Beer and Brewer Australia

Stout
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Re:Bleach v Sodium Met - 2007/10/17 15:20 Home brewing rocket science:
Keep It Simple Stupid. For Speed, Efficiency and Economics, you can't beat good old el-cheapo household
Bleach.

And another thing...
If you are serious about no-fuss brewing you'll bottle in recycled clear plastic drink bottles.
They have all the advantages Paul cites in
Issue 1. plus,

They are clear. You can see what's in them. You can see that they are clean before you start. Throw away your bottle brush with any dirty bottles.

They are BIG. Fewer bottles to mess with, and they are a delight to handle compared with glass. (2litres ideal)

No crown seals to install, and the bottles are instantly resealable with screw caps.

They are free and readily available.

The brew is better than that done in glass!

By the way, the Coopers PET bottles do work OK, but honestly, why would you bother?

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Stout
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They are clear. You can see what's in them. You can see that they are clean before you start. Throw away your bottle brush with any dirty bottles.

They are BIG. Fewer bottles to mess with, and they are a delight to handle compared with glass. (2litres ideal)

No crown seals to install, and the bottles are instantly resealable with screw caps.

They are free and readily available.

The brew is better than that done in glass!

By the way, the Coopers PET bottles do work OK, but honestly, why would you bother?

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HBG
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Re:Bleach v Sodium Met - 2007/10/24 19:00 For some reason this message came thru twice, but I must be simple or stupid.

Firstly, why would you drink a product that has had bleach added to it?
I sure as hell would not. I use bleach to remove mould off my walls, and even then it struggles (Tip - EC36 is far better). Homebrewing for Dummies reccomends household bleach???

As far as clear PET bottles go, light reacts with the beer, hence why Coopers, Morgans, Brewcraft make Brown plastic bottles.
When was the last time someone here purchased commercial beer in a plastic bottle??
I did 7 years ago, and that was the last I saw.
The best comparison is Coca-Cola. Compare it drinking out of a glass bottle v plastic bottle. It may cost more, but it is colder, and has a far better flavour.
It is quicker to cap a glass bottle than it is to remove the plastic ring off the PET bottle.

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Stout
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Re:Bleach v Sodium Met - 2007/10/25 15:35 Daaaah....
1. Ya don't put the bleach in the brew! Sterilize the bottles and your equipment with it.

2. Keep the clear plastic bottles in the dark if you are superstitious. Believe me it's not necessary. Goes to show, the breweries and home brew shops don't know it all. If they do they aint tellin.

3. Who drinks Coke?

4. Leave the ring on! There is no reason to remove it.

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mick6669
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Re:clear glass bottles - Bleach v Sodium Met - 2007/10/25 16:52 Interesting drift towards clear glass...
Anyhow, HBG has a point re flint glass bottles or any other bottles from clear material:

Light (200 - 450 nm, UV) does induce a reaction of the hop-alpha-acids in beer which produces MBT (3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol). This substance is recognised as a pungent 'skunk' odour which is called by brewers 'lightstrike'-taint.

Best protection are cans/kegs or brown bottles. Beer in green bottles can be effected quickly by light, too.

Commercial brewers use for their clear-glass products reduced alpha-acids which usually are tetra (THIAA) or Rho and do not react with light.

On the other hand Stout definitely made a fair call by keeping beer in a dark (and cool!) place which is recommended for all beers as far as I am concerned.

Cheers,
Mick

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HBG
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Re:Bleach v Sodium Met - 2007/10/25 19:33 1. Bleach can create off flavoured results/reactions with the yeast, but if the beer is Coopers/Tooheys/Brewiser/Wander/Farmland, it won't matter too much, as they are a basic yeast to begin with. Some brewers I know use Bakers yeast for better results. Admittedly 'homebrewing for Dummies' reccomends bleach.

2. Yes keep them in the dark for best results, no matter what. As an owner of a homebrew store, I do not reccomend plastic bottles, due to their short lifespan. I make more money out of them than re-selling second hand glass bottles. Yes they are convenient, but glass is far better for great beer.

3. Quite a few people drink Coke and this is mainly an analogy of a great example. Simply Coke tastes better out of Glass, than plastic. Again, CUB had a short life with plastic bottles 7 years ago and the general public knocked it back. Glass keeps the beer cooler, longer, and helps give a better head.

4. As somebody that has brewed in plastic bottles in the past, I found that most of the unpredictable dud results were as a result of re-using the used PET caps. The beer was quite often flat or dull. The results were far better using new caps, as you can hear the pressure seal. It's similar to re-using old twist-tops on glass bottles.

If you are happy with what you are doing that is fine, however most people are turned off by homebrew because they have been put off by a tasting of a friend/relatives brew, which they found extremeley ordinary, but said tasted 'nice/great' to avoid insults.

People look at the price of the basic beer kit, and think that is the benchtest for an okay beer.
Reality, is for a little more you will achieve a far better result. Have a look at this link on my website for how much it costs to make an okay beer, verses a great beer. Look at the cost per schooner.
click here
The Thomas Coopers beer if made correctly will taste far better than the the standard Coopers Lager, if made correctly. Use a Brewcraft #15 or similar (eg Coopers Brew Enhancer #2).

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