1ST BREW EVER

[beertrix]

alrate folks
iv just got me first kit on the go its a geordie scotish export its all wrapped up in a nice warm barbie sleeping bag under the stairs.
can you ell me when i should do my first check and what should be happening????

cheers

[Barm]

hey - and welcome to the wonderful and occasionally wobbly world of HB.

I reckon almost everybody finds their first attempt nervewracking as you're not quite sure what's supposed to be happening and when! But panic ye not. Brewing's a pretty robust process - and will most usually look after itself without interference; so resist the urge to meddle!
After say 24hrs your brew should have a slightly frightening foamy mass on the surface of the liquid - often several inches' worth. This'll die back considerably over a couple of days, as the fermentation slows. If you've got these signs, all is well - so just leave it alone; no 'checking' is needed. After say 7-10 days of just being left alone, (if the temperature has remained in the right range) fermentation should be pretty much over; no more bubbles rising to the surface. At that point you can check the gravity; most people reckon on 3 days with no further drop in gravity being a good indicator that fermentation is finished and you're safe to bottle.

[easty]

first brew you can't help checking at least every half hour or so

[beertrix]

well its over 24 hours and iv just checked and theres not much happening to be honest theres only a very light froth on the top should i be worried ?[-o<

[Titanium Tone]

Relax it seems like its fermenting all will be well.

[beertrix]

hope so mate cheers for the confidence boost

[beertrix]

yes yes yes get in its gone propper frothy and bubbley now its going to be a long 5 weeks [img][img][/img][/img]

[cwrw gwent]

From your previous comment - now its going to be a long 5 weeks - I take it you're going to barrel your beer. Geordie beers are usually OK to drink from the bottle after about 14 days so why not bottle three or four pints so you can monitor progress.

[beertrix]

14 days really?
i think ill take the tip of bottling a few testers cheers for that.
which generally gives the best result though bottling or barreling?

[vinceg]

Welcome beertrix! Only snag I found when bottling part of the brew and kegging the rest was that the kegged beer went a bit wonky. I asked on here and it was suggested I had too much space left in my barrel for air, and it might have oxidised. Suggest you either bottle the lot (earlier drinking ) or only bottle say 4 pints, to avoid the problem I had. Does that sound about right gents?

[Mike the pint supper]

Hi there, if your using a pressure keg(is king keg) what ever ammount of beer you have will be safe after you add co2 as it should give a protective layer of co2 while purging the air inside the barrel even if urn only using a standard keg secondary fermentation should produce enough co2 to keep it safe

[Horden Hillbilly]

I've just got me first kit on the go its a geordie scotish export its all wrapped up in a nice warm barbie sleeping bag under the stairs.

Make sure that is not too warm, the recommended fermentation temp range is 18c-22c.

[beertrix]

cheers folks your all making my first time very relaxing and its a real comfort to know your all there for the virgin brewers

[beertrix]

right things are moving along now iv managed to acquire 50 odd bottles about 15 magners and the rest are koppaberg iv read on here they should both be ok capping and pressure wise but the question is ......what should i use for priming?????......can i just use normal everyday sugar???????? cheers people

[Garth]

normal granulated sugar is fine for priming