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I fancy trying my hand at home made beer. The one thing I'm unlcear about is what to do with it at the end of fermentation. "Drink it" I hear you cry, but unless there's a party on, it's not all going to get drunk that quickly (I'm boozy after 1 pt )

So, my questions are:
How long does beer keep if fermented and kept in a bucket
If taken out of the bucket to store, which is better bottling or bag in a box?
If bottling what are the pros and cons of grolsch bottles vs bottles with crown caps?

I feel a bit stupid but I can't seem to find the answers.
Many thanks for any help. Cassie

Not really an expert but my boyfriend brews beer and I'll ask him for more detail when he gets home. He's never bottled anything, but he ferments and stores the beer in a pressurised keg. I don't know how well it would keep in a bucket.

I have made a few brews now, although I would still say I'm only an amateur, so I will bow down to the more experienced members who are surely more knowledgable in these matters, but I use a pressure barrel (available from all good brewing shops and most Wilko's) for the second stage fermentation, and have never had a problem with the beer going off, although it generally all gets drunk within a couple of weeks of broaching.
I wouldn't recommend storing in your primary ferment bucket, firstly, it won't develop any gas pressure, and so will be an extremely flat beer, and exposure to the air will cause it to go off much more quickly. I have no experience with bag storage. As far as bottling is concerned, I think grolsch bottles can take more pressure, and are much easier to re-use, as crown tops need new crowns and the use of a crown bottle topper (£15 give or take). However getting hold of crown top bottles is much easier (as most supermarket bottled beers are supplied in them) and so possibly a cheaper route than purchasing a lot of grolsch style bottles.
If no-one else offers more sage advice I will consult my brewing books when I get home and let you know what they say.

How long does beer keep if fermented and kept in a bucket?

My OH keeps his beer in a bucket for 10 days then bottles or barrels it. Any longer than that and you risk the dead yeast cells causing autolysis ('off' flavours from the breakdown of dying yeast).

If taken out of the bucket to store, which is better bottling or bag in a box?

Again OH kegs his, you can buy fairly cheap plastic barrels for around £20 and if you are storing for any length of time glass bottles is advisable over plastic as the plastic leaches out Co2 over time. Your glass bottles should be either dark themselves or keep them in a dark cupboard to avoud 'light strike' which is when the UV starts breaking down the flavours in the beer.

If bottling what are the pros and cons of grolsch bottles vs bottles with crown caps?

Re-usability is the key, the Grolsch bottles are great for re-using but require a bit more work to sterilise whereas crown caps are easy to sterilise but need to be bought every time.

Beer in a bottle or keg can easily be kept from anything between 6 months to a year and the longer you leave it the better it will taste.

Easiest thing for you to do would be to get a starter kit and depending on wheather if comes with a barrel or a bucket buy the item that is mising independently.

If you were thinking about all-grain brewing though I would advise you get some kit brews under your belt first then reseach all-grain brewing as a) it's quite complicated and b) it's very expensive to start out.

Give us a shout if you need any further advice my OH is a walking brewing handbook

Kegs are a whole new world to me! I hadn't even thought of that.

We got some beer in mini kegs (8/9 pints) from a local brewery, do you think they would be re-usable?

I need to read some more I think. Once you have it in a keg, when you broach it do you still need to drink it withina couple of weeks like a normal beer barrel?

Thankyou!!!

And if you need anybody to test the beer - don't forget, I'm not too far away, and I would willingly come and help you with that!

A hard job, but somebody has to do it...

Cassiepod wrote:Kegs are a whole new world to me! I hadn't even thought of that.

We got some beer in mini kegs (8/9 pints) from a local brewery, do you think they would be re-usable?

I need to read some more I think. Once you have it in a keg, when you broach it do you still need to drink it withina couple of weeks like a normal beer barrel?

Thankyou!!!

Himself says the Minikegs are not really re-usable as they require special equipment to clean them properly.

As for the kegs, as long as you don't let the pressure drop too low so that ig glugs air through the tap at the bottom you can add more pressure to the top using adapted Soda Stream bottles or the Co2 bulbs, both of which require a special valve fitted tot he lid.

For much mroe information on brewing you could try this place: Jims Beer Kit that's where my OH both gets and shares his knowledge from as Cyberpaddy66.

LOL ina... I suspect there's alot of competition in your field of beer taster eh?

I once made some treacle ale and put it in plastic pop bottles. The ones that have 'pet' (or is it 'peta'?) on the label can withstand a fair amount of pressure. You have to check them regularly, though, and if the bottles start to get fat let a bit of air out to prevent them exploding. I did put some wine in plastic lemonade bottles once, and they exploded. It was midnight and everyone was in bed except me. Luckily (for them) they slept through it, but I nearly poo-ed myself. All three bottles exploded within seconds of each other, sounding like gun-shots in my kitchen. Never again! So I'm saying, at a push, you could use them, but be careful.

StripyPixieSocks wrote: LOL ina... I suspect there's alot of competition in your field of beer taster eh?

It's one thing I've never made myself yet - so I don't even have a lot of experience...

Ina, if I make something successful you're more than welcome however you might have to fight Rob for it.... I've got visitors this weekend and my dad's wife used to do a bit of beer making so she's going to advise me too. I.m hoping to try the treacle ale recipe that Stoney posted.

I always bottle with grolsch style bottles. They keep for a year and more quite happily. If the pressure builds up, then they just squeak as the gas pushes out through the seal. And they are re-usable.

Only issue is getting enough of them. I would suggest ebay, but postage makes it expensive, and some idiots are willing to pay £1.50 and over per bottle. If you're ever down Grangemouth way, gimme a shout, i know a man there who sells them for about 50p per bottle. And he normally sells them by the crate of 20.

hoomin_erra wrote:If the pressure builds up, then they just squeak as the gas pushes out through the seal.

I can just imagine visitors wondering what all that squeaking is in your cellar - do you have mice?

I use fizzy drinks bottles. have kept my beer for over a year and its still fine. keep it in a cool shed though

Homebrew in bottles generally tasts smoother and, in my experience, lasts longer. Pressure barrels and mini kegs are more convenient but, once started, the beer in them lasts for about a month before tasting a bit tainted.

To scour pressure barrels and mini kegs effectively it's best to put in about a pint of Milton baby bottle sterilizer, or similar, and 2m of bathplug chain, available from your local hardware shop. Seal and give a good shaking for 5 minutes or so. (No need for the gym that day!) Rinse, allow to dry and refill.

Hope it's helped,

Love and Peace
Jim