Am I starting out too fast?

I just started brewing last week and it has been a great time. I am really digging into every source I can find to find out the most I can.

My first and second batch were brewed one day apart and if my next two weeks go how I planned them, I will also have made a third 5 gallon batch and a 3 gallon batch of Apfelwein before I even bottle the first batch.

My question is, am I moving too fast? Should I wait and see how these batches turn out before I go crazy? I am taking sterilization very seriously and both of my batches have had no problem in starting fermentation. I am still nervous for some reason though!

short answer. no. if you love it, then brew and brew and brew again.

being nervous is a good thing, it keeps you from being lazy.

I brewed 4 batches before I even tasted my first, so. you are right on track with a lot of us here.

The one thing I figured out is that it is pretty difficult to totally F- up a brew if it was a decent recipe to start with, and you sanitized well. Some will taste better than others, but you will make beer.

Get a good handle on ferment temps and pitch enough healthy yeast and you will make good beer.

I just started about a month ago myself. I just brewed my 4th batch this past weekend. I felt similarly to you, am I getting into this too quickly? A month in and I just keep looking for ways to expand my operation.

Nice, I am already thinking of getting a few gallon carboys to mess with parts of recipes in the future. I'm glad to be in good company.

It's fine as long as you are not racing to get something fermenting so fast you are cutting corners and not taking the time to learn enough about the process to make a good beverage.

Same here, a batch a week so far and probably another one this coming weekend, I can't stop myself :cross:

I like to brew at least twice a week, three times if the outside world doesn't get in the way.

Nope, I stared on 8-9-12 and ive done 7 batches. Havent brewed in a week moneys short. But I have several batches bottled and 2 big beers in primarys. I just wanna make a switch to AG. Probably not till next spring tho. Brew on!

started 7/4

Extract Dead Ringer IPA, Belgium with candy sugar, Breakwater IPA
5G Apfelwein

Ran out of carboys

got more right away-

Made another apfelwein

Made a BIAB blonde- screwed up- I like the beer alot.
made a BIAB stout- LOVE IT
made a BIAB Lemon Zest Blonde- I think its going to be great.

Got a mashtun- started outdoors with propane-

Made Hefe and a Pale on the same day
2 weeks later- (this past weekend) made another Ale that I created from scratch pretty much.

Purchased another 5G apple juice for another round of Apfelwein.


I think you're OK bro. I started a little strong- and all of my friends are getting wasted on my awesome beer.

no, you're not alone. it's an obsessive hobby.

chances are most people on this forum are at least as obsessed as you... if we can't be brewing, we want to at least be talking about it.

Well, there is one possible drawback:

If you're new or have a process change, and IF that process change/newbie is flawed, that means your pipeline will all be flawed.

My neighbor did 3 batches without tasting, and turns out he wasn't recirculating his wort prior to sparging, resulting in some grain going into the boil kettle. He ended up with 3 batches with mild astringency.

MC

beergolf said:

Get a good handle on ferment temps and pitch enough healthy yeast and you will make good beer.

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This x 1000

Whatever you do, don't go so fast that you don't take good notes of how you brewed each batch.
There's nothing worse than brewing a killer beer (and I mean that in a good way) and then not being able to reproduce it because you don't know how you made it.
Don't ask how I know this.

-a.

i felt the same way when i first started but quickly realized that i was getting out of control. my first was an irish red i brewed in february then a partial mash oatmeal stout which both were/are incredible... then came the cider and american wheat. the american wheat got infected but i decided to drink it anyway.... major hangover. and thecider i didnt add enough applejuice concentrate so it barely tastes like anything. im glad im in all grain now as the batches since my american wheat debacle have greatly improved.... i have a summit epa brewing right now, transfered it to secondary earlier today and it smelled INCREDIBLE. looking at kegging in the near future.... bottling is getting old.

I started out 3 weeks ago and plan on brewing my third batch this weekend. I'm glad I'm right on post with everyone here too, because i felt the same way.

I would've probably brewed more, except that my garage is occupied my some work I'm doing on my car.

Too many hobbies and not enough time.

Misplaced_Canuck said:

....If you're new or have a process change, and IF that process change/newbie is flawed, that means your pipeline will all be flawed.............

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This was the main reason why I didn't buy my second recipe, until my first batch was done. I'm paranoid like that.


Don't get me wrong, I welcome the comments in this thread with open arms as I enjoy brewing beer as much as drinking it. After getting my first batch out of the way, I feel better about moving forward a bit faster. My second batch is going to be bottled this weekend and I've got two 1 gallon recipes coming in this week, so I'll get to brew again twice this weekend. woohoo! :rockin:

Taking good notes is the key. If you're doing extract make sure you dont use more than 1.5 quarts per lb of specialty malt or the PH will get too high and you'll have astringency problems. (learned that the hard way) Also, for all grain, learn as much as you can about the water you brew with and buy a PH tester and learn how to use it (this is where PH makes all the difference between good beer and fantastic beer) and take samples all throughout your mash time and record the readings. Learn what makes the PH go up and down (light or dark malts and water profiles such as hard and soft water) and have the stuff on hand to make adjustments (phosphoric acid or acidmalt and Calcium Carbonate). To me that's what makes brewing even more fun.

Not going too fast at all. Your motivated! Hobby needs more of you! Drop the hammer!

+1 on taking good notes. I mean supreme notes. Go crazy. Write down everything. The tides, the moon phase, what you had for breakfast...etc.

Well, maybe those things aren't neccesary, but I can not emphasize enough how important taking comprehensive and detailed brew notes is.

Otherwise, you may just be repeating the same mistake over and over and you won't know until you've got 4 batches ruined and have no clue what to do to fix it.

Beyond that, Brew on!!!

I just started a little while ago to, and I think you're doing fine. In fact, I wish I was brewing as quick as you!

The only thing I can recommend is getting BeerSmith. You can search around for stuff about it, but it's a great program. It's really helped me figure out what ingredients do to the beer, how the numbers correlate, etc. Additionally, it's a great way to log all of the exact details for your brew, and add notes - so you have always have a recipe on that awesome (or horrible) beer, and all the revisions of it that made it what you wanted it to be. (Without looking for that loose paper, that you jotted the notes on, somewhere on that desk...) Then, when you progress on (hopefully I do, some day), you can use it to start building your own recipes.

jbaysurfer said:

+1 on taking good notes. I mean supreme notes. Go crazy. Write down everything. The tides, the moon phase, what you had for breakfast...etc.

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I'll make sure to write down how many times I wake up in the night and check to make sure my "babies" are doing alright, along with the moon phase. No need to write down breakfast. I always just eat a plate of bacon with Chocolate milk .

Thank you everyone. I have truly found a great community guide me in the right direction. Within another week, I should have three 5 gallon batches, a 3 gallon batch and a one gallon batch going. I won't promise I will stop there though!

I'm pretty sure that homebrewers have a genetic predisposition to systemic circulatory Saccharomyces infection. You may be infected! Either get to a doctor or let it take hold. The only thing it will harm is your pocketbook. Literally. I think the only real limitation I have on my brewing addiction is finances.

Definitely not too fast. Once your first batch is gone you'll be like... I'm not fast enough!