I too was a keen home-brewer. Unfortunately work and family life have occupied that formerly flexible time.
Don't give up on glass bottles! Beer in plastic is a crime!
I too wrestled with the carbonation drops and finally settled on a little sugar dosing machine that is adjustable. I was loading it with castor sugar from memory.
Don't ever chuck a brew out until it has been on the shelf for a year. I attempted a Guinness rip off that tasted like pure poison after two weeks in the bottle. I boxed it and shoved it away in a dark place. A year later and it was bloody fantastic. I saved them for special occasions only and I now have only one left (about 7 years later). One stout fan said it was the best he had ever tasted.
I always did a few in champagne bottles so that when we went out to a restaurant where it was BYO "wine only" I had half a chance of getting a few cheap beers in. Don't laugh times were tight back then!
I was chatting the other day and someone mentioned the old trick of a black jelly-bean to carbonate your stouts (presume that is in a king-brown).
Get yourself a bottle tree for cleaning your bottles. It makes it heaps easier.
Washing bottles - I got an attachment that the plumber next door braised onto a screw fitting so I could screw it to a kitchen tap outlet. I then turn the hot water service in the shed (there is a sink in the shed) up to maximum heat. In this way I can clean and sterilise bottles in one hit. Whack 'em on the tree and bottle away.
I used to love bottling and capping with a mate. Have a few jars ... good times.
I'm told that there is a kegging system that is going to be sold at Target or Kmart or somewhere like that via Coopers that'll probably mean bottling won't be as necessary. The old soft drink syrup kegs were popular for that purpose but I never did it.
Air locks all the way man and never be tempted to bottle a green brew . Make sure that it is fully fermented out or you'll have exploding bottles or super fizzy beer and that really sucks. Decanting stubbies into jugs sorta defeats the purpose ....
Get a big bottle or a big-arse jug and do a starter culture for your yeast. Your brews will start like a rocket and you can use the fancy liquid yeasts OR simply buy good beer with live yeast (like coopers) decant it put some boiled and cooled sugar solution into the bottle (with the undisturbed yeast) and whack in an air-lock. Too easy.
Also after a brew is done keep a jar of that goop at the bottom of the barrel in the fridge to start the next brew. You can do that for a few brews before the purity of the yeast is eventually compromised.
How freaky is the yeast snot in the bottom of the barrel! The smell - essence of beer. And the feel of it on your hands. Bizarre!
I did a lemonade once because we had a million lemons but I had to put so much lactose in it to sweeten it I thought it was a bit weird. To make a good alcoholic lemonade one would have to pasteurise to kill the yeast and then sweeten with reals sugar IMO. But then - how to carbonate?
Keep a precise diary of your ingredients and methods because when you nail a brew perfectly you'll want to repeat it.
Damn , I wish I had time to get going again. I have a cupboard full of stuff ready to rock.... Bloody mortgages, responsibility, work ethic, keeping up with the Joneses' and wanting "things". Curse my consumerist insecurities!
