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If you just want to do a brew once in a blue moon or you don't have the time for a full brew then malt extract might be the answer but if it's going to be a fairly regular thing I'd seriously suggest going all grain. The improvement in quality will be worth it.
You need a filter on your boiler outlet.
Priming sugar is needed with a barrel unless you have a regulator on your gas cylinder and can leave it pressurised. You'll not carbonate it with a quick squirt of gas now and again. If you keep it warm the yeast will go to work on the priming sugar in a matter of days.
RedRabbit said: Amarillo is good with orange. So is Mandarina Bavaria but it's a lot less potent. Don't drink with your eyes, clarity isn't something you should really be aiming for and you'll really only get it by fining. And you'll probably need two types of fining depending on whether it's yeast or hop fines in suspension.
The haze doesn't really bother me that much and if it's still hazy in a week so be it. It'll get drunk just the same.
https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/collections/hop-stopper
Brewbuilder do a decent one as well
https://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/dx-hop-filter.html
Both need a pump. Process is you chill the beer down to temp. Then whirlpool with a paddle on a drill. Let it settle and start recirculating through the filter until it runs clear. Then run off the wort. For the last 5 litres or so slow the pump right down to a dribble and you'll then get all the wort out without breaking the Syphon/priming of the pump.
Ended up with 23l in the bucket though and the wort looks and tastes pretty good. Not sure how I ended up with my target volume given the problems (and resultant spillage) I've had with this brew.
Disappointing as it's my first time using liquid yeast and I was hoping to be able to harvest it and get my own culture going.
In other yeast news, I've got a few strains of kveik on the way. Really interested to see what these can do.
https://www.imperialyeast.com/organic-yeast-strains/yeast-types/belgian-ale/whiteout/
I've not quite given up hope of it getting going but if it does fail there's no reason the extra yeast shouldn't work.
For Kveik you need to be able to keep your wort warm. In the region of 30°C. Without a fermentation fridge that will be difficult.
I'd put an order in at Crossmyloof PDQ with first class post for some dried yeast. Email them and explain the urgency.
I've had liquid yeast fail on me and in a kit you can bet it's not been stored in a fridge.
Edit: just reread your first post and you're not doing a kit. However the liquid yeast I had fail know me came from a reputable supplier and was kept in the fridge. They are as reliable as dried.
Already got some yeast from Crossmyloof from a bulk order I did a while ago and it's what I've been using in most of my brews. I only used the liquid yeast this time as it's what the recipe specified and I was interested in using liquid yeast (mainly to try harvesting and reusing it).
Yeast used was wyeast london ale (1028 I think but I'd have to check to be sure). Supplied by The Malt Miller who have been excellent with everything else and I'm reasonably sure they keep their yeast refrigerated. I did notice that they are starting to ship liquid yeast with ice packs though. I do wonder if the recent hot weather and the temperature in the delivery van could have damaged the yeast. Also worth noting that it was a pack from April '20 so may have benefited from a starter (brewers friend suggests over 50% efficiency lost in that time) but even so I would have expected some activity by now.
I'm going to give it until this evening. If there's so no sign of life I'll take a gravity reading and aerate the wort a bit more and give it another 24 hours. After that the dried yeast is going in.
For the kveik - I've got a fermentation fridge with a 40w heater in it. I've not had it at those sort of temperatures before but from what I read it should be able to cope. As with the liquid yeast the plan is to harvest and cultivate the kveik so I've always go some on hand. I've ordered three strains - one for citrus flavours, one with tropical fruit and a clean to attempt a kveik lager. If the results are decent I think it'll become my go to yeast.
I did that with a Kveik, doing 4 more brews with it to get the moneys worth (it was £8). I top cropped the first brew and spooned some out of the cake for brews two and three (a double batch) Then did the same again for four and five.
Wanting to cultivate the yeast isn't really down to penny pinching (though that aspect is appealing), it's more just exploring what's possible and it strikes me as a fairly sensible thing to be doing.
The problem with yeast harvesting is you need to be brewing on a regular schedule. And therefore probably drinking more than is healthy.
Stick on thermometer - just stick it on the outside of the bucket?
'Good tap water, suggests pre-boiled or filtered. Do I need to pre-boil 20 litres of water!?
The generic instructions go on about making a starter of the yeast sachet, with water and sugar for a few hours. The other instructions say just to add the yeast powder straight in?
Dried yeast can usually just be sprinkled on the foam atop the wort. You really need to aerate the wort before you add the yeast. Either by splashing a lot as you drain into the fermenter or putting a paddle in a drill and whizzing it up.
Tap water needs treating with half a Camden tablet to remove any chlorine the water company put in there. If your instructions don't require the wort to be boiled then you need to boil the water to sterilise it properly.
Not really sure what the problem was. I still suspect a bad pack of yeast but with enough viable cells left for it to eventually get going and that the extra oxygen I introduced last night was just what it needed.
I'll bow to @hywelg on the use of boiled water. On the kit's I did I just boiled the water that was used to dissolve the liquid malt and the cold water to top up was straight out of the tap. The beer was fine but with sterilisation it's better to be safe than sorry. Did the kit come with anything to sterilise the bucket etc with? If not I'd suggest getting a small bottle of starsan or chemsan (not sure starsan is available at the moment) and give anything that'll come in contact with the wort a good soak before you begin.
Probably not an issue given how many kits have been sold recently but I'd just check the best before date on the yeast. If it's well within date then I'd say it's completely up to you as to whether you make a starter or not. If it's getting close to or is past the best before then I'd make a starter to make sure it's still viable. To be honest making a starter isn't something I've tended to do when brewing but, oddly, I always make a small starter for making bread to make sure the yeast is still alive.