complete newbie!

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Hello all!

I've just bought a BrewSmarter Premium Starter Beer Kit from homebrewest.
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmarter-premium-starter-beer-kit-best-value-844-p.asp

I'm very fond of beer but never tried brewing it.
I've come on here to hopefully learn from yourselves and brew some good beer, any help you guys give will be greatly appreciated!

[LordEoin]

Welcome Fishjam!
That's a great kit. It's got pretty much all you need and the brewbelt will come in very handy with this weather.

Where are you based?

Got any specific questions? Fire them out there and get the ball rolling

[Bzfeale80]

What kit beer did you go for to start with?

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Cheers guys.
I'm based in Bray.

Would I be best to use bottled water to start with?
I have a Coopers Canadian Blonde and a Tooheys Special Lager, dunno which to try first.
I also got some carbonation drops, light malt extract and 1kg brewing sugar. When using the light malt extract how much do I put in instead  of the sugar?

I'm looking to learn a bit more about my hydrometer readings so I'll know when fermentation is taking place and when do I bottle etc?

Thanks again dudes!!!

[Ciderhead]

You are in the right place to learn, you just missed a cracking night in Hollands on Thursday night, we have 4 kit brewers in a group of 15 as well.



Sent from 1 of 300,000,000

[Bzfeale80]

Cheers guys.
I'm based in Bray.

Would I be best to use bottled water to start with?
I have a Coopers Canadian Blonde and a Tooheys Special Lager, dunno which to try first.
I also got some carbonation drops, light malt extract and 1kg brewing sugar. When using the light malt extract how much do I put in instead  of the sugar?

I'm looking to learn a bit more about my hydrometer readings so I'll know when fermentation is taking place and when do I bottle etc?

Thanks again dudes!!!

I also started with a Coopers Canadian Blonde with straight up brewing sugar for my first brew. I also got 500ml Coopers ox-bar bottles with mine and only put in 1 carbonation drop per bottle and ended up with under carbed bottles  :. Have not tried the other kit you mention. The Canadian Blonde is easy to get started with. Did you get any of the coopers brew enhancer to go with the canadian blonde kit? Its a blend of sugars and malts that you can add to improve head retention etc. You can probably do something similar by blending brewers sugar and some spray malt instead if you want to. Depending on the temperature range of the yeast that came with your lager kit you may need to make some temperature controlled unit for your fermentation vessel to go inside. 

[LordEoin]

Would I be best to use bottled water to start with?
If your tap water is clean it's fine.

When using the light malt extract how much do I put in instead  of the sugar?
Use a full can of LME (liquid, 1.5kg can) or 1kg DME (dry malt)
Don't brew with 1kg brewing sugar, just use up to 250grams to boost ABV if you want.

I'm looking to learn a bit more about my hydrometer readings so I'll know when fermentation is taking place and when do I bottle etc?
Take one reading before pitching your yeast. It'll probably be somewhere around 1.040 original gravity OG
After the bubbles stop and the foam dies down, take another reading. Probably around 1.010 specific gravity SG
Two days later take another reading, and if it's the same SG as previous, then it's your final gravity FG, and you're done fermenting.
Calculate the strength of your beer with (OG-FV)/7.46, then add 0.5 for carbonation.
(1.040 - 1.010)/7.46  >>  30/7.46=4.02%+0.5= 4.5%ABV

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

]

[/quote]

I also started with a Coopers Canadian Blonde with straight up brewing sugar for my first brew. I also got 500ml Coopers ox-bar bottles with mine and only put in 1 carbonation drop per bottle and ended up with under carbed bottles  :. Have not tried the other kit you mention. The Canadian Blonde is easy to get started with. Did you get any of the coopers brew enhancer to go with the canadian blonde kit? Its a blend of sugars and malts that you can add to improve head retention etc. You can probably do something similar by blending brewers sugar and some spray malt instead if you want to. Depending on the temperature range of the yeast that came with your lager kit you may need to make some temperature controlled unit for your fermentation vessel to go inside.
[/quote]

I havent got any brew enhancer, just lme and sugar.

cheers

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

When using the light malt extract how much do I put in instead  of the sugar?
Use a full can of LME (liquid, 1.5kg can) or 1kg DME (dry malt)
Don't brew with 1kg brewing sugar, just use up to 250grams to boost ABV if you want.

Just to be clear on that point - do you recommend adding 250gr sugar to the LME to boost ABV?
Or could i just use the 250gr sugar by itself? (No LME)

Thanks again in advance . . . I'm gonna give the Coopers Canadian Blonde a bash tonite, fingers crossed

[LordEoin]

Brew enhancer:
Coopers Brew enhancer 1 - BE1 - 60% Dextrose + 40% Maltodextrin
Coopers Brew enhancer 2 - BE2 - 50% Dextrose + 25% Maltodextrin + 25% Light Dry Malt

Sugar:
Use the kit can + LME/DME ( + sugar if you want more ABV or thinner beer)

have a read off this, it'll clear things up a bit :
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,681.0.html

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Thanks again, will have a butchers now.