Hello There

[bncrew]

Hi there, I'm Larry from Dublin based in Wexford. Ive bought virtually all I need to start brewing, although I am a little nervous in case I screw it up, fingers crossed on that, my first brew is Coopers european lager kit, if anyone has any hints and tips I'd be more than grateful.

One thing I'm unsure about is how to sterilize bottles, I'm guessing milton is best with a bottle brush but again I'd love to hear how other folk do it.

I'm hoping my brew turns out better than my brothers brews did 20 years ago, I believe the kit was Mighty Mo and it ended up tasting like orange juice and whiskey, very cloudy stuff and had a habit of making folk violent... mine cant be worse than that

Many thanks for any advice and a pleasure to meet you all

[johnrm]

Welcome Larry,
Thanks for coming on board.
Bottles - make sure they are physically clean, bottle brush, Powerwasher etc. (If they're that bad, maybe change your bottle source!)
Sanitation - don't use Milton, I have not but have heard some people say no to it. Instead, make a solution with 20l water, adding 30ml bleach and then add 30ml vinegar. Scale this to half of need be. Cheap as chips.
Have fun!

[mr hoppy]

Good advice! Also, bleach and vinegar should ALWAYS be added to water SEPARATELY and NEVER mixed directly with each other because they react to form lethal chlorine gas if you do that!

[bncrew]

excellent stuff thanks guys, that i shall use then, and deffo great advice about the chlorine situation, as a youngster i accidentally made some poisenous gasses and left myself in a right state for a few hours

[BeerWolf]

Regarding the bleach and vinegar tip - any particular types / brands / shops?

I'm looking to bottle today / tomorrow and if there's some way of messing it up I'm sure I'll find it!

[DEMPSEY]

All the cheap stuff. Make sure its unscented. Tesco own brand have bleach for less than €1.

[Garry]

The bleach should be thin bleach (not thick).

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=260550096

I think I read somewhere that the vinegar should be distilled?

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=distilled%20vinegar