MichaelF14 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 hi all! i'm stoked to be part of this order. i've just purchased my home brew kit and am very keen to get started on making my first batch - for fear of stuffing up my first one i'll be making the lager that comes with the kit. i just wanted to say g'day but also to ask a few questions if i may; forgive the newbiness of them! :) 1. i'm a bit nervous about the water temperature when i'm first adding my brew enhancer and the contents of the lager can - should this be boiling water? 2 litres? 2. i've heard people say homebrewing is a bit of a smelly process too - and i intend to keep my fermenter in the laundry for ease of temperature stability...will this stink out the laundry!? 3. for a 100% newbie, are there any tips you could throw my way so i don't lose my first batch? 4. i've read about making unique brews with many different ingredients - are these in place of the contents of the can? or mixing their own ingredients TO the can contents. does anyone have any decent recipes where they might have added a secret ingredient? any info would be awesome there! 5. what is the approximate alcohol percentage of the beers made from this kit...and what does it depend on? i'd ideally like to make some stronger beers - around the 6%ish variety if possible. how can this be done? thank you so much for any help you can give me! i'm hoping to become a pro in a few short batch experiments and get to making my own special brews asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelF14 Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 i'm Fletcher by the way...forgot to introduce myself! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phAT YAK Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Hi Fletcher & welcome, I myself have only been into brewing for just under 12 months and will help you the best I can. Question 1= 2 litres hot but not boiling. question 2= yes can get a bit smelly, I call the smell "LOVE OF BEER" question 3= star san or simular sanitisers that you can use without the need to rinse all the things that come into contact with your brew, be patient when waiting for the magic to happen and always be prepared before putting your brew down so as not to leave things out. question 4= Best to leave the extra additions out until you have got the hang of a basic brew, maybe just play around with adding hops and liquid malts and have a look at recipe resource in the forum. question 5= plenty of recipes on the forum and the WWW (WORLD WIDE WEB) to help you achieve a higher alcohol percentage, the average brew should pull between 4.5% and 5.2%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Hi Fletcher, Welcome to the Guild! I reccomend two things for the Noob. 1. Brew your ales at 16-20C (BTW The OS Lager can is an ALE!) Brew your lagers at 10-15C 2. This is the really important one. Become a regular member here at the Guild and I reckon you'll be a Brewmaster in no time[wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Welcome Fletch As above have said. The only smelly beers will be lagers - these are beers you brew at the 10-15 degrees as Chad said, but you need a proper Lager yeast that comes with the kit. Best thing to do is read this to understand the basics, plus what the differences are between lagers and ales and what else you can do. The online version is older than a physical copy you can buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 I see that Yak already answered them all, but i'm going to answer again, then read his answers after and see if my answers are any different... 1. Bring 2 liters nearly to the boil, put the Fermentation Vessel on the ground and add the can and malt. Add the water. Pick up the FV and swirl it around until its all disolved in. It works far better than stirring 2. Lager can be smelly, like eggs. Most ales smell awesome (unless you dont like the smell of beer). The lager that comes with the kit uses an ale yeast as far as I remember, so it shouldn't be smelly. 3. make sure everything is clean and try not to open the FV once its closed. Also, measure twice and add once. 4. Try Here : LINKYLINK The easiest way to start modifying brews is by trying different LDMs and adding hops. Specialty grains can be used also. But one step at a time [happy] 5. Probably somewhere around 4%to 4.5%, but it depends on what ingredients you used. If you list out the ingredients, someone here will be able to bash it through a calculator for you [happy] Hope something in here helps, and welcome to the forums [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Welcome. Your questions have been answered. However, I boil 2 liters of water and add to the fermenter (FV). I suggest getting some no rinse sanitiser like Starsan or Iodopher. A little goes a long way. Ferment your ales at 18-20C and not the 21C-27C as suggested in the destructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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