My 2 cents for newbies...

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brewman !

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I'm not an expert brewer or anything, but I have learned a few things since I started.

I wasn't planning on brewing at all this winter due to time constraints. For the heck of it, I put together a small kitchen brewing system. Its turned out to be my best brewing season yet. I thought I'd share a few things I learned recently.

1) Small batches rule, while you are learning or testing new recipes.

This winter I'm brewing 3 gallon batches. I started doing that because I was watching www.basicbrewing.com and they were doing it, and I had all the equipment on hand and my HERMs system is sitting in storage, so I decided to give a small batch a try. It turned out to be an excellent way to brew.

Small batches are great because they are quick to brew, they don't cost much to throw away if you mess up, they don't take big expensive equipment and they get you brewing more often.

Practice makes perfect, right ? Well, if you drink 15 gallons of brew a year and you brew 5 gallon batches, you only brew 3x. If you brew 3 gallon batches, you get 5 brew sessions and 5 different brews.

I know that some of you are screaming that 3 gallon batches are just as much work as 5 gallon batches. They pretty much are. But the boil goes faster. The chilling goes faster. There are less grains to dig out of the mash vessel. There is less to bottle. They are easier.

I'll be using 3 gallon batches to test and tweak every recipe I do from now on. Once its perfected with small batches, I'll move to 6, 12 and 15 gallon batches as necessary.

2) Go AG as soon as possible.

I did one extract brew before going AG. I had made a bunch of wines, so I understood the yeast, sanitation and bottling stuff pretty well. I'm glad I didn't spend a whole season messing around with extract beers.

I'm sure that one can make some decent extract beers, but I don't think that extract brewing will give you the control and versatility that AG brewing will. With a good AG setup, you can do pretty much anything that a commercial brewer can. Yes, AG takes more equipment and there is a lot more to go wrong in the process, but the results are worth it.

There is also the cost factor. Big beers get expensive with extracts.

If you are serious about brewing, you'll want to get to AG. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll master it.

3) Get your LHBS to crush your grains.

When you are starting out, especially when you are doing 3 gallon brews, you aren't using a lot of grain. It doesn't pay to buy sacks of malt and it doesn't pay to buy a grain mill. By getting the LHBS to crush your grains, it eliminates one potential area to screw up.

4) Steam mashing with a cooler rules.

Mashing is all about temperature control. Get your temps right and starch conversion is easy. Miss the temperatures and you might as well be thowing darts blindfolded.

Coolers are great at holding temperatures steady over time. Traditionally coolers lack the ability to easily add heat to the mash to do mash steps or reach mash out temps. Adding a steam system to a cooler removes that limitation.

As soon as you add steam to the system, you no longer have to worry about getting the strike temperature exactly right. If you miss it, just give it a shot of steam to get it right.

You don't have to worry about having the best insulated cooler. You can easily boost the temp if it falls.

You can do multi step mashes. And you can heat the mash up for mash out. (Prevent stuck mashes !) Raising the mash temp is as easy as opening the steam valve and doing a bit of stirring. You don't need to buy a pump. You don't need to worry about scorching wort. You don't need to worry about diluting the mash. Its fast and efficient.

See the threads in my sig for my steam setup. Flyguys has posts on his steam setup too.

I've got more to say, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Good luck and good brewing.
 
One more thing... If you make a small MLT for doing PMs for 5 gallon batches or 3 gallon AG batches, don't make it too small. I know lots of people that have made 2 and 3 gallon MLTs and they are too small for doing a 3 gallon beer. That goes double for doing heavier beers.

I'm using a 16 quart Coleman cooler. Its the perfect size for 3 gallon brews. Its deep for its size so it works well for fly sparging. I wouldn't use anything smaller.
 
yeah I've got a 2gal MLT....I like it bc it's small and convienient but yeah....I can only fill 4Lb of grain in it which really isn't too much

Even for 3 gallon batches (which is all I'm doing for now) it's too small AG

I've got a grain bag and a big ass colender I've been useing.....it works but it's a PITA
 
Nice post, brewman. I like your thinking about doing small batches -- I have done a number of PMs and a few small AG batches in my 3 gallon cooler MLT, and I will also add that:

1. 3 gallon AG is really cheap to assemble (5 gallon pot, 3 gallon cooler and a SS braid or mesh bag and you are in business). Great practice for larger AG batches, and useful unto themselves as you point out above.

2. If you want to brew larger batches, do a partial mash at 3 gallons and supplement with a late addition of extract and top up with water to reach 5 gallons. PM beers are cheaper and far better tasting than all-extract brews.

3. A steam infusion system is a great addition that will cost you almost nothing, especially if you already have a pressure cooker (I did my system for about $30, including the cooker; see my sig below). It will widen your ability to brew almost anything.

:mug:
 
brewman ! said:
Practice makes perfect, right ? Well, if you drink 15 gallons of brew a year and you brew 5 gallon batches, you only brew 3x. If you brew 3 gallon batches, you get 5 brew sessions and 5 different brews.

Really? Heh. I've brewed 25 gallons in the last six weeks. That works out to about 56 cans of the old crap I used to buy. It doesn't even have a hope of getting me through the summer, let alone the entire year. Hell, five gallons won't get me through a month.

Should I be talking to someone?
 
15 gallons was just a number I used. We drink a lot more than that too.

Another thing I strongly recommend is to get a decent electronic thermometer, something so that you know the exact temp of the mash and sparge water.

There are various ways to get one. Use an electronic meat thermometer, find a voltmeter with a temperature input, build a sensor based on a LM34 and use it with a voltmeter, get a wide range room temp thermometer or buy a special brewing thermometer. Dial thermometers are OK, but its nice not to have to open the mash vessel every time you want to check the temp and its really nice to be able to read it from across the room. I don't care for mercury thermometers at all. But they do work.

Another really nice use of an electronic thermometer is to watch the temp of the wort as it comes up to boil/during boil to prevent boilovers and to measure the temp of the wort as its being cooled.
 
Good post i did two extract, now im building all my all grain stuff for my next brew. All i have left to buy is a propane tank and a wort cooler.
 
Fingers said:
Really? Heh. I've brewed 25 gallons in the last six weeks. That works out to about 56 cans of the old crap I used to buy.
Those cans must have been HUGE! :)
 
brewman - Thanks for all the great information. Nice post I will have to print that out and review it closer, as I am a true newbie. I was always told that the larger the batch the better, so this will help me get started quicker......and will be a lot of fun to brew many different brews as well.

Thanks again
B
 
I thought the same thing about small batches being no good because of oxidation. I was wrong. None of the 3 gallon beers I've done taste oxidized.

Did I mention I'm having a blast brewing this winter ? I just picked up the malt for a Red Herring Lager to brew tonight.
 
I'll straight up disagree with the "AG as soon as possible" statement. AG or EG... it really depends on what you are looking for our of the hobby. If you have the room for the extra stuff, the extra time (I work a 40+ hour week job, plus run my own photography business on the side, plus need time to be with my SO), and the desire to have absolute control over the beer - thats awesome. I make perfectly enjoyable extract beer with minimal amounts of hardware and only spend 90 minutes brewing plus maybe 15 more racking 1-2 times. As far as cost, I just dropped 500 bucks on a keggerator and kegs - whats 10 bucks over the next 20 batches (~1.5 years)? I'll save damn near that in AG hardware. Either way it'll still taste better and be cheaper than buying beers at the store.
 
I'd have to concur with Sir Sloop. I'd also add that with AG there are more points of failure in the process so if a newbie is already having quality control problems going AG only makes the already poor QC worse.

There are good reasons to go to AG. There are good reasons to stick with extract. There are good reasons to make your own recipies. There are good reasons to stick with kits.

You figure out what you want out of it, you figure out what you can afford and you choose accordingly.
 
I'm not going to argue, guys. Its my $0.02 on the hobby. You are welcome to your own opinions.

sirsloop: any chance you have a recipe, even if its extract, for the Trois Pistoles ?

Thanks
 
brewman ! said:
I'm not going to argue, guys. Its my $0.02 on the hobby. You are welcome to your own opinions.

sirsloop: any chance you have a recipe, even if its extract, for the Trois Pistoles ?

Thanks

matter of fact I do ;) - enjoy!


2.5gallons @ 155° - 15 minutes
9oz Crystal 60L
9oz caramunich
1/4lbs biscuit malt
1.5oz moravian black

60minute boil
1can Lyles Golden Syrup (1lbs)
10lbs Pale Extract
1lb Dark Belgian Candi Sugar

60min
1.25oz Styrian Golding

15min
1/8tsp anise spice
.5oz styrian golding
.25oz bittering orange peel

5min
1/8tsp anise spice
.25oz saaz

WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale Yeast
From East Flanders, versatile yeast that can produce light Belgian ales to high gravity Belgian beers (12% ABV). A combination of fruitiness and phenolic characteristics dominate the flavor profile. Some sulfur is produced during fermentation, which will dissipate following the end of fermentation.
Attenuation: 73-78%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-75°F
Alcohol Tolerance: High

There are "unibroue" yeast clones out there, but they are seasonal. This yeast seemed like a pretty good match for what I was shooting for.
 
Thanks for sharing ! I've been looking for a recipe for Trois Pistoles.

For those that aren't aware...
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/unibroue-trois-pistoles/1926/

2.5gallons @ 155° - 15 minutes
9oz Crystal 60L
9oz caramunich
1/4lbs biscuit malt
1.5oz moravian black
Any idea how the extraction of these in a PM would compare to if they were AG ? Would you decrease the amounts if they were in an AG mash ?
1can Lyles Golden Syrup (1lbs)
Excuse my ignorance, but is this table syrup ? Like the stuff you put on pancakes ? How big is a can ?
1lb Dark Belgian Candi Sugar
Where does one get this from ?

Thanks again !

<moderators... sorry for being off topic...>
 
Good points raised by sirsloop and kornkob! Gotta find what works for you. All methods can make great beer.

But to be clear, extract/kits are the MOST expensive way to go, and small AG batches are the CHEAPEST, if you consider the cost of ingredients. The only 'extra' equipment needed to brew 3 gallon AG batches (over extract brews) is a 3 gallon cooler and grain bag for a mash tun (and you can even get away without this).

Now, having said that -- if you brew some small AG batches and really enjoy it, you may have just started your way down a slippery slope towards spending a LOT of money on homebrewing! Just look at some of the member galleries to see what I mean (Brewpastor comes to mind immediately!)

Cheers! :mug:
 
brewman ! said:
3) Get your LHBS to crush your grains.

When you are starting out, especially when you are doing 3 gallon brews, you aren't using a lot of grain. It doesn't pay to buy sacks of malt and it doesn't pay to buy a grain mill. By getting the LHBS to crush your grains, it eliminates one potential area to screw up.

I'll take exception to this one as well.

Why doesn't it pay to a mill and bulk grain? Let's use B3's Domestic 2-row as an example. You can pay 1.20 for a pound of milled grain, or buy a 50 lb. sack of unmilled exact same grain for under 30 dollars. You do the math. No, I'll do it for you--that is twice as much to buy it per pound. You'd have that grain mill paid for after 2 sacks of grain--AND the freedom to experiment with your crush and get the highest efficiency possible.

I've never honestly figured out how much I've saved by crushing my own grain, but I'll tell you for a fact my efficiency went up by 15 points since I started crushing my own grain, vs. the HBS.

I am interested in 100% of improving my process, a mill is essential for an AG brewer, IMHO.
 
Dude said:
I'll take exception to this one as well.

Why doesn't it pay to a mill and bulk grain? Let's use B3's Domestic 2-row as an example. You can pay 1.20 for a pound of milled grain, or buy a 50 lb. sack of unmilled exact same grain for under 30 dollars. You do the math. No, I'll do it for you--that is twice as much to buy it per pound. You'd have that grain mill paid for after 2 sacks of grain--AND the freedom to experiment with your crush and get the highest efficiency possible.

I've never honestly figured out how much I've saved by crushing my own grain, but I'll tell you for a fact my efficiency went up by 15 points since I started crushing my own grain, vs. the HBS.

I am interested in 100% of improving my process, a mill is essential for an AG brewer, IMHO.

BUT... if you are new to this and just experimenting, it would be a real shame to not like AG brewing and get stuck with 2 sacks of malt and a $150 grain mill. :(

Otherwise, I agree too. I have bought sacks of 2-row and Maris Otter for about 50 cents or 60 cents a pound. You definitely pay for a mill quickly at those prices!
 
Obviously it is cheaper to buy malts in bulk and grind them yourselves. But frequently I hear newbies using the cost of equipment as a deterrent to going AG. If you buy a grain mill, it just adds to the cost.

However, here is another good reason to buy your own grain mill:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=263214#post263214

In reality, the only equipment you need to go AG over doing extract is:

1) thermometer
2) cooler with braid
3) pressure cooker and hose
4) something to hold heated sparge water in

Thats it. And for those that say AG takes a lot longer, I can easily mash and sparge a batch in under 2 hours and I spend most of my time watching TV. I am mashing a batch right now as I type this !
 
Very good information in this thread. I am pretty new to this whole homebrew, having only done 4, 5 gallon extract brews. I recently got into trying 1 gallon brews, with only hops and DME as a way to learn hops and IBU. AG sounds very interesting to me, and a 3 gallon batch is certainly within reason. Based on the discussions here I think im going to look into getting the equipment for the partial mash's and 3 Gallons.

Thanks all )
 
I have a 5 gal capacity (if filled to the top) Playmate cooler. Will this be too large to do PM batches? I was planning to mash about 4lbs total grains, but could step it up some as well for future brews...
 
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