first brew

[Rhys Parry]

hi all

i'm about to brew my first batch. have bought myself a brewcraft starter kit and am going to try the kit that comes with it. any tips to make it taste half decent (i've bought some safale US-05 yeast and am thinking about adding some hops to the fermenter after 5 or so days)?

cheers,
rhys

[Reviled]

US-05 is a good place to start, and adding some hops to the fermenter after fermentation for 7-10 days will add some aroma... Other than that, replace dex with malt extract...

Or....... Just look into BIAB ;o)

[denimglen]

What Rev said.

[Rhys Parry]

BIAB? i plead ignorance!

dried malt extract to replace the dextrose - 1:1 basis?

after adding my hops and leaving for 7-10days, do i bottle then?

cheers guys!

[Mike Neilson]

BIAB?

Try conventional mashing!!

[Rhys Parry]

sorry, i meant i don't know what BIAB is an acronym for!

[martin w]

brew in a bag, just another way of making beer, its a little more involved than using kits but gets you much better results.

what tupe of beer are you planning on? which hops were you thinking of using?

[Rhys Parry]

oh ok, thanks. will have to study up on this after my first brew.

i'm after a pilsner/IPA type brew. have bought some nelson sauvin hops...

cheers

[martin w]

you want to try and ferment at as constant low temp as possible, maybe 17 degrees if you can to keep it as clean as possible, you might want to add hops during the boil as well, i found kits always finished quite sweet! or maybe it was just me!

[Rhys Parry]

thanks, will attempt to keep at a constant temp!

[denimglen]

Yeap, dried malt or liquid malt extract at one to one. You will get a slightly lower original gravity and and slightly higher final gravity and therefore a little less ABV but your beer will be better for it.

The SO5 yeast will do wonders for the beer.

My usual fermentation schedule is to let the beer ferment for about two weeks, add dry hops to fermenter, sit another week, then bottle/keg.

I'd add about 20 - 30g of dry hops.

After this batch, and probably before doing a full grain batches I would suggest doing an extract with steeping grains. More info can be found at www.howtobrew.com

[Rhys Parry]

thanks for the info, can't wait to get started!