Help/advice please

[kenny850]

Hi Folks,just returning to homebrew after a 25 yr lay-off. I,ve got 4 gallons of rhubarb wine in demijohns which looks and smells like it should(changed colour from pink to cloudy white back to pink again).Now, i have been given the remnants of a Brewbuddy kit, just the hardware unfortunately , and have secured a load of Grolsch bottles- is this gear any good, am i missing anything essential/obvious and what would be a good first brew-fave beer possibly Hobgoblin but anything vaguely drinkable would be good.Does anyone remember Dogbolter from the Firkin brewery-superb stuff,all comments appreciated cheers, Ken

[Jim]

Welcome back to the fold, Kenny.

Re the equipment, am I right in thinking you have a budget barrel and not much else in the brewbuddy kit? If so, you could make up any beer kit in that and then bottle it in the grolsh bottles (which are absolutely fine to use for home brew).

However, why not buy a cheap 5 gallon fermenter, then you can condition and serve the beer in the barrel? It's a lot easier than bottling, and gives you more options for the future. You would need some sort of CO2 injector for the barrel if you were serving from it.

[5thelement]

I think the brewbuddy kit comes with a bucket, not a barrel.

In which case you can still brew any 5 gallon beer kit, other equipment worth buying would be a hydrometer to check how the fermentation is going and a syphon to syphon off your beer into the bottles or a keg. Don't forget to sterilise it all too!

[kenny850]

Thanks guys,Yep, i,ve got a bucket,siphon tube,paddle and a hydrometer, have also noticed some of the seals on the bottles look a bit iffy-are these available or do alternatives exist?. Also do i need a heater belt or something similar? cheers Ken

[5thelement]

I seen the rubber seals for Grolsch bottles on a website earlier this morning but i cant remember which one! if i do i'll let you know asap!

edit:

Found them

http://www.homebrewcentre.co.uk/product ... 26&cID=160

"Grolsch type spare washers 50's"

£10.69

[kenny850]

Thanks guys, all advice gratefully recieved, this forum certainly looks like the place to be. Think woodfordes wherry looks promising and will post the results on here Cheers!