010.

At temperature you wouldn’t expect a stuck fermentation. Although as long as it’s dropping then it is fermenting.

I would hope to get to at least 1012.

If it doesn’t keep dropping and you have a Wilkos near you, you could try buying another pack of ale yeast and pitching again with a good stir?

You could ask on Jims forum, there are a lot of kit brewers on there.

If it’s stuck just buy some more ale yeast from wilkos*. Pour the yeast into a sanitised glass of room temp water and leave it with cling film over it for 30min or so, That allows the yeast cells to re-hydrate with water first (they’re already full of the correct sugars and nutrients from the factory). Pitching directly into wort/beer means they absorb wort/beer which isn’t the best for them. You get almost double the number of healthy yeast cells doing it this way.

*if you want to sound geeky, refer to it as nottingham yeast because that’s where it came from as opposed to the London and Windsor varieties that are the other common dry yeats.

It’s a while since I did any brewing, but I would have expected to see a healthy layer of foam on the surface after a day, or so, lasting the best part of a week.

Depends a bit on the beer and the yeast and the temperature. Sometimes the krausen rises quickly and then disappears again leaving nothing but a few lumps, other times it sticks around overflowing the airlock and wreaking havoc. I generally found kit’s to be quite quick and clean owing to the simple sugars involved and lack of protein in the wort.

I did get fresh yeast, yes.

If it doesn’t keep dropping and you have a Wilkos near you, you could try buying another pack of ale yeast and pitching again with a good stir?

There is a Wilkos near me. What do you mean by pitching?

FWIW, I tried a bit of it yesterday, and it does taste alright, certainly not off, and there’s an alcohol warmth to it.

Pitching – adding the yeast.

spoon is right, about making a yeast starter but I never bother and never have had any problems.

Pitching – adding the yeast.

Smashing, ta. Thing is, the hops are in there now…

Better to ferment for too long than too short. If you’re not sure if it’s finished, leave it another week.

Assuming all goes well, and I eventually get beer into bottles, how long should I condition them for before drinking? And how long will they keep?

I recently made some more home brew, on getting my kit out of the garage I found a couple of bottles from the last brew I did in 2001. So I tried it. Beautifully clear, crisp and full flavour, light fizz with a smooth head. Didn’t get the shits either. Not bad for a 17 year old beer.

Cheers all. The plan was to bottle at the weekend , but I’ll test the hydro again and if it still seems a bit high I’ll leave it. Do I take the hops out though? They’ll have been in 4/5 days by the weekend.

spoon is right, about making a yeast starter but I never bother and never have had any problems.

Technically it’s rehydration, a starter is taking a small amount of yeast and a small batch of wort and using it to grow the number of cells. That’s only necessary with fresh-ish liquid yeasts where the cell count deteriorates fairly rapidly (they have to be shipped from the USA where the suppliers are to a shop in th UK where they sit on the shelves for weeks/months) and too expensive to just buy several packets for big beers.  Dry yeast it’s cheaper buying more packets than it is to do a starter!

People recommend liquid yeasts and starters because it’s what people on youtube and forums do. The people on youtube and forums are mostly American where they can get liquid yeast fresh from the laboratories in a matter of days/weeks. The only advantage is they have a greater variety, but there are already enough dry yeasts to last most people a lifetime of experimentation.

Rehydration with water just stops you killing half the yeast in the packet.

Cheers all. The plan was to bottle at the weekend , but I’ll test the hydro again and if it still seems a bit high I’ll leave it. Do I take the hops out though? They’ll have been in 4/5 days by the weekend.

Are they in a bag or something you could easily remove? Or do you have a second bucket/barrel to rack it into?

Lesson learnt, don’t dry hop until after fermentation has completely finished, all the CO2 produced will be stripping out all the hop aromas and leaving it in too long makes the beer taste a bit like freshly cut grass smells.  The best way to dry hop beer is to wait for it to be completely finished, then dry hop it for 4-5 days before drinking/bottling.

Lesson learnt, don’t dry hop until after fermentation has completely finished

Aaaaaaaah, gotcha. From you’re post last week, up there somewhere, I thought you meant don’t bottle until fermentation had finished, not don’t put the hops in.

Anyway, they’re in a couple of bags so I can whip them out pretty easily. Shall I do that, and add more yeast, and get some more hops to add again when the fermentation has finished?

Don’t bottle until fermentation is complete or it’ll go with a bang!

Yeah, I know that much 🙂

Right, what I’m going to do is take the hops out tonight and then just leave it until the weekend. I’ll do a hydro test then and see if it’s dropped. If it has, I’ll just leave it another week, and retest. If it hasn’t I’ll add more yeast.

And I’ll get some more hops to add in when the fermentation has (eventually…) stopped.

Me again. I have a sneaky feeling that I will need to add more yeast over the weekend. I’ll do TINAS’s rehydration wotsit first, but when I add it into the bucket do I need to give it all a big old stir to get some oxygen in, or pour it in as gently as possible, or somewhere in the middle?

I pulled the hops out, FWIW, more on order.

I wouldn’t bother with more yeast if it’s shown any sign of fermentation – as long as it’s warm enough and you give it more time it’ll catch up. The more you muck about with it the more chance of introducing contamination.