Stonehelm: Knowledge Base

Making beer with the Stonehelm Equipment Starter Pack!

Making Beer for the first time? Need a some help on where to start? You've found the right place. The Stonehelm equipment starter pack contains all the basic equipment and cleanser to make 40 pint batches of beer, time and time again.
What does the pack include?
What's included? Everything that you need to make great beer, lets look over each item and explain whats what.
	*The Hambleton Bard Super Cask* is a sturdy, reliable beer keg that will last for years. It has a 4 inch cap that allows easy cleaning and a pressure injection valve that lets you insert CO ₂ into the barrel to prevent it form going off or flat. A pressure relief valve that prevents explosion, if the pressure builds too high the valve simple releases some of the pressure keeping the beer in good shape. The supercask is an ideal starting point for beer brewers, and can be highly recommended.
	*The wide topped fermenter* with lid is a perfect solution for the primary fermentation. The lid can both rest on top, or snap on for an air tight seal. When using the bucket for primary fermentation just resting the lid on is enough, this allows the gas formed in the process to escape with out pressure buildup. However, you can drill the lid and fit a bung and airlock if you wish. The fermenter is made of a food grade, chemical resistant plastic that will not taint the beer.
	*VWP* is a powerful cleaner sterilizer that lifts grime and kills germs. It can make glassware and china sparkle and remove stains from plastic and cutlery. In the brewing hobby we use it to sanitise (kill bacteria) all the items that our beer or wine will touch. This means that nasty infections can be avoided and we can achieve a great result time after time.
	*The Stonehelm Syphon Pack for 25 litre bucket* is an excellent solution to moving your beer from container to container. Not bailing with jugs, spillages with pouring, just a steady, controlled flow that can be use not only to move the beer from your bucket to barrel but also to separate the beer from sediment (dead yeast cells).
	*The S30 cylinder* is a handy way around problems of keeping beer in a barrel. By adding gas though the inlet valve in the cap you can stop the beer from going flat, and prevent the ingress of oxygen that will make the beer go off. Simply screw the cylinder onto the valve till tight, give it a quarter turn more and the gas rushes into the barrel, one second later turn it off like a tap and presto! the pressure inside the barrel is back where it should be and the beer can flow freely from the tap when turned. And when the flow slows you can just repeat the process. Each cylinder will last for several brews and depending on how much pressure you keep in the barrel and how fast you drink the beer much longer. Once the cylinder is empty just hand it in to a Stonehelm outlet (or send it back in its special mail tube) and you receive a refund for the empty and you can buy a new full cylinder with your next order (or on the spot if your at a Stonehelm outlet.) Alternatively you can go for the Stonehelm equipment starter pack with gas capsules.

Is it hard to make?

With the Stonehelm equipment starter pack and a high quality beer kit like the Woodfordes Wherry Best Bitter Kit nothing is easer, this is how you do it.

Day 1:

Open you kit and familiarize your self with each piece, seeing all the bits of new kit is one of the greater points of any hobby and beer making is no exception. Once you've looked over all the bits take the bucket and rinse it throughly. Then you make up some of the VWP solution inside it (disolve some of the powder in water) let it work, then empty and rinse again. Now open the tins of malt that come in the beer kit and pour them into the bucket. Rinse the cans into the bucket. Now you just add water to the bucket and stir till the malt disolves then top up to the 5 gallon or 40 pint mark. If you used hot water to help disolve the malt make sure that the whole mixture is now cooled to warm about 21°C. Now open the yeast and sprinkle on top of the liquid, and leave in a room temperature place for 5-7 days.

Day 5:

Once the primary fermentation is complete you are ready to move on. Clean the barrel as you did the bucket and make sure the tap is screwed in tight. Rub a little Vasaline (petroleum jelly) into the rubber seals to help them to last longer. Then syphon the beer from the bucket into the barrel leaving the sediment behined. Add some priming sugar to the barrel (about 6 and a half table spoons) and screw the cap on tight. Now leave it in a warm place for two days then if possible move it to a cool place for 2-3 weeks (a cool place speeds clearing)

After about a mounth:

Now you are ready, the moment has come, the culmination of your planning, work and time is here. You are now ready to taste! First though take a glass to the tap and just give it a short squirt and discard this beer, this will clear the tap and ensure that the beer you drink will be fresh and properly carbonated, you should do this each time you serve when there has been a sigificant amount of time from the last glass (e.g. the first pint of the day)

Well now you have it, you've made it, you've poured it, now all thats left is to drink it, share it, boast about it, and most importantly to ENJOY it. Welcome to the greatest hobby on Earth, the hobby you can drink!

Want to start brewing?

Get your Stonehelm equipment starter pack and Woodfordes where here, now!

GET IT NOW	Starter Pack (cylinder) & Wherry
	Starter Pack (bulbs) & Wherry

The Stonehelm Knowledge Base contains information on products, companies, and methods that can be of use to home beer, wine, and liqueur makers. Words that appear in brown are links that lead to still more information on the subject in question.

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