I finally wired up an STC-1000 to a spare fridge, bought some buckets, and put together a home brew using a Cooper's DIY ale. I've had the tin of Coopers concentrate sitting around for a year so I figured I'd better use it.

I noticed that it foamed up after a couple of days and something poured out of the tape that I placed over a hole to allow it to vent. I know I need an airlock, but I didn't realise this at the time, so tape it was.

Anyway, it has been 6 days since I put it all together. How do I know if its ready to bottle? When I realised I had nothing to drink tonight, I took two cups as a sample, and so far after about 500ml I can feel a bit of a buzz. Its flat (of course), but seems nice to drink so far. (another 500ml to go.. woo hoo!) Is there anything wrong with drinking it like this, other than it being flat (but still drinkable).

Is it 'drinkable to me' just because I brewed it myself, or can you really tell if you have stuffed up when you have a bad brew? I keep on reading these horror stories of bad brews, but so far, this is good. I cleaned the buckets out with a bleach mixture, so hopefully I did the right thing.

I didn't attach a tap to the 20 litre bucket. I can see now that was not a good move. Are there any disadvantages to having a tap?

Its rather sad, but I think I am already not interested in bottling it. Anyone here run some sort of keg setup? It sounds like my level of tinkering and my level of work

P.S. I am too lazy to sign up to another forum, and Seabreezers always give the best advice!

P.P.S. on to the second half litre!! I'm a light weight.

Dale, closest bottle shop, simples!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can picture you sitting with your feet up watching telly, with a bucket of beer and an enamel mug, well and truly pickled when the missus walks in.

The main thing to worry about is keeping equipment sterilised - seems like you did ok.

A few years back, mates were heavy home brewers, most using the stainless steel 20? litre kegs that had a previous life as Schweppes post-mix syrup tanks.
The tanks had proper hydraulic type fittings and were easy to connect / disconnect, open up and clean etc.

One of the crew went a tad overboard, and had 3 plastic 44 gallon drums with screw off lids, bubbling away in what was originally his laundry.
[the washing machine got evicted and put on the back patio.]
The drums were raised off the ground by about 600mm or so, and had taps fitted 100?mm from the bottom to avoid sediment getting drained off, the screw-off lid had the bubble trap airlock thingo fitted using an ordinary drillbit and rubber grommet.
The three drums had a temperature controlled warming blanket wrapped around each of them to make sure they were at the optimum temp.
After the brew had been bottled and / or put into sterilised ex Schweppes post mix tanks [each batch worked out to around 40 gallon/200 litres] the drum was taken out to the back lawn, sediment hosed out and the plastic drum sterilised and put back to work.
The beer that was in the tanks was put in the cool room and hooked up to their home made beer-gas pipework.
The bottled stuff was for take-aways.

stephen

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sn said..


I can picture you sitting with your feet up watching telly, with a bucket of beer and an enamel mug, well and truly pickled when the missus walks in.

The main thing to worry about is keeping equipment sterilised - seems like you did ok.

A few years back, mates were heavy home brewers, most using the stainless steel 20? litre kegs that had a previous life as Schweppes post-mix syrup tanks.
The tanks had proper hydraulic type fittings and were easy to connect / disconnect, open up and clean etc.

One of the crew went a tad overboard, and had 3 plastic 44 gallon drums with screw off lids, bubbling away in what was originally his laundry.
[the washing machine got evicted and put on the back patio.]
The drums were raised off the ground by about 600mm or so, and had taps fitted 100?mm from the bottom to avoid sediment getting drained off, the screw-off lid had the bubble trap airlock thingo fitted using an ordinary drillbit and rubber grommet.
The three drums had a temperature controlled warming blanket wrapped around each of them to make sure they were at the optimum temp.
After the brew had been bottled and / or put into sterilised ex Schweppes post mix tanks [each batch worked out to around 40 gallon/200 litres] the drum was taken out to the back lawn, sediment hosed out and the plastic drum sterilised and put back to work.
The beer that was in the tanks was put in the cool room and hooked up to their home made beer-gas pipework.
The bottled stuff was for take-aways.

stephen

Stephen, that sounds like they got into it in a big way! 200 litres! I am sitting here with a bit of a buzz from only 1 litre, and I figure there's another 20 to go! I never thought drinking flat beer could be so nice, but it tastes different to normal beer that's gone flat. Smoother somehow.

I could see myself with the bucket and enamel mug. That sounds ideal! Who needs carbonation when its good to drink as is! No worries about too much or not enough head, its all good. I think I am supposed to keep the whole setup sterile still (?), so I made sure I sterilized the cups and tongs that I used to get the two samples.

My setup is an old bar fridge wired up with a temperature controller to turn the compressor on when it needs it and to turn on a light bulb when it needs to warm it up. I have it set for 20.5 degrees, and it seems to have worked well. It'd be nice to have it so that I could have one fridge to ferment in and another to keep the lot cool and to pour from... mmmmmm.....

Grant, I am trying to find a beer that I don't react to. I get headaches from some beers, and my sinuses seem to block up with others. I am trying to see if a homebrew is better. I bought a back-up pack of carlton dry in case this tasted awful, but so far so good. I couldn't bear the thought of trying the homebrew, finding it awful, and then having nothing to drink! It seems okay though so far, I am even tempted to go back for another 1 litre 'sample'.

Yeah , I run a couple of kegs, keep 2 in a $50 fridge and when I'm not a glutton it will fit 3
cost about $450 for the 2 with a pluto gun, small gas bottle is good for about 8- 10 kegs, so I went up to the biggest I could get , that lasts a year
It sits in the fermenter for 5 - 7 days depends on the temp. Setting up the kegs is about as easy as it gets. The fermenter sits on the kitchen bench, with a extended fitting on the tap and you open the tap and let the goodness flow!! 5 mins later put the lid back on , put in the fridge and crank up the gas , leave for 3 -4 days and FMD it's ready
My choice of brew is Mexican Cervasa, can't go wrong , no complaints yet. Tried a few different brews but I keep going back to it.
Drove down the west side last year with a keg on ice in the back of the cruiser , , 40 mins of rough sh=t, , mud , water, sideways, got there and bugger me it (19ltrs ) was gone in 3 days , so I went home , Mates still talk about how good the beer was after that track!
Go spend the money , the more you drink , the more you save!!!!!

It really is easy , can't empasize that enough.

I've been doing the homebrew for nigh on 2 years and go the bottling route.

I am a chef so the time and movement studies I have implemented have made it v.easy and for my warped mind fun.

The trick is to get a few milk crates and lids with holes that allow access to the necks but lock the bottles in, in my case I cut up some bread crates to size. The "lids" are held in place by fibreglass tent poles.

What this achieves is that I can dunk all my bottles in a 60l garbage bin for an hour and place them in the crates 13 at a time with the lid on and empty them then high pressure hose them out twice. I then leave them to dry upside down and they are done. When I bottle I can fill - sugar and lid, the 1st while I fill the 2nd all at once. I just use commercial sanitiser and bleach. When I finish a beer I flush the sediment out (most important tip in this whole post).

I usually have at least 2 -3 brews down at a time.

The problem with home brew isn't how hard it is BUT how EASY it is. It just needs to be clean. The problems I have come across are people who are "dirty" or do too much and lose their missus or put on 20kg.

Lots of tips for home brew but the first one would be to log into the Coopers website and forums but don't ask a question for a month. Just read and you willl have all the basics squared away in no time. Home brewing is easy but there are so many little things you can do to significantly improve your brew that it is worth doing some homework on it.

But for the basics, track down a bottle of Starsan for your sterilising, learn how to use a hydrometer to tell when your brew is ready, once it's ready leave it in the fridge at your 20 degrees for another week and if you can be patient crank the fridge down to 3-4 degrees for another week before you keg/bottle.

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Chris6791 said..

Lots of tips for home brew but the first one would be to log into the Coopers website and forums but don't ask a question for a month. Just read and you willl have all the basics squared away in no time. Home brewing is easy but there are so many little things you can do to significantly improve your brew that it is worth doing some homework on it.

But for the basics, track down a bottle of Starsan for your sterilising, learn how to use a hydrometer to tell when your brew is ready, once it's ready leave it in the fridge at your 20 degrees for another week and if you can be patient crank the fridge down to 3-4 degrees for another week before you keg/bottle.

Yes, I was reading up on hydrometers, and I guess it makes sense to know how much alcohol is in there. I might have to find a home brew shop and see if they have them and the Starsan.

I think at the moment the patience is thin. 3 weeks, when I want to drink it now! I guess if you have a few already done, then its no drama. If you have 2 or 3 on the go like slammin said, it sounds like it would be ideal.

I don't think I will find it easy to get a production line going. I just don't drink that much, and I'm the last one to want to stack on another 20kgs!

I have already toured the Coopers website a bit. The instructions that come with the starter kit didn't seem enough for me, and already I have learned more from seeing what people do. In theory you could do this brewing without temperature control, but it seems pretty critical to what I have read.

Thanks for the tips guys. I guess its back to the diybeer/coopers website. Cheers.

I never used the hydrometer to calculate how much alcohol there is in a brew, it's best use is to indicate whether fermentation has properly stopped before bottling. Relying on when the bubbles in an airlock stop is dangerous, especially if you bottle into glass. Bottle bombs are a likely outcome.

Starsan is great stuff, you don't rinse it off and a 1 litre bottle will last a lifetime (literally).

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Chris6791 said..

I never used the hydrometer to calculate how much alcohol there is in a brew, it's best use is to indicate whether fermentation has properly stopped before bottling. Relying on when the bubbles in an airlock stop is dangerous, especially if you bottle into glass. Bottle bombs are a likely outcome.

Starsan is great stuff, you don't rinse it off and a 1 litre bottle will last a lifetime (literally).

Ahh, so that's why you check to see that the SG has stopped changing. It makes sense.

I'm going to bottle into PET bottles as I drink enough soft drink to have a steady supply. It sounds easier too.

I used a 0.4% bleach solution, where someone said you don't need to rinse, but I rinsed with hot water anyway. The buckets were new, so I guess I might have gotten away with less meticulous cleaning than I might otherwise have.

Good on you for trying Dale. have always been curious about home brew but too lazy to try it. At least you have picked a good drop for emergencies re: Carlton Dry

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FormulaNova said..

Chris6791 said..

I never used the hydrometer to calculate how much alcohol there is in a brew, it's best use is to indicate whether fermentation has properly stopped before bottling. Relying on when the bubbles in an airlock stop is dangerous, especially if you bottle into glass. Bottle bombs are a likely outcome.

Ahh, so that's why you check to see that the SG has stopped changing. It makes sense.

Spot on, when I started I was taking a reading every day so I could learn how the fermentation progressed but for this process you just want the same reading two days in a row. Remember to de-gas the test sample though, froth and bubbles will affect the readings.

What's a hydrometer?

Now that you've drunk the green beer and stored it in a warm environment 'your guts' insert hydrometer to test SG and when ready piss into glass for mates. That's where quotes like 'taking the piss out of ya' and getting pissed' came from in the early roman days!
Be careful to vent excess gas in a safe place away from family members, and drink wisely :D....

Some Engineers I know, set up a brewery!

They were originally Oil & Gas Process Engineers, and 1 Pharma Engineer... Figured if they know how to process Crude into Petrol, etc... Then beer can't be too hard!

And a medium volume Micro Brewery was formed!

But if you are happy to get pickled on warm young beer... I can't really see the problem!

Perhaps you are a Monk! Or you have discovered the monk inside you!
If you are happy drinking your brew as is, that's all the TRUELY matters!
Hats off to you!

just remember in a few years the reflux with start to cut in ,I had to give up Beer AND brewing for over 6 months to get my guts back in form

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Cassa said..

What's a hydrometer?

It's a cheap alternative to a gas chromatograph

I brewed for years, got a tip from a pro to ditch the lid, airlock and hydrometer and just stretch glad wrap across the lid and secure with the rubber seal or big rubber band. put a pinprick in the gladwrap to let the co2 out.

Works a treat as you can see the fermentation process, the positive pressure keeps out bugs and once it stops bubbling you are done.

Easy...

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Mr Milk said..

Cassa said..

What's a hydrometer?

It's a cheap alternative to a gas chromatograph

Lol, got 2 in the bottom draw , just have'nt used one since buying the kegs
Must be able to smell when the specific gravity is right, cause never had a dud brew in 8 yrs of brewing.
Just remember , The More You Drink , The More You Save