Just Joined

[Inky]

Hi to everyone, another brewbie here based in Dublin. I've just made my 1st ever brew a razorback Ipa kit and although a little disappointed I'm kinda hooked already to go again. I've bought two unused kits from friends that I'm keen to try already.

[Leann ull]

Welcome along, great start, where in Dublin are you lots of groups all over

[Inky]

I'm on the northside so I'm kind of based between capital and north county

[Bubbles]

although a little disappointed I'm kinda hooked already to go again.

Many people have a similar experience with their first brew. As you build up knowledge your beers will improve.

Why are you disappointed with it? It might be something the forum can help with, and so improve your chances on your second brew.

[Inky]

I think from drinking commercial kind of beers I expected it to have more of a head and it seems like it might be a little under carbonated too, I used the Cooper sugar drops from the bag and put them into the pet bottles so I'm unsure if that has something to do with it. They have been bottled for a little over a month now and the bottles still have a little bit of give in them. Or maybe it's just inexperience that'll hopefully disappear with each brew.

[imark]

If there's give in them they aren't fully carbonated. Give them a little shake and put them somewhere warm for a week or two to give the yeast a chance to carbonate the beer. That should fix it. Welcome to the forum BTW.

[Bubbles]

+1 to imark's advice. There should be no give in those bottles if the beer is carbonated. If there's little or no carbonation, you won't get a good head forming. I like to leave my conditioning bottles for 2 weeks at room/fermentation temperature before putting them out in the cold.

The thing you have to remember about those Coopers carb drops is that each drop is designed to prime a single 330ml bottle, not the 500ml PET that Coopers sells. Yeah, go figure.. 

(Homebrew shops take note, we need a better product than those Coopers drops, as they don't allow any precision in carbonation!)

Batch priming is much better, of course. You can fine tun your carbonation levels. But carb drops are very handy when dealing with small batches, or little experiments you might be doing.

[molc]

I found poor head retention on my first Cooper kits as well. The brewferm Belgian kitscalways made a great beer for me with excellent head though, if you like that style.

[Inky]

Thanks for all the advice, my next brew I'm hoping to do is the youngs american ipa with batch priming next. I just have to collect the empty 330ml bottles from friends to make sure I have enough 😊

[Inky]

The one thing I meant to ask about is using older beer bottles. I've heard that clear bottles if left in sunlight can affect the beer, my question is does it matter if I use green or brown bottles? Is one better than the other?

[Jonnycheech]

You want to use brown bottles. The hops react with UV light and lead to an off flavour/aroma forming known as skunking. You do not want skunking in your beers, for obvious reasons.

[Jonnycheech]

Oh and if you are using old bottles make sure they are spotlessly clean and sanitised before bottling or you will get an infection.

[Leann ull]

You do not want skunking in your beers, for obvious reasons.

Unless you are doing a Heino clone.

[cruiscinlan]

Thanks for all the advice, my next brew I'm hoping to do is the youngs american ipa with batch priming next. I just have to collect the empty 330ml bottles from friends to make sure I have enough 😊

BTW if you ask at a bar close to you for bottles I'm sure they'd give you some, that's how I got most of mine.  All bars will have bottles that are non-returnable that they just have to chuck out.

[beerfly]

capital generally meet the last wed of the month. usually in w.j kavanaghs but sometimes other places.
next meet up is Wednesday.
If your near the swords/airport bus routes they stop right outside