These are in no particular order of importance, more will
probably follow. Don't forget to hit Refresh on your browser to see if any new
tips have been added.
Consider adding a tap to your fermenter,
along with the appropriate sized pvc tubing this will make transfering your
beer easier and reduce the risk of spoilage.
Make sure the can opener is clean and
sanitised. Keep a separate can opener for homebrew to reduce
the risk of infection.
Sanitise the outside of the can(s) before
opening them to reduce the risk of infection.
Don't throw your sanitizing solution away
as soon as you have prepared your brewing kit, keep it handy in a bucket for
quick wipe downs etc....
Cover your brewing area with old towels to
make clean up easier.
Equipment can be cleaned using a warm
solution made with soda crystals. Equipment can be sanitized by soaking for
20 mins in a thin unscented bleach
solution, 3ml-5ml per L of cold water. Rinse
well with cold water. (Do not use thick bleach, it is difficult to rinse
off).
Making Up The Kit
Adding sugar to a kit will thin the taste
and can give the beer a cider flavour.
Use an equal weight of dry malt extract
(spray malt) or 1.5x
the weight in liquid malt extract to produce a more commercial tasting beer
this will dramatically improve the beer produced by one can kits.
If sugar is added to a kit it should be
brewing sugar as it doesn’t impart as much flavour to the beer. If
domestic sugar must be added use cane sugar rather than beet sugar (Tate and Lyle use
cane sugar).
Up to 250g of brewing sugar can be added to
boost alcohol content, much more can have a significantly detrimental effect
on the quality of beer.
Rehydrate
the yeast, rehydrating dried yeast can greatly improve it's performance, add
around 100mls of boiling water to a sanitized Pyrex jug, allow it to cool to
30-35 deg c and sprinkle the dried yeast over it, after 20-30 mins it should
swell and foam, add this to a well aerated wort. If it doesn't foam up, use
a new packet.
Aerate the wort before fermentation
starts by vigorously stirring, or
transfer it to another container from height. Adding oxygen will improve
fermentation.
Don’t allow the beer to splash or aerate
after fermentation has started especially when bottling or barreling.
This will cause beer to oxidize and spoil it.
2 Liter, 1 Liter or 500ml PET (soda) bottles can be
used for storing beer but clear ones must be kept out of the light.
1 Liter and 500ml PET bottles are easier to
pour without disturbing the sediment.
Adding sugar to a kit will thin the taste
and can give it a cidery taste. Instead, use an equal weight of spray malt or 1.5x
the weight of liquid malt extract to produce a more commercial tasting beer.
When sugar is added to a kit for priming it should be
brewing sugar as it doesn’t impart as much flavour to the beer. If granulated
sugar must be added use cane sugar rather than beet sugar (Tate and Lyle is cane sugar).
Sugar should be dissolved in boiling water
and briefly simmered to sterilize before adding to the fermenter.
Always have a spare sachet of yeast handy,
kit yeasts are of varying quality and age, if the one you have just sprinkled on water
fails to rehydrate, throw it away and use the new one.
Adding 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient for
beer such as Yeast-Vit can help avoid problems with fermentation, keep
some in the cupboard with your spare yeast.
Chlorine or Chloramines in drinking water gives beer a
medicinal flavour, it can be removed by using a point of use water filter,
filter jug or by preparing the brewing water by adding 1/2 a crushed campden
tablet to 25L of water.
Prepare your brewing water by filling a
spare fermenter or barrel and stirring in the crushed 1/2 campden tablet, do
this before mixing the water with any extract.
For best results use a fermenter bucket for primary fermentation and
transfer to a pressure barrel or bottles for serving.
Kits that come with just one barrel for
fermentation and serving can be good value but better results will be
achieved if a separate primary fermenter bucket is purchased and used.
Once The Beer Has Fermented
Primary fermentation is can be considered
complete once a stable sg reading is achieved, at or within a point of the
guideline final gravity.
A stable reading can be considered to be two
identical readings over a 24 hr period.
Leaving beer in the primary fermenter for 2
or 3 days after primary fermentation will improve the flavour, it will also
reduce sediment in the keg or bottle.
Homebrewers hydrometers aren’t
100% accurate, they
are better at showing a trend than an exact sg. An accurate hydrometer will
read 1.000 in water at 20 deg c.
If you need help reading a hydrometer, click
here.
If a beer fails to reach final gravity by
just one
point it's ok to barrel or bottle, any more and you risk over pressurising
the barrel or exploding bottles.
Fermenters with taps make
life a lot easier, they can also double up as a bottling bucket.
Use PVC tubing attached to the tap to
transfer the beer smoothly without disturbance.
Beer should be matured for a minimum of 2
weeks, but will reach its peak in around
4. As a rule of thumb, mature for 1 week per .10 gravity points above
1.000.
If the beer being transferred to keg or
bottling bucket is crystal clear, take a skim off the slurry from the bottom
of the fermenter with a teaspoon
and add this to the keg or bucket to help ensure enough viable yeast cells
for conditioning (this is more of an insurance policy than a necessity).
To mix the slurry in, add it to a little
pre-boiled and cooled water so it can be distributed evenly, stir in gently
with a sanitized plastic brewing paddle..
If a separate bottling bucket is used, add
the priming sugar solution to it before, adding your beer, this ensures
proper mixing, before bottling with minimal disturbance. If bottling from
the primary fermenter, add the priming sugar solution carefully and stir in
very gently with a sanitized plastic brewing paddle.
Don’t start a siphon by sucking on
it.
2 Liter, 1 or 500ml PET (soda) bottles can be
used for storing beer but clear ones must be kept out of the light.
1 Liter and 500ml PET bottles are easier to
pour without disturbing the sediment.
If a beer fails (or is very slow) to ferment
down to the guideline gravity stated in the instructions it is likely that
the yeast has failed prematurely. This is known as a stuck fermentation and can
caused by...
Rehydrating a yeast in water that is too
hot, this can damage yeast and have a detrimental effect on its performance,
yeast should be rehydrated in water at 30-35 deg c, and never any
warmer.
Pitching it into a wort that is too hot can adversely effect
a yeasts performance, always check the temperature is 30 deg c or lower before
pitching, preferably 25 deg c. Snap on the lid and wait for it to cool if
necessary.
Insufficient aeration during preparation,
spend good 5 mins beating and stirring air into the wort before pitching the
yeast.
(It's too late to aerate once fermentation has started, rousing the yeast bygently stirring and re-suspending it may help remedy this
problem).
Environment is too
cold...yeast will go
dormant if the beer gets too cold, bring the fermenter or keg
into a warm room (18-26 deg c) to raise the temperature of the beer. Gently
stir to re-suspend the yeast.
Poor quality or old yeast. Even dried yeast
doesn't last for ever, it will last longer if kept in a fridge but even then
the performance of an old yeast may be lacking and it may not be able to
finish the job.
Lack of nutrients in the wort.
Restarting a
Stuck Fermentation, here are a few ways to tackle these problems
If the gravity of the beer has stuck close
the final gravity, gently rousing the yeast back into suspension may get things going again.
Add a 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient for beer
such as Yeast-Vit, may also help.
Fresh, good quality yeast may also help get things going again.
Safale 04 is a good choice of yeast for this purpose. It can be
sprinkled on the wort, allowed to re-hydrate for 20 mins then briefly and gently
stirred in however, better results may be achieved by starting the yeast off in wort first.
Starting the yeast, rehydrate the yeast by sprinkling over a 1/3 cup of tepid water, meanwhile add 50g of dried malt extract to 500mls of water and mix well. Once the yeast has rehydrated, mix with the wort and funnel into a plastic bottle, shake well and wait for fermentation. Once it is fermenting vigorously (which may take several hours), add to the beer and gently mix in.
As a last resort if the above fails, try adding Brupaks Dry Beer Enzyme, this helps the yeast process normaly unfermentable sugars providing it with a new source of food. This can produce quite a dry beer though.
Top Tap kegs will usually require extra gas
to dispense the beer, particularly if several pints are drawn off in
sucsession, keep a slight pressure in the keg at all times.
When serving beer from a bottom tap barrel, don’t
allow a vacuum to form as the beer is delivered, this will cause a slug of air to be drawn in
through the tap which will oxidize and spoil the beer. To avoid this either
release the cap or better still keep a slight pressure in the barrel with co2 gas as
per the instructions with your gas system.
If there is excess foam when serving, chill
the barrel if possible, if that's not practical, bleed off excess pressure. Add small amounts
of gas as required. Filling a jug first and decanting off to your pint glass is
another solution to excess foaming.
The ideal temperature to store and serve beer at is 13 deg c
Top up the barrel with gas after use to
maintain carbonation in the beer.
Low/No pressure in a barrel can be caused
by. Leaky seals. These can be detected by pressurizing the barrel. making a soapy water solution
(with out creating any foam) and applying it to the seals…a presence of
bubbles indicates a leak.
Low/No pressure in a barrel can be caused
by... Lack of fermentable sugars, add priming sugars, bring barrel into warm and
allow it to condition again.
Low/No pressure in a barrel can be caused
by... beer being too cold,
yeast is dormant, bring it back into the warm to allow priming sugars to
ferment out and pressurize the barrel.
If the above actions fail to pressurize a
Top Tap keg, the beer can still be served by adding small amounts of co2 gas
from an S30 or Widget World gas cylinder. see Serving.
Other Problems
Beer that has a definite vinegar taste has
a bacterial infection due to inadequate sanitation, there is no solution
except to throw the beer away and thoroughly sanities all brewing equipment.
Beer doesn't always clear after 2 weeks in
the bottle or barrel, usually the solution is to wait a few weeks longer,
try putting the beer in a cooler place or if a barrel is used finings can be
added.
Young or green beer can have a slight
vinegar taste which matures out over time, if in doubt allow a beer to
mature a little longer before throwing down the sink.