[Rusho]

Patience is the big thing. If your going to bottle it even more so. I can have a keg of beer ready for drinking in about 14 days. If you are bottling it I would say about 45-60 days. From my experience bottles need to be left a long time to get the carbonation up to an exceptable level.

To do my brew I do the following:

-Make brew to packet directions
-Ferment to packet directions(usually about 5 days up here) I make mine to 25 litres not 23, lets me remove a cleaner beer so the sediment is in the last few litres
-Transfer to another drum(I have a 25 lt water drum from a camping store) let this sit for another five days. All this is doing is allowing the sediments to fall to the bottom again. End result nice clean, sediment free beer
-Transfer beer to keg, gas it slowly over a 24-36 hr period at approx 40 psi

-Enjoy

For bottles it will be
-Clean and sterilise 30ish bottles, let them dry
-Add carbonation drops
-Transfer to the bottles via a very slow filling device
-Press on caps(I had screw on plastic bottles when I bottle dbeer, easier and clener IMO)
-Wait 45-60 Days(no one ever does, this is why home brew has a bad wrap for tasting like shit, people get impatient and drink it green)
-Enjoy

I have finally got onto a recipe that tastes really nice. Home brew shops will have different recipies etc, the possibilities go into the hundreds by the time you mix different hops and blends etc. My favourite is a Corona blend, tastes nothing like corona's but the end result is very clear like a corona and very tasty.

My system costs about 75c a pint (570ml) plus the cost of a CO2 bottle /year etc. Initial set up cost of 3 kegs, regulator, drip tray, tap lines and fittings was about $400. Which I have definately recovered the cost of

[smileysmoke]

the other big thing is cleanliness.. clean your bottles, fermenters, spoons.. anything that touches your brew.. takes a while but at least the time spent (half hour) means your brew will be rockin.
im investing in a keg setup soon myself.. cant wait!

[Rusho]

smileysmoke wrote:

the other big thing is cleanliness.. clean your bottles, fermenters, spoons.. anything that touches your brew.. takes a while but at least the time spent (half hour) means your brew will be rockin.
im investing in a keg setup soon myself.. cant wait!

oh yeh...that to cleaning 1 stainless keg is so much better than 30 odd bottles it will be he best thing you ever do

[BUZOOKA]

i got a my brew kit today for about 100 dollars came witha 60 letter plastic barrel 24 long neck bottles and all the stuff i need to make my first brew

[madhouse]

hey bud could you please tell me how much to set one up and how to go about it cheers david

[Rusho]

madhouse wrote:

hey bud could you please tell me how much to set one up and how to go about it cheers david

Ebay is a good place to start, you will sometimes find complete set ups with fridge etc from anything to $200-$500 depends what you want. I have 3 kegs, fermenter and a settling drum. Beer ferments for a week, settles for a week(approx) kegged, gassed place in fridge, drink when cold.

Find a local home brew place also. They usually have a wealth of knowledge to share. Brewing beer in your parts could be completely different to doing it up here(weather etc)

A 19 ltr keg costs about $24 to make, gas is the killer up here, rental on the bottle is about $140ish/yr $40 bucks to fill which lasts me about 18-24 mnths

I have been kind of lazy lately and haven't had a brew going for a while. All kegs are empty I endevour to get back into it soon though. I usualluy have the keg i am drinking from, plus another in the fridge ready to go with a brew being fermented or settling.

Have fun and enjoy, hope that helps you out a bit

[Brett]

good work but i was hoping it was mounted on the car. just the thing to ponder why you thought your car would go there and how to get it out

[Rusho]

Brett wrote:

good work but i was hoping it was mounted on the car. just the thing to ponder why you thought your car would go there and how to get it out

The thought has crossed my mind...can't really talk my way out of it with the cops though

[Brett]

give them a beer