Some more questions

You need to have some way to lket the CO2 produced by fermentation escape. The airlock is a way to accomplish that. It lets CO2 escape via a kind of one way valve that doesn't allow air to enter your fermenter. Any method that accomplishes that will work.

Cooling as quickly as possible is one of the keys to quality beer. After the boil, put your kettle in a sink fuill of ice water to cool it down. AFter it'ss down in the 80ish area (F, sorry, I'm C impaired!), add the rest of your water

No problem, that's what almost all of us did.

It depends on if you want to make beer, or if you want to make GOOD beer! LIke any hobby, the more info you have, the better off you are.

---------->Denny

Again thank you for you advice Denny :D

I am surprised that none of the beginners kits mention anything about an airlock if this is a neccessary piece of equipment. I may look into buying everything seperately (depending on the cost) so I know I have everything I need!

I'd assume, judging by the equipment you mention, that you're in the UK or Audtralia. I'm not familiar with the Fermenting Bin you mention and that might have a similar mechanisn built into it. Here, many people use plastic buckets to ferment in and there's a hole in the bucket lid to allow an airlock to be attached.

-------->Denny

Yeah I'm in the UK. The Fermenting Bins look like Plastic Buckets, but from what I have seen, the lids don't appear to have any holes in them (I am only looking at pictures, so I may be wrong!

When I am at the Brew Shop later this week, I will be able to have a look at what is in stock (something I would prefer to do than buying online). If I am left with no real alternative, then I will be buying online.

If absolutely neccessary, I assume that it would be safe to put a hole in the lid if one doesn't already exisit!

Am I to understand that you cool the wort, then add the rest of the water? I have only made a few batches so far but have kept the rest of the water in the fridge and added it to the wort. I still end up with a mix that is still to hot and needs to cool further.

Does the wort all pour out of the pot when it is cooled off?

I may try that next time.

I use a 7 gallon plastic bucket for my primary and seal it with a sterile plastic garbage bag. The bag is secured with a large rubber band. It makes a very good air tight seal and you can tell when your wort is active because the bag domes up. It is ready to transfer to the secondary when the bag begins to fall. I place the plastic bag over the bucket so that it fits like a drum head. In other words I don't use the bag as a bag but more as a piece of material that I can stretch flat over the top of the bucket. I just happen to use plastic bags because they are handy. Otherwise I would use a sheet of plastic.

Doug

allowed into the wort! I.E., even a drop of nonsterile water can contaminate. If your procedure will be to cool the wort down in a sink of cold water, then to pour the wort into the primary containing the rest of your water, it is easy to overlook the sink water dripping from the kettle. To address this, before pouring the cooled wort into your primary, set the kettle down on a towel, making sure the exterior is dry, then pour it into primary. Of course, the water in your primary has first been sterilised by boiling and cooling, right? Just hate to see an aspiring brewer ruin his first batch by a moment of carelessness. Good luck.

The "bung" I had with my plastic fermenter appeared to be an ordinary rubber grommet (same type used in electronics to keep wires from chaffing where they pass through holes in the chassis)

You bet...that's exactly what I did.

---------->Denny

Yes, it does. I prefer getting the wort unber 80F before I move it. The warmer it is, the more easily it can pick up O2 which can lead to stale off flavors.

--------->Denny

allowed into the wort!

It depends totally on your own water. I've often used tap water to top off a batch without any problems at all.

---------->Denny

allowed into the wort!

Right, but I was thinking of water that sits in the sink, being used to cool the kettle of wort. This water may be contaminated, even if the water straight from the tap is fine. Just a precaution I once observed before I got into full-wort boils and immersion chillers.

That was something I had never thought of. If I am cooling down my wort in the sink, then unless I have previously cleaned the sink, then this could potentially ruin a batch! Coming directly from the tap there is less chance that there is a problem with the water....

Thanks for pointing that out to me :D

Don't be put off, there is not really that much to it,& its a good idea to start by "keeping things simple" which frankly is what I have done for the past 20 odd years of brewing.

Answering your questions in order:

• Yes always always use an airlock.

• Yes its quite critical that your wort is quickly cooled to a suitable temperature to pitch your yeast. Pitch ale yeasts at between 20-24 degrees evenly on the foamy top of your wort.

• Often cold tapwater will be sufficient to cool down your wort but it depends obviously on quantity & temperature. I use refrigerated filtered water (cooled overnight in half a dozen 2 litre bottles) to cool my wort because Queensland tapwater is too warm. Note please always use filtered cold water to make up your wort, simple inexpensive filters can be purchased that fit directly onto your faucet. Hot water need not be filtered its effectively sterile.

You did not ask but I suggest:

• You have a robust bulb thermometer in addition to any temperature indicating strip that may be fitted to your fermenter.

• Observe carefully sanitary procedures whilst brewing & bottling.

• Start with an ale, lagers are much more difficult.

• Make an all malt brew, steer clear of sugar & aim for alcohol in the range 4.5 to 5.5.

• Be ready to spend the extra for a better yeast, take the advice of your brewshop supplier.

• Talk to your brewshop, very often they have a good deal of experience of the products readily available to you & ask them to keep it simple until you gain confidence. Don't be afraid to phone them for help if you get stuck, of course you should be ready to patronise them in return & accept their advice.

Hope this helps, Pete

Thanks,

All advise is much appreciated and the more I get, the more prepared I will be for when I have my kit and am ready to make my first brew. Nothing is putting me off and I do intend to start as simple as possible.

My biggest problem is that there are no local home brew stores where I live so I am having to initially rely on travelling to my In-Laws this weekend and hope that the homebrew store near them is still there (I have found it in a directory so am very hopeful).

With a little luck, this time next week should find me in my kitchen with everything set up and ready for me to make that first step to enjoying the luxury of home brew :D

I guess this didn't occur to me since I always clean the sink before doing this. :)

-------->Denny

Who cares if the wort picks up oxygen when you transfer it from the kettle to the primary fermentation vessel? You NEED to get oxygen into it at this point. Without it the yeast can't reproduce appropriately, and you'll end up with a lot less yeast cells trying to do the fermentation - meaning it will either take longer to ferment, or, more likely, that you will end up with a very sweet, low alcohol beer.

You don't worry about oxygen causing your beer to degrade until AFTER it comes out of the primary fermenter.

NobodyMan wrote: --------->Denny

Close, but no cigar..you don't want to get O2 in your beer until it's below about 85F. THEN you need a lot of O2 in order for the yeast to synthesize the sterols they need for cell wall building.

------->Denny