Beginning the quest (to brew good ale)

[ckingale]

Hello everyone! I have been wanting to brew my own ale for a while now and have been scouring online shops to find myself a good deal. Like many people I am very poor (one of the reasons I want to home brew) so I can't afford to go mental buying brewing equipment. In recent years I have gone off the Stella, Fosters, Castlemaine and San Miguel binges of my younger years and have developed a taste for ales. I can pick any ale from the shelf in the off licence and be almost guaranteed to enjoy it whereas I can't bear lagers any more.

I have found an online shop called "Art of Brewing" which seems to have a good starter pack. In the pack you get the following:

Starters Kit:

• 1 x beer fermenting bin 5g, 25 litres
  1.5 metres of 5/16" flexible syphon tubing
  1 x plastic syphon pick-up tube
  1 x syphon tap
  1 x airlock grommet
  1 x plastic bubbler airlock
  1 x plastic beer paddle
  1 x water treatment tablet with instructions
  1 x beer fining sachet for 5 gallons
  1 x glucose powder 1kg
  1 x cleaner/steriliser 100g
  1 x set of instructions

The starter kit is £15.99

To go along with the kit these are the options I have narrowed it down to which are within my pathetic budget of around £40:

Option 1:

• STARTERS KIT - £15.99
  HAMBLETON BARD OLD ENGLISH ALE 1.4kg (DRY KIT) - £12.25
  CAMPDEN TABLETS (50) - £1.99
  WINE & BEER HYDROMETER - £2.69
  MUNTONS HOPPED DRY LIGHT SPRAY MALT 500g - £3.51
  -------------
  TOTAL = £36.43

Option 2:

• STARTERS KIT - £15.99
  WOODFORDE'S ADMIRALS RESERVE 3kg - £18.99
  WINE & BEER HYDROMETER - £2.69
  -------------
  TOTAL = £37.67

So my questions are to those more experienced than I - are these options sensible and which one would you go for personally? Do you have a better plan altogether? Have I missed anything out?

I'm planning to order 1L plastic bottles to store the ale in, but I don't have the cash for that for a few weeks.

I would really appreciate your advice and any comments are most welcome.

[chris_reboot]

A hydrometer is essential for taking readings, the sterliser could be subbed for thin bleach to save costs if you fancy that - hang on, just seen you get that anyway!

campden tablets are good for removing chlorine and chloromine in water prior to use, so good for either option.
what it boils down to here is: shall I buy a 1.4kg kit, and supplement it with spraymalt? or go for the 3kg woodfordes kit.

for me the woodfordes. that's a great kit beer, you wont be disappointed.

as for costs, have you got a wilkos near you to compare (or online?) as they have some good cheap kit there. IIRC hydrometers are 1.99 there for example.

for bottles, scour pubs/clubs for magners/newkie brown bottles etc for free, or buy cheap drinks in 1L PET bottles and drink the contents first. alternatively try your local freecycle group on yahoo for free stuff like that. I got about 100 bottles that way.

[AlexCricket]

I suspect that like me at your stage you have spent hours canvassing the internet.

However, I cannot recommend highly enough the Brewmart. Firstly they are cheap. Secondly their starter kits come with lots of good stuff for 27.50:

Ideal beer brewing equipment for making homemade beer/lager. Contains a 5 gallon brewing bucket with tap, a paddle for mixing the beer, hydrometer, steriliser, bottle filler, tubing, 1 kilo of brewing sugar and a home brew beer kit of your choice (we have choosen the Coopers range because it is ideal for the beginner). The bottle filler fits onto the tap and regulates the flow if bottling. The tubing is to fit onto the tap if transferring to a barrel. You will also require bottles or a barrel (see note at top of page

When I started I added a thermometer which is a couple of quid.

For bottles I would buy cheap spring water from Asda and then when you've used the water for brewing fill them back up with beer.

Incidentally the kits that come with Brewmart's starter pack are COOPERS which have a reputation for being good and reliable.

Finally I would emphasis I am no way connected to the company just a very loyal customer - I order all my stuff from them and they've yet to let me down.

[AlexCricket]

by the way here's the link

http://www.thebrewmart.com/beginners-br ... 02515.html

[flything]

Good advice up there, the kits look good and you can (and will!) add to it as you go along, an Hydrometer is worth getting.

Plus here

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/kits.htm

You might save a few quid shopping around but I'd be suprised. I'd buy another packet of yeast, sometimes the kits come with quite old packets and another one is a a cheap insurance against the fermentation not starting, Safale S-04 is a good bet but there are others.

I got started with £45 I won by betting £5 on Italy to win the world cup

Then ruined the beer by letting it ferment way (30c) too hot, try to find somewhere coolish (18-21c is good) and stable (under the stairs is a good bet).

Oh and make sure everything is as clean and sanitised as possible, I found buying a 'no rinse' sanitiser gave me a lot more peace of mind.

[EoinMag]

Another vote for Woodfordes here, but the Admirals, whereby it's a nice beer, is very hoppy and bitter, I'd go for the Wherry on the first run, it's an excellent beer and will be good to drink in about 6 weeks from laying down.

[chris_reboot]

I second brewmart - very good prices on most if not all stuff.
I get some stuff there( equipment), some from barley bottom (grains and hops) but then I AG brew now.
Most mail order places do delivery free over £xyz so it could be worth checking and bunging a second kit in there too.


then the bug will bite, and you'll soon end up with loads of stuff!

[ckingale]

Wow, thanks for the quick responses! It seems there are many home brewers on this forum, great stuff.

The kit from brewmart seems like a good idea, I could start with the coopers and order a woodfordes kit in a few weeks. It looks like the kit comes without that bubbler thing that sits on top of the fermenter - is that not needed for ale?

I knew asking here would be a good idea before ordering! Thanks!

[easty]

theres not need for an airlock, just put lid on loose

[AlexCricket]

I have to say that I looked at the AoB kit when I started and although the 'headline' price is cheap at 15.99 it does not actually include a kit for you to brew.

Also much of the stuff it includes was IMHO unnecessary ie. airlock and some of the syphon stuff. The brewmart kit (and also the Hop and Grape kit) comes with a fermenter that has a tap fitted so that when you are done you can just fit the tube t the tap and pour off - much easier than syphoning. Also with the Brewmart kit you get a bottling stick which is a useful addition.

What you propose of getting the standard kit and buying a 2 can kit seperatly is exactly what I did - though if you can wait until you have another £20 that you can spend you won't waste any of it on delivery.

Good luck - if you ever need any help this forum is great!

[TheMumbler]

I got the beginners kit from brewmart and would recommend it over the AOB one you mention because IMO having a tap on the fermenter is really useful. The bottler is supposed to be invaluable if you are bottling. I ordered a bench capper and some bits the same time to make the free postage since I had a nightmare using an old lever one I had been lent by lancssteve. Their service was fine and although there was a hiccup in the delivery they were good about keeping me informed and sorted it quickly. I would use them again.

I'm bottling some ginger beer today or tomorrow so I'll let you know how I get on with their bottler.

[ckingale]

I'm definitely going to order the kit from brewmart so thanks everyone for pointing them out to me. Yesterday I was going through a pile of dirty clothes in my house and found £20 which of course has been added to the brew fund, no now I have £60 to spend and get free delivery.

Here is my shopping list now:

• 1 x Beginners Brewing Kit for making Home made Beer (coopers real ale)
  1 x Woodfordes Wherry 40 pt
  1 x DCL Safale Beer Yeast
  1 x Capper-Knock on type
  1 x Crown Caps-Blue
  2 x Muntons Spray Dried Light Malt 500grms
  1 x Brush/Bottle
  1 x Campden Tablets
  1 x Cork Bung Bored
  1 x Bubbler Airlock (plastic)
  ---------------
  Total: £60.42

I added the airlock and bung to get it just over £60 to qualify for the free delivery. I'll do the coopers first and then the wherry, hopefully it will turn out good enough to give people as a christmas present!

I chose the cheap hammer style capper because I will only really be using glass bottles for gifts to people (to start with anyway).

I'm really looking forward to this now. Thanks again for all the advice and as always, if I'm doing something stupid or have a better option please point it out to me!

Cheers!

[chris_reboot]

Would agree with the list, except:

the airlock isn't really needed, unless you want the fixation of the plip plip through! Makes good entertainment (unless the FV has the pre-drilled hole you'd need to plug).
also, I would have gone with a two handled capper, but that's my 2p worth.

good call on getting a spare yeast in for emergencies!
sometimes kits dont come with them, or the yeast fails to take off properly.

[TheMumbler]

used the bottler today and it works fine. Made the process less painful if still a bit of a faff. My only experience of cappers before today was a dodgy two hand one (very old and bent out of shape) and it was a real pain so I jumped straight to the bench capper and it is brilliant. I understand the knock on cappers are worse than the two hand one and I would really advise going for the best you can afford. Lots of people (including me) don't use an airlock/bubbler so perhaps you could save the money there

[ckingale]

OK, I scrapped the knock on capper and got the two handled one. It's all ordered, just the painful wait of delivery now.

My next mission is bottles!

TheMumbler - I'm very interested in that ginger beer as both me and my gf love the stuff. I'm thinking that should be my third brew. Is it the coopers kit you are doing?

Thanks again to everyone!