Brubox help please.

[mh75]

Hi to all
I'm a neewbie to this brewing game and have the odd question or 2

Great forum btw.

Ive bought a Brubox(london Bitter) and its 10 days are nearly up but im not too sure on the next stage.The destructions say to add 3 tsps of sugar,shake and leave for 5 days if its a draught beer (which I assume means serve from the box) . Now im just gonna bottle it so do I, not add the 3 tsps,not shake it but still leave for 5 days in its box with tap closed then fill bottles after adding 1/2 tsp in each 500ml bottle? Sry if its a bit of a dumb question but dont wanna muck it up at the last minute!
Also what sugar do you recommend for bottling? I've got granulated,caster or brewing sugar(glucose).

I've also got a winebuddy (cabernet sauvignon red) which has just been bottled (smells and tastes like ceap plonk atm hope it will improve) an Elderberry wine in the demi and some sloe gin on the go, so hopefully at least one of em will turn out good

Thanks for any info.

[MickyD]

Interesting question as I am going to have the same problem when I come to my 2 BotW brews I have.

I was thinking of adding the said 3 tsps of sugar, but dissolved in some boiled water (then left to cool slightly), and ading to the beer in the FV/cube and then bottling from the FV/cube, and not adding the priming sugars to the bottles directly.

And theres nothing wrong with cheap plonk. My Elderberry wine got bottled at the weekend, and the glass I had nearly blew my trousers clean off......needless to say its going to need a while to mature.

[CrownCap]

Welcome to the forum MH!

I've done the Brubox a few times, and the London Bitter is very good indeed (if you have a search around you'll find that 'nicktherockstar' has also done this one a few weeks back.

Bottling definitely gave me the best results, buts that's probably because that gave me a chance to leave it longer to mature.

The instructions are pretty good. So long as the bubbling in the air trap jar/bottle is down to less than once a minute then you can continue.

1. Put the polypin into its box, tip it up so the tap is on top, expel as much air as possible and close the tap. The fermentation will still be going very slowly and will produce more CO2. You will have to periodically release the pressure (maybe twice a day to begin). As it settles down a bit the beer will begin to get a bit clearer (although its hard to tell in the box!).

2. When you no longer have to release then pressure too often (they say 5 days but a couple of weeks like this won't do any harm) you can bottle it. A day before carefully tip the box back so that the tap is at the front bottom (ooerr missus, 'front bottom' ). This will give the yeast a chance to settle again before you bottle it.

3. On the bottling day, sanitise your bottles (a soak in a weak thin bleach solution or a weak solution of the Bruclean that comes with the kit will do) and rinse them well. Also sanitise a tea spoon and the short length of tubing used during fermentation.

4. Pop 1/2 tspn of sugar into each bottle (granulated is fine, but preferably from a new packet to minimise the chance of any bugs getting into the beer).

5. Put the tubing onto the tap, and start to fill the bottles by placing the tubing to the bottom of the bottle and slowly opening the tap until its almost full.

6. Put the caps on the bottles, gently invert them a couple of times to mix the sugar and keep them in a warm place (about 20 °C) for a week. Then transfer them somewhere cooler for at least another couple of weeks.

I found that it took 4-6 weeks to reach its peak of condition. Painful as it may be, patience really is a virtue here To help you while away the time why not get another tin and get the next brew on!

[mh75]

Excellent stuff, cheers fellas

CrownCap thnks for the in detpth info very much appreciated, ill be following it to the word (closer to the 4 week rather than 6 though i think ) I'll definately be getting another one on the go, I fancy the christmas beer one, have you tried it? or what others do you recommend?

My Elderberry wine got bottled at the weekend, and the glass I had nearly blew my trousers clean off

Lol I'll make sure I'm not wearing any when I try mine

Cheers again.

[CrownCap]

CrownCap thnks for the in detpth info very much appreciated, ill be following it to the word (closer to the 4 week rather than 6 though i think ) I'll definately be getting another one on the go, I fancy the christmas beer one, have you tried it? or what others do you recommend?

No problem. I certainly found that at 4 weeks in the bottle it was good, but by 6 weeks it was fantastic

I didn't do a huge variety as my local shop only had a small selection, but they were all good. Had the Christmas Ale last Christmas and it was a nice dark spicy tipple, although I did drink it very young (2 weeks) from the polypin so I think it could have been better.

Also done the Bavarian Pilsner, a good full bodied pilsner with a great hop character that comes with a lager yeast to ferment at around 12-15°C. Could be a good one to do in the winter when it is easier to maintain the lower temperature. I certainly struggled doing this in the spring time.

Good luck with it

[MickyD]

I am doing the BotW Christmas in a 10L bucket (which will then be reused for the Bavarian Pilsner).

Did the Christmas Ale turn out quite strong? the og seems quite low compared to the Brewferm one I made.

Did you bottle the Pilsner or use a polypin?

[mh75]

10 days are up and I had to have a sneaky taste while doing a hg thing which was 1014 dunno if this is any good tbh anyhow tasted fairly nice so looks well promising
Gonna try a Muntons(asking for info in another topic btw) to keep me busy while im waiting

[CrownCap]

I am doing the BotW Christmas in a 10L bucket (which will then be reused for the Bavarian Pilsner).

Did the Christmas Ale turn out quite strong? the og seems quite low compared to the Brewferm one I made.

Did you bottle the Pilsner or use a polypin?

No it wasn't any stronger than the other Beers of the World kits (there's only so much sugar you can squeeze into a single tin ).

I bottled the pilsner and I'd recommend anyone do that too. Its the only way you can get a bit of carbonation into it, and it certainly benefits from it.

[CrownCap]

10 days are up and I had to have a sneaky taste while doing a hg thing which was 1014 dunno if this is any good tbh anyhow tasted fairly nice so looks well promising
Gonna try a Muntons(asking for info in another topic btw) to keep me busy while im waiting

1014 sounds pretty good, and you can't beat the "taste test"

[mh75]

Just as a quick update the London bitter has now been bottled and put out of site for a bit
Gonna order some Black country mild and Christmas ale for the brubox,any1 tried the Mild one? If not I'll give an update on how it was/is
Thanks to all

[dan_olo]

I've just done a London Porter, not with the Brubox but in a normal FV. Will let you know how it turns out...