Beginners Guide (Basic Lager Kit)

[Duffbeer]

Basic lager kit's are the easiest way to start when considering home brewed ale. Provided you stick to a few simple rules there's not much to go wrong. The following is a simple guide that should keep things pretty much fail safe including a few tips that the manufacturers don't include.

Basic equipment required.

Sanitising solution, from a local home brew shop or such as Milton. (try to avoid bleach or heavily scented stuff)

1 x food grade 23 litre / 5 gallon plastic fermenting bin.
1 x racking / siphon kit
1 x Long handled plastic spoon.
1 x hydrometer & trial jar.
1 x kit of your choice.
1 x crown capper or pressure barrel
1 x hydrometer & trial jar.
Sugar to amount specified in kit instruction (usually 1 kg 2.2 lb).

Optional equipment.

1 x wine thief or turkey baster.
1 x thermometer.
1 x bottling stick.
1 x airlock.

The optional extras will make things a little easier and take much of the guesswork out of the process.
The hydrometer enables you to decide when fermentation is complete rather than trying to look for bubble's. The wine thief / turkey baster is to remove some of the brew to the trial jar with the minimum risk of contamination. The thermometer will ensure you have the right temp before pitching the yeast. The bottling stick has a non return style valve on the bottom to give the right amount of space between bottle and cap (not required if using a pressure barrel) it also makes the job less messy. The airlock is to prevent oxygen harming the finished brew which will be explained later.

[Duffbeer]

Day 1.

Step 1: Sanitising.

By far the easiest of tasks, but if not done properly you risk losing the whole batch to contamination.
Clean and soak everything that will come into contact with the brew, it is best to follow your chosen sanitisers instructions for strength and length of of soaking. Clean all surfaces around where you'll be working including hands. Bacteria can be easily spread from item to item through surface contact and although we can't produce sterile conditions, we should try to maintain good hygiene practices including clearing up spillages when they occur.

Step 2: Making the kit

Try to always make your brew in the place it's going to ferment and be bottled if possible, firstly 5 gallon of liquid is heavy and secondly moving will upset settled sediment at bottling time
Boil 2 litres / 4 pints of water and add it to your fermenting bin, weigh out the correct amount of sugar and add it to the water stirring until dissolved. Open your kit tin and add the contents to the sugar and water stirring again until dissolved. Add some boiling water to the tin and stir up the residual contents adding to the tub when dissolved ( warning!! use a t towel to hold the tin as it will become extremely hot).



Add more boiling water until the 5 litre / 1 gallon mark is reached, then add cold water until the 23 litre / 5 gallon mark is reached, stir well to ensure everything is mixed.



Now is the best time to check the temp (between 19 & 23c) before pitching the yeast. If you don't have a thermometer then don't panic the ratio of 1 part boiling to 4 parts cold should be OK (gave me a reading of 21c).

Step 3: Pitching the yeast.

Simply open the packet of yeast and sprinkle it on top, give it a gentle stir and leave it to do it's thing,sit the fermenter lid loosely on the top to prevent airborn nasty's falling in.


Within a few hours you should see signs of fermentation ie: small bubbles rising and slight foaming, don't panic if it's not doing anything at this point it can take up to 24 hrs before the yeast starts. Also try to maintain a room temp of between 19 & 23c at all times.



The brew should now be left for 4 days to merrily ferment away. Try not to keep lifting the lid all the time for a peek, it's hard not to, but this increases the risk of contamination.

[Duffbeer]

Day 4: Protecting from oxydisation.

If you haven't got an airlock then don't worry proceed to day 5.

The process of fermentation produces co2 gas which protects the lager from oxydisation (a taste of wet cardbourd which developes when exposed to the air).
This is generaly not a problem provided you bottle/barrel as soon as fermentation ceases. I however prefer to be safe and can't always bottle immidiatly.
Hence the reason behind the airlock, this will allow excess co2 to escape but not allow oxygen to come in contact with the lager.



Put a little water into the airlock and insert it in the grommet in the lid, then snap fit the lid down tight.
After a short period you should notice the water in the airlock being pushed upwards until the co2 escapes, the frequency of this can be a helpful indication that fermentation is nearing it's end ie less action in the airlock.


More to follow once ferment is over!!!

[Duffbeer]

Next Step Day 5 or More

Firstly we need to be sure fermentation is over, if you have a hydrometer a reading of 1.006 or lower is fine. For use of the hydrometer follow the link below.

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=885

If you don't have the use of a hydrometer then firstly check for activity in the airlock, if this has ceased remove the lid and check for small bubbles rising to the surface, if no bubbles can be seen then we're ready to bottle, if bubbles can be seen then replace lid and recheck in 24 hrs.

Bottling.

Whatever size bottles you decide to use ensure you have enough to accomadate the whole 23 ltrs. Ensure all bottles are clean, sanitised and well drained before starting.



I use 275ml Stella bottles for reasons which I'll explain later.


Next using a measuring spoon and small funnel add 1/2 a tsp to each bottle, 1 tsp per pint bottle, 2 tsp per 1 litre bottle.



Connect the syphon rod and the bottling stick to either end of the syphon tube, insert the syphon rod end into the lager and secure with the bucket part at the bottom of the tub.
Suck the lager theough the tube by mouth untill it reaches the bottling rod and insert into bottle untill the valve touches the bottom and flow commences. Keep your eye on the liquid as it rises and lift the bottle rod as it reaches the top of the bottle, the valve will stop the flow and allow you to transfer to the next bottle. If you don't have a a bottle rod then you will simply have to squeeze the end of the pipe untill the flow stops leaving about 1 cm of airspace from the top of the bottle.


Transfer the full bottles to a stirdy waist hight surface and fit crown caps to all bottles. (Instructions on crown capping should come with your capping device).
Once all bottles are capped give them a slight shake to dissperse the priming sugar.



Job done, store your bottles in a warm place for seven day's to allow carbonation then transfer to a cool area for a minimum of three weeks or more before drinking.

The link below is usefull when deciding what bottling methods to decide is best for you.

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/s...ead.php?t=1684