Welcome to the forum Lotus_elan you will find lots of great info in here.
Now on to your brewing question ( excuse me im new ish to this brewing myself
)
You are best to get a fermenter usually around the 7 - 10 pound mark from your local brew shop or wilcos if you have one ( brew shop better though ) and brew in that then transfer to your keg. Fermenter would best be fitted with a tap at the bottom to make it easier to get your brew out when it is done put fermenter on a surface that is higher than your barrel connect a food grade tube that will reach the bottom of your barrel for transfer open tap let brew drain into barrel job done.
Please ensure everythign is cleaned then sanitised this is one of the very most important things you can do.
Brewlength will be between 7 days to 2 weeks , usually around the 10 day mark from what I have seen in the forum and brewed so far myself.
The stuck fermentation is covered in a sticky further in this bit of the forum up so is botteling.
As for actually brewing in a nutshell its pretty much like this clean and sanitise everything that will come in contact with your wort ( brew ) as in fermenter , can opener , paddle to mix wort with , can of wort lid .... list goes on. Warm can in some boiled water after taking label off , Boil full kettle open can of wort pour into fermenter pour boiled water into can to get the last of the wort pour this into fermenter, Then mix, add any necissary ingrediance if a single can kit IE sugar , spray malt , malt extract in general what ever the kit calls for, Mix again, Top up with water to 20 litres if a 40 pint kit check temprature if below recomended temp for yeast usually around 24 - 30 C ( 30C is at the high end aim for 26 ish )put 1 litre boiling water in fermenter mix again check temp and topup ,if to high top up to 23 litres with cold water check temp , Mix very well making sure plenty of air get into the brew do this for 5 min or so I find using cheep superstore water is good for airating as you just pour it in from high . check temp to be sure it is in the yeast range, sprinkle yeats accross the top of your brew bung lid on leave a little gap if you dont have an air lock if you do seal the lid insert air lock . leave brew for a week and take a look see if its still fermenting.
If you have a hydromiter take a reading before you pitch your yeast. this is so you know where you started your brew at usually with 2 can kits its around 1040. Your brew should go down to 1010 as a rule of thumb.
Fermentation is compleate when you have the same reading for 2 days near the 1010 area give or take a point or 2.
A few hours after starting you should see a head forming on the brew not to worry how big though , this will subside as well nothing to worry about again.
Keep your brew at about the 23C area if possible this will give a better tasting brew as brewing to warm will give off flavours ( very fruity )
For transfer to barrel boil some water bung 80 - 120 gram suggar ( what ever the kit calls for ) and mix cover and cool add this to the barrel before your brew this gives the yeast something to chew on to gas your brew.
Once barreled this is the hard part
leave for 4 weeks ( 1 week per 10 points is the rule of thumb )
Next step get another barrel and start another brew
Hope this helps and dont be afraid to ask some one will have an answer some time
