Question about homebrew.

[Decentralist]

I just bought got some plastic containers, some that you take drinks and stuff on a picnic in and some that come with about 10l of water in and you use at parties or whatever. And I was wondering if they are safe to mature and even ferment beer and perhaps even wine in.

I was just wondering because I think I once heard they might not, but I can't remember. I mainly got them to mature beer in because I can't be bothered to do too much bottling and sanitising.

[MKG]

Yes to everything. If you ferment in them, make sure that either you can fit an airlock or don't screw the cap down tight. There was a story around a few years ago about PET and polythene not being suitable materials for storage because of molecular leakage. It was bu**s**t.

In fact, they're BETTER than going through the bottling process - for one thing, every alcoholic drink improves faster when bulk storage is used, and for another, you can easily tell with plastic if any unwanted secondary fermentation is going on. Get that in glass bottles and you have minor bomblets on your hands.

[Decentralist]

Thanks. I thought I'd better check.

I can't believe I hadn't thought of doing this before because I find bottling 25 bottles quite annoying.

[Decentralist]

I have another quick question.

I tend to use the tinned concentrates of beer and cider you can get here in Australia but I sometimes have problems getting the alcohol content up to a reasonable area(between 4-5%.). I recently made a stout for instance with abot a 2% alcohol content.

I'm sure some of it just has to do with the temperatures, most of the brews I've made I've done during the winter, late autumn and early Spring which even in Sydey is generally below 23C in the day and 20C at night. Thankfully summer is coming now, should be better when night rarely go below 23C and days below 25C.

However I don't think it is all down to temperature. Anyone got any tips?

One of the strongest I made which was about 4.5% or more was a cider which came with a yeast nutrient. I'm guessing these help but most of the can don't come with them. Is it true that Vitamin B tablets or Marmite(vegemite too?) can be used? Are they as good?

[MikeM]

I don't know about the kits you get over there, but alchohol levels can be increased by adding either sugar or dried malt extract.

[ina]

I'm sure some of it just has to do with the temperatures, most of the brews I've made I've done during the winter, late autumn and early Spring which even in Sydey is generally below 23C in the day and 20C at night. Thankfully summer is coming now, should be better when night rarely go below 23C and days below 25C.

I can assure you, it's not the temperature! Even in summer it doesn't get as warm as that here - and we are still able to produce pretty good (and strong) beer in Scotland.

[tell_tale_signs]

Here is a great "calculater" to use so that you can get the alcohol by volume that you want, I have used this to estimate the sugar or honey that I need to add to the must to reach the desired potential gravity. I double checked it with a hydrometer and it was very accurate, enough so that I dont use a hydrometer at the beggining of brewing due to worry over accidently infecting the must. Just check the boxes next to the criteria that you want to use and click on calculate, and presto.
http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option ... &Itemid=16

[MKG]

Decentralist - I'm interested to find out how you know what the alcohol content of your finished product was. Did you measure it and, if so, with what? (I ask this because some measuring equipment is notoriously inaccurate).

Your problem (if there is one) may well be the opposite of what you think i.e. it may be that the temperature is too high rather than too low. But, whatever it may be, there are a million (OK, I exaggerate - maybe a dozen) ways of getting around it. Certainly, with the concentrates you buy you should have no problem achieving 4 to 5% alcohol as a minimum.

So, more info, please - tell us exactly how you've been doing it.

[lizzylard]

HELLO everyone, I can say that my hubby makes homebrew and its strong, he get the tins from our local shop.I will say this about home brew As i have tpye 1 diabetes so sugar is a no no, this harvest beer has no sugar left in it ,its great for us diabetics who likes to have a drink hic!!!!

[pumpy]

As my Jackie says,(above), i do brew some fairly strong stuff. However,there's nothing complicated about it. I just buy the can (kit), from the chemists, & follow the instructions. Except, i only make 4 gallons, instead of 5, as per the instructions. One day,i'll get round to using the hydrometer, to see exactly how strong the stuff is. (On a scale of 1-10, i'd say that it's bloody,bloody,strong!).

[StripyPixieSocks]

Yes to everything. If you ferment in them, make sure that either you can fit an airlock or don't screw the cap down tight. There was a story around a few years ago about PET and polythene not being suitable materials for storage because of molecular leakage. It was bu**s**t..

PET and polythene let Co2 out over time so if you are storing fizzy drinks in them you will end up with flat beer / wine over time... this is the experience of age old brewers.

Also DO NOT use PET bottles or any kind of bottle for fizzy stuff which isn't made for pressure as it can and will explode (experience of many brewers) if you put the cap on and allow it to ferment or think it's finished fermenting and bottle it in said plastic bottles.

Having said that, screw cap bottles of any variety are a no no in this house glass or otherwise... I've seen what ginger beer in glass bottles can do to a kitchen... my Nanas kitchen was obliterated and shards of glass were sunk an inch deep into the walls... just a friendly warning!

6 barr screwtop pop bottles and fermenting liquid she thought had finished makes a rather effective bomb!!