Topic: Advice on making bitter!

[SPUDLY]

Hi all,

I've taken the plunge and ordered myself a beer making starter kit, and a bitter to start with. Any advice fellow brewers can give would be much appreciated. :)

[GlentoranMark]

Like yourself I'm a beginner but my first and most succesful brew was a bitter. Just make sure you follow instructions carefully and make sure everything is sterilised properly. I bought the kit as well, its really pretty easy. Just one very important point and it will be hard to do....

Let your beer mature for longer than the recommended. I promise you the best beer you will taste will be your last one. I brewed 40 pints and gave a few away but for a 2 month spell I had a decent beer most weekends. I really enjoyed it.

BTW I bottled mine in plastic 2L Coca Cola bottles. They are a great first choice as the yeast sticks to the indents at the bottom of the bottle. You need to decanter in one go into  jug and have to finish the bottle in one go - almost 4 pints  ;D

[SPUDLY]

Hi GlentoranMark,
Thanks for that. Just ordered the starter kit (should be here early this week). Kit has most of the stuff i need.
Fermentation Container
Pressure Barrel
Plastic Stirrer
Syphon Tube
Bubbler Airlock
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Steriliser
I like the idea of the plastic coke bottles. I like a chilled pint. Don't think the girlfriend would be happy with the barrel in the fridge ;D
Can you think of anything else i might need?

[GlentoranMark]

The starter kit supplies all you need, just make sure you've a bag of sugar when the kit arrives. I've never brewed in a pressure barrel, I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

The beer is an aquired taste and will be very yeasty when you first taste it. Avoid the temptation to crack it open early (I know you won't and I couldn't resist either). I'll guarantee your best pint will be your last.

I've been looking at wine kits but you've rewhetted my interest in a pint  :)

[SPUDLY]

Thanks GlentoranMark,

Looking forward to getting started. Is normal granulated sugar ok to use. Will post how i get on with the barrel. If you decide to go ahead with the wine, let me know how you get on, girlfriend likes wine, so maybe worth a go

[GlentoranMark]

Thanks GlentoranMark,

Looking forward to getting started. Is normal granulated sugar ok to use. Will post how i get on with the barrel. If you decide to go ahead with the wine, let me know how you get on, girlfriend likes wine, so maybe worth a go

Granulated is fine. Buy a couple of bags or your tea will be unsweetened for a while :)

I'd love to make beer and wine from scratch, I think that will be my next move.

Hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge will come up with a few tips.

[Bjerreby]

Unless you like flat beer or you are going to hold a session to drink it all up quickly, my advice is to bottle it.

The same ingredients are used for light ale, pale ale and bitter, although I like crystal malt added to my pale ale.

If you are a beginner to brewing,  my best advice is LET IT MATURE! 7 days in the bucket after brew day, siphon it over into a clean bucket or cask leaving the gunge behind in the bottom, adding a handful of hops to the cask. Leave it to mature for at least 2 more weeks until it is at least 3 weeks old, then bottle it. The amount of sugar to add when bottling (to get a fizz and a head) depends on your preference. I like it medium fizzy with good head, and 150 gr sugar added to 15 litres of ale does the trick. Don't bother with heading agents, sugar does it. Cool the beer in the fridge before serving. That helps the carbon dioxide stay in the ale making it a little fizzy. Warm ale just spouts out of the bottle and goes flat.

Leave it in the bottle to mature until at least one month old. Then........cheers!

Cleanliness is vital, otherwise you will get sour beer. Clean everything (including the sink and work-tops) with VWP or sodium monobisulphate.

For light ale and pale ale, I use John Bull Amber syrup, Youngs Goldings for boiling, and Morris Hanbury foil wrapped Goldings during maturing. Years ago I bought a packet of Young's English Ale Yeast, and that strain has survived ever since in the bottom of my beer bottles. Every time I brew, I drink a bottle of ale, add half a teaspoon of sugar and some lukewarm water to the dregs in the bottom, and off it goes again............perfect yeast every time  :D Never fails.

Oh.........and treat the filled bottles very gently because the sediment settles in the bottom. Open a bottle, pour it very carefully into a jug for serving, and throw away the dregs in the bottle. That way you will have very clear ale without adding Irish moss.

[SPUDLY]

Thanks for the reply Bjerreby,

I was thinking of using 1 or 2litre coke bottles (plastic) to store the bitter. I would ideally like to get hold of some mini barrels, about 5litre size if these exist. In the mean time, how much sugar would you recomend to prime a 2litre bottle. I'm starting with Coopers 40pt Bitter, a cheap one to start with, in case i thingy it up ;D. Oh, and whats Irish moss :o

[Bjerreby]

For a 2 litre bottle, I use between 15 and 20 grammes of sugar. The problem is measuring it right though. there isn't much difference between 15 and 20 grammes.

I prime the whole brew in the bucket, not the individual bottles. I dissolve the priming sugar in hot water, pour it in, and give it a really good stir. I always get a very consistent quality that way.

For 40 pints, I'd add between 150 and 200 grammes of priming sugar. If you add more, you'll be making fire extinguishers.  ;D

Irish moss is a substance some people add to their ale to clear a haze. I find it isn't necessary, provided I leave the beer long enough to settle and mature, and I pour it carefully.

There are only 2 ways you can "thingy" it up. One is not keeping everything clean and sterile, the other is to drink it too soon.

Don't be disappointed with your first efforts. I find those kits have far too little hops for my taste. I use a total of 160 grammes of goldings for 40 pints of pale ale.  You don't get that much hops in kits! My advice is give it a try, and if you like brewing, then move on to buying the separate ingredients and developing your own recipe. I don't bother mashing..........I find I get better ale using liquid malt, and it is probably just as cheap.

[SPUDLY]

Thanks for that Bjerreby,

Will let you know how it goes. The kit should arrive this morning with a bit of luck. I will be back picking your brains as my brewery empire develops. ;D

[Bjerreby]

You are welcome Spudly.

If you like, I can post a few photos showing how I arrange my bottling syphon. Bottling is the biggest job of all..............apart from waiting patiently.

[SPUDLY]

Thanks Bjerreby,

Pics would be great.

[GlentoranMark]

You gave me some advice regarding making bitter about two weeks ago. The update is, that after 7 days fermenting, and then 7 days in the barrel, i have sampled the bitter tonight, wow, it's better than i expected. 4.8 ABV and a great tasting pint. Thanks for the advice, and looking forward to brewing many more, but the waiting is killing me

The worst part is the waiting  :'(

Get another brew on while your bucket is empty, nothing worse than the wait between brews. Your beer tastes very yeasty now but WILL improve with time. By all means take 1 or two now but try and hold off until 3 months and your beer will be 200% better.

Thanks to this site I've rekindled my love for all things natural and I've a basic wine on the go which I'll start a new thread.

Keep us informed, your making me jealous and wanting a brew  :D

[Bjerreby]

During the spring and summer I brew a lighter ale than during the colder months. To avoid waste, the recipe requires that I brew 15 litres at a time, which isn't that much. So it turns out that i have several brews at any one time, all at different stages of maturity.

1. a batch up to 7 days old in the first bucket
2. a batch 14 to 21 days old in the second bucket, steeping more hops
3. a batch in bottles 28 to 40 days old maturing in bottles
4. a batch I am busy supping  :)

[cleo]

With all the money you save brewing your own why not go all the way and start `mashing`?

A boiler/mash tun costs around £75-and it`s true it takes a couple of brews to get to grips with .

But----the quality you can achieve will be so much better than a kit

I still have my recipe notes from the early 80s when I used to show it if you ever want to give it a try

[Bjerreby]

With all the money you save brewing your own why not go all the way and start `mashing`?

A boiler/mash tun costs around £75-and it`s true it takes a couple of brews to get to grips with .

But----the quality you can achieve will be so much better than a kit

I still have my recipe notes from the early 80s when I used to show it if you ever want to give it a try

I have studied the price of ingredients, and there is little to save by mashing.

Another consideration is, mashing takes so much longer than using syrup, and I don't brew for the fun of brewing...............it is the ale I like! Given the consistently high quality of my liquid malt, the results are almost as good as by mashing.

Regarding kits, well, they are  fine for beginners.  But once a person has grasped the basic idea, they shouldn't use "kits", at least I don't. I buy the liquid malt I prefer, the 2 kinds of hops I prefer, and brew according to my own recipies which I vary according to the season.

Cheers. :)

[SPUDLY]

Hi Bjerreby,

Do you buy your liquid malt and hops online? If so have you got a link to the site so i can have a look please. Cheers ;)

[Bjerreby]

Hi Bjerreby,

Do you buy your liquid malt and hops online? If so have you got a link to the site so i can have a look please. Cheers ;)

Sil vous plait.....

http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/

[SPUDLY]

Cheers Bjerreby :D