1st Brew

[Jerry Cornelius]

Hello basty,

The hole in the lid is for the strange curly pipe - it's an airlock. It isn't really necessary, although some people use them. Many people just fit the lid tightly all the way around and then slightly crack open a bit on one side. It lets the CO2 (and sometimes the yeast) escape - the same purpose as the airlock. if you want to use it, fit the lid tightly, fill the sanitised airlock with vodka and push the open end in the hole. I don't bother, I just crack open the lid.

I imagine the the red tube is a syphon. Somehow you've got to get the beer out of the bin when it's finished fermenting. If the bin doesn't have a tap at the bottom, then you need to syphon it out into the keg, or bottles, whichever you're going to use. If you're bottling it, a bottling stick is extremely useful, it makes life easier and helps to stop the beer becoming oxidised (which is not good). Have a look at some on-line homebrew shops such as the ones in these links.

Take a look at Chris' tips and follow them from now on, they are very good.