[Cameron]

Hi,
I am a new brewer and am looking to save money by brewing my own beer. I have made a couple of batches so far just using the pre-packed recipe kits.

For these batches I used carbonation drops which were bought for around NZ$5 and I was wondering about using sugar instead (are they the same thing?). Is there any difference in what you use here or are the carbonation drops solely for ease of use? I also heard that by using dextrose you can get less sediment in the beer.

Also, is there a difference in adding the sugar to the bottles (which is what my instructions recommend) and adding it straight to the beer before bottling?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Any other $$$$ saving ideas would also be welcome as it would be nice to have a cheap beer that I wouldn't mind giving to drunk people who won't know the difference.

Thanks!

[BCMike22]

Hey Cameron--

I'm afraid I'm fairly new myself and can't help with the "carbonation drop" question as I've never heard of those before...but what I can tell you is that for the carbonation of the beer, you simply need a sugar to get the yeast and beer going.

Most folks here in the states either use corn sugar (sucrose...cheapest option, easy to use and works well), however for more English/Euro style beers you'll want to use light malt (maltose) instead, as it will add a little more charecter to the brew and seems to be a little more subtle on the carbonation, at least in my experience.

In regards to bottle batching, I strongly prefer to just mix in the priming sugar in a large batch prior to bottling. While it's true that you're going to run a slightly higher risk of contamination, as long as your area is clean and you're vigliant about santization, you should be perfectly fine. Not only will mixing in bucket/carboy prior to bottling offer you a much more standardized product, but it also greatly reduces the risk of you having your bottles explode on you...which, for those of us with significant others who may not share the same passion we do for home brew, is a pretty important factor to take into consideration.

To your last question about drunks who aren't going to know the difference, I learned this trick from a friend...go out and get a case of cheap bottled lager beer at room temp and soak until labels come off. Remove labels, dry, and pop the top. Then re-cap with your capper and homebrew caps. Then on the top write "LL" for "loser lager" (or "light lager", as you'll tell them).

They don't want rich IBA's or delicious browns anyway, just give them what they want (cheap, light, thin lagers) and they'll rave about what a great brewer you are. Better yet, you're not wasting your quality home brew on people who A) probably don't like it anyway, and B) don't appreciate your hard work on the product.

Some would say that's close to beer fraud, but for drunks who don't know the difference, don't care, and just want a cheap, thin lager anyway, I say give it to them!

[clarkdart]

How much knowledge do you need in order to start up? I have seen the pre-packed recipe kits but I was not sure if they actually worked. Most people I know, are almost experts and I am still learning. What was the end result (taste wise) if you do not mind me asking.

[Cameron]

Originally Posted by clarkdart

How much knowledge do you need in order to start up? I have seen the pre-packed recipe kits but I was not sure if they actually worked. Most people I know, are almost experts and I am still learning. What was the end result (taste wise) if you do not mind me asking.

I just got a beginners set for Christmas so I am very new to the game. To make beer from the pre-packed kits you certainly don't have to be an expert (because I am not). They come with yeast so all you need to do is mix them with water, sugar, and the yeast. Most of the packs come with instructions as well. As for the taste it is surprisingly good. The longer the beer is left in the bottles the better it tastes. So far I have tried two of my batches and I was pleasantly surprised with how nice they were. From what I can gather, by spending a little extra on nice ingredients, and extra time making sure everything is ultra clean, you will be rewarded with a nicer brew.