How to Kit Brew (a beginner's guide)

[Damo]

I'll do a better deal where I work 

Where do you work? 

[Ciderhead]

FJ the sharks are circling!
Save this for when you come to your first Bray meet in Jan

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Yup Damo, ya know where i work.

[Damo]

Howya Colin?

I thought I recognised your pic. 

Been up to your counter many times mostly with stupid questions and such.

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Theres no such thing as a stupid question, only the ones you guys have been answering from me on this forum!

[Damo]

 

[bncrew]

this is exactly what i have been looking for many thanks for this guide, just one question when you refer to adding water "off the boil" what do you mean? also the water in my area is a very hard water, should i instead use bottled still water for the brew?

[LordEoin]

by 'off the boil' I just mean boil it them pour it in. Don't boil after that.
I have very hard water too, it's a huge subject that has a few threads on here already.
Your main problem with kit on hard water will be head retention, I generally compensate with a carapils or crystal steep

[bncrew]

ah thanks very much for that, i never heard of those products, i had intended to either put the water through a water purifier (which i think contaminates it even further) or buy a load of still water and use that, thanks for your help

[Padraich]

That explains the head retention on my current brew... hadn't realised there was a relationship between lime in the water and how long the head lasts. And luckily, for my next batch I have a kilo of crystal malt to steep.

[LordEoin]

Crystal and carapils are a great addition to any kit. About 150g to 250g seems good.
Once you have it steeped and strained you'll need to boil it for 5-10 minutes, so you might aswell add some hops to that boil while you're at it 

[gearoid]

LordEoin - could you do a beginners how to guide to lager, how to get the best out of a lager kit assuming lager yeast ?

[LordEoin]

It's the exact same except you need to hold hold the fermenting temperature a the right temperature for the yeast, and ferment it for longer.
Most lager kits don't have lager yeast.
you don't really need to lager a kit beer as they clear up a lot easier than all grain.
Cooper's Pilsner is my favorite Lager kit, you need to ferment that at about 12C

[Martin]

Hi guys,

I am just about to start my first brew from the Coopers starter kit ( Australian Lager )  but have some questions before I start:

1) Water - is it ok to use tap water or should I get some Lidl / Tesco still water for the brew? I live in D24 so my water comes from the Ballyboden Water Plant which I think is fairly soft.

2) The Coopers instruction says the Lager should ferment at 18-21 degrees. I thought a lager ferments at 12-14? I guess this is due to the attached Ale yeast?

2) I also have the Mexican Carveza kit which I'm going to brew next - I've found a recipe for a brew  called "Aztec Gold" which requires 500g of Coopers Light Dry Malt but I can't find that particular malt anywhere but the Coopers online store. What Malt would you recommend to use instead that I can get in Ireland? And at what temperature should the Mexican Cerveza ferment?

Many thanks in advance!

[Boycott]

1. If your tap water tastes ok to drink use it.
2. Yes you have been sold a lie that its a lager and it is really an ale so go for the higher temp
3. You can pick up dried malt extract in any homebrew shop but i wouldn't bother for this kit, just use this first time to get used to the process.