Home Brew Questions
- Thread starter Voley
- Start date
Stig
Condimentalist
Should be safe from Customs. I'm buggered if I'm selling any of this after all the effort I've gone to!
Heh. I have been asked if I would sell mine. You must be joking, there's only 40 pints! There are two of us, you know!
At the brewers meet last night the head guy said my beer might be very good after a few months. I didn't like to point out there were only ten bottles left and counting.
Voley
🐀
Heh. I have been asked if I would sell mine. You must be joking, there's only 40 pints! There are two of us, you know!
Exactly. Thing is, I've got a total of 64 pints of beer and at least * 44 pints of cider on the go atm.
But my brother lives upstairs. I should be OK. 
* More if I dilute the cider with apple juice to taste.
Should be safe from Customs. I'm buggered if I'm selling any of this after all the effort I've gone to!
You don't have to sell it!
I don't remember the exact wording, but the 1963 Act is very specific in permitting you to brew for consumption on the premises by members of your household. The minute it goes off the premises, or you supply it to anyone other than members of your household, you've committed a criminal act. Obviously, in practice, it's highly unlikely that you'd get caught if you're offering your guests a cheeky pint of homebrew, but you do need to have a care if you're transporting your product anywhere, because that is, technically at least, illegal.
I'll try and look up the law again and get some references.
Voley
🐀
FFS!
So you make some of your own beer at home, take it to a mate's party and you're meant to pay duty on it! Fucking ludicrous!FFS!
As I understand the law, both of the above are true, yes. From a legal point of view, homebrewing is a concession, granted in 1963, that allows people to brew at home for their own personal use.Am I right in saying that if you offer a beer to someone that's not a member of your family in the privacy of your own home, that's illegal?
One interesting thing, though, is that there are operations which are effectively "rental breweries" which you are legally allowed to brew at, so there is some provision for being able to transport beer around...
Voley
🐀
I take it it's OK for my brother to drink some, then. But what about my Mum's partner? I'm not related to him by blood or marriage. He'll have to go without. I'm not getting a criminal record.
Anyhow, I've just had a tenner voucher arrive from Brew-It-Yourself and I've put it towards a Brupak Fixby Gold kit after Stig's fine-looking pint of beer earlier in the thread.
Anyhow, I've just had a tenner voucher arrive from Brew-It-Yourself and I've put it towards a Brupak Fixby Gold kit after Stig's fine-looking pint of beer earlier in the thread.
Voley
🐀
Right, that's it. I'm jealously hoarding all my beer from now on. you can't have any, it's illegal! (said in whiny school voice)
If you're not married to rich!, Stig, he can't have any!
<ducks>
Blimey. The cider's pretty, um, fragrant. I've only got a little flat. The whole thing smells of apples and cinnamon. Very nice.
In that case, never, ever use lager yeast in your flat. Everybody will think you've got Fart Disease.
(still drawing a blank on the whole legal thing, though have managed to fit in a quick batch of Elderflower Wine - from a kit - meantime...
)Anyone using Beerspheres, btw?
Voley
🐀
I've seen what you said about adding ginger beer to the cider to make it a bit more palatable on the other thread, agnes. That might be the way forward for me, too. I can imagine the two going together quite well. Mine's still pretty volatile - happily fizzing away at a rapid rate of knots.
My first batch of Wherry should be ready midweek. If you see a photo of a rank looking cloudy brew posted on Tuesday / Wednesday time, that'll be mine.
My first batch of Wherry should be ready midweek. If you see a photo of a rank looking cloudy brew posted on Tuesday / Wednesday time, that'll be mine.
Stig
Condimentalist
My first batch of Wherry should be ready midweek. If you see a photo of a rank looking cloudy brew posted on Tuesday / Wednesday time, that'll be mine.
Brilliant! I'm really looking forward to it. And I can't even taste it.
Hmm. Getting excited about someone else's home brew. That's a bit wrong, really, isn't it.
Voley
🐀
I gave the Wherry a cheeky taste last night. It's not meant to be ready until Tuesday but I fancied a look.
First off, I think I've overdone the priming sugar. The keg was under a lot of pressure; so much so that the beer flew out at a rate of knots that gave you a pint of foam. Fiddled about with the tap a bit to try and get it to pour more smoothly but to no avail - the stuff was dying to get out so eventually I released the cap on the top and let the pressure escape. After this, it poured more smoothly and although there was still a lot of head it settled after a bit.
First impressions are it's a bit cloudier than I'd expect it to be but I'm putting this down to the extreme pressure it's been under - it's really been carbonated a lot, I'd imagine. Taste-wise it's really not too bad at all. It's very hoppy but I rmember Wherry being like that on draught so that's not a bother. Everyone that's had a taste reckons it's good - I'm probably the most critical of the lot, tbh. Comments have ranged from 'that's a really nice pint' (brother in law) to 'I wouldn't send that back if I was served it in a pub but I'd probably go onto something else after' (me).
Now, the question I've got is about the pressure in the keg. Now that I've let that go, I'm conscious that the beer's not going to keep forever but at the same time I don't really want to get the CO2 bulb thing going and have 40 pints of foam coming out of it.
Any ideas on this? Currently I'm of the opinion to just let it settle a bit and see what it's like next weekend. I should have enough bottles by then if bottling it's the best option, too.
First off, I think I've overdone the priming sugar. The keg was under a lot of pressure; so much so that the beer flew out at a rate of knots that gave you a pint of foam. Fiddled about with the tap a bit to try and get it to pour more smoothly but to no avail - the stuff was dying to get out so eventually I released the cap on the top and let the pressure escape. After this, it poured more smoothly and although there was still a lot of head it settled after a bit.
First impressions are it's a bit cloudier than I'd expect it to be but I'm putting this down to the extreme pressure it's been under - it's really been carbonated a lot, I'd imagine. Taste-wise it's really not too bad at all. It's very hoppy but I rmember Wherry being like that on draught so that's not a bother. Everyone that's had a taste reckons it's good - I'm probably the most critical of the lot, tbh. Comments have ranged from 'that's a really nice pint' (brother in law) to 'I wouldn't send that back if I was served it in a pub but I'd probably go onto something else after' (me).
Now, the question I've got is about the pressure in the keg. Now that I've let that go, I'm conscious that the beer's not going to keep forever but at the same time I don't really want to get the CO2 bulb thing going and have 40 pints of foam coming out of it.
Any ideas on this? Currently I'm of the opinion to just let it settle a bit and see what it's like next weekend. I should have enough bottles by then if bottling it's the best option, too.
Stig
Condimentalist
Hmm, not sure on this one.
If you were going to bottle it I'd suggest bottling it right now, since you've let the pressure go, rather than leaving it a week.
Did the keg have a lid with a pressure release in it? I'm surprised about the amount of pressure tbh.
The cloudiness is because you haven't left it long enough. You have to wait for it to drop bright, (or clear, in normal peoples. vocabulary,) or put finings in if you want to hurry it.
If you were going to bottle it I'd suggest bottling it right now, since you've let the pressure go, rather than leaving it a week.
Did the keg have a lid with a pressure release in it? I'm surprised about the amount of pressure tbh.
The cloudiness is because you haven't left it long enough. You have to wait for it to drop bright, (or clear, in normal peoples. vocabulary,) or put finings in if you want to hurry it.
Stig
Condimentalist
The keg's one of these:
It doesn't have a pressure release (as far as I can tell) just the CO2 bulb thing on the top. I haven't even used the bulb yet, btw, all this pressure was from the priming sugar. Unless it's still fermenting or something.
Looking at my own one of those, I'm sure it's got a pressure release. Probably the rubber bit round the base of the outside thread. The normal lids without the co2 injecting nozzles do, so I'm sure those ones must do. It's Health and Safety gone mad, I tell you.
It certainly is still fermenting, that's why you put the sugar in, to use up the yeast that's inevitably still in suspension to do the job of carbonating for you. Yours might have had a little more fermenting to do than you thought.
I think basically all you need is Patience, man, Patience!
Voley
🐀
Ahh, right. Yes, it's got that all right. Do you just open it a wee bit if the pressure's getting a bit fierce then? Bit late for me, like, but I'll remember it for next time.
It certainly is still fermenting, that's why you put the sugar in, to use up the yeast that's inevitably still in suspension to do the job of carbonating for you. Yours might have had a little more fermenting to do than you thought.
Ahh, right. It just seemed that it's doing a bit too much fermenting for this stage, though, bearing in mind that it's already had a secondary ferment. Still it's not really an exact science this. I'll leave it alone for a bit. I don't think I have to worry about the beer going off - I'd imagine the pressure's going to build up again pretty quickly if it's still this lively.
I think basically all you need is Patience, man, Patience!
You're right of course. I won't be so bad once I've got one on the go that I can actually drink. I spent twenty quid on beer yesterday and it just felt like a waste of money when I've got loads of the stuff almost ready that I've made myself. Iyswim.
Stig
Condimentalist
Right. I've just poured a little bit off to see if the pressure's built up again overnight and it's flying out again. Hard to pour it without it being 50% foam and that's after letting the pressure go 24 hours ago! Is this right?
It's absolutely fine.
Leave it alone!
I've had a better look and on the inside of the lid, the metal underside of the nozzle has a little hole.
This goes through the lid completely but is stopped by the rubber ring mentioned earlier. I peeled that back a bit and there was indeed, a little hole.
If there was too much pressure, the air would make it's way out through that, no problem.
But you need a lot of that pressure within the liquid for the beer to be nice and lively. The problem you'll more likely face is flatness, if you keep letting it out. It's like opening a big bottle of fizzy drink, the first glass might be bubbles all up the nose, but the last one days later will be sad and minging.
Stig
Condimentalist
I completely understand this, on my first day I bought three kits at once, and along with all the kit itself, thought to myself one day a couple of weeks later -'hang on, this is supposed to be cheap booze ffs, I've spent sixty quid here and I've not had a beer yet!'
But since then I've had hundreds of good beers, and not really spent all that much more since.
Also I think of it more as a hobby with perks
so spending money on it is the same as someone who collects things or makes stuff, a money pit, but mine has the advantage of a houseful of beer.
Voley
🐀
Been bottling and kegging today (with 'minimal' sampling *cough*). It's got a bit to go yet but I don't think I'm exaggerating by describing the Headcracker as absolutely delicious - I think the added hops were a good idea. Really very pleased with it already and it's only going to get better with time.
The Wherry still needs some time - it tastes too 'homebrewy' for my liking so I've bottled the lot and will start trying it when the Headcracker's finished.
Now. The Cider. It is fucking evil. I got a couple of mouthfuls siphoning it across and it's pretty, um, spectacular. Dry as a bone but all the mulled wine spices I put in have helped give it a bit of sweetness. It looks like orange juice, smells like the cider bus at Glastonbury and is so strong that two mouthfuls made me feel like I'd had a couple of pints.
A success overall, then. I'm really very pleased with all of this.
The Wherry still needs some time - it tastes too 'homebrewy' for my liking so I've bottled the lot and will start trying it when the Headcracker's finished.
Now. The Cider.
It is fucking evil. I got a couple of mouthfuls siphoning it across and it's pretty, um, spectacular. Dry as a bone but all the mulled wine spices I put in have helped give it a bit of sweetness. It looks like orange juice, smells like the cider bus at Glastonbury and is so strong that two mouthfuls made me feel like I'd had a couple of pints. A success overall, then. I'm really very pleased with all of this.
