All NEWBIES LOOK HERE!!

Listen up...just short of a million times a day you guys are asking some really basic questions. And, yes, I asked them too when I first started, but my time here today has to do with P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E !-!-!

I know we all get eager to try our brews, but I always tell you guys to wait. Sure, you can sample, but don't drink half of your brew before it's really ready.

One secret I found to having patience for drinking up my brew too early is to brew more! Yes, brew away!!! Buy extra fermenters and just go brew crazy!

With that being said, make sure you have a good recipe to start with. For your own sake don't ever throw any brew away without first consulting with us.

Anyhoo...the real reason I gathered you here is to show you that, with patience, you can make a great tasting extract brew that is as clear as any you buy.

Here are a couple pictures of a brew I did in July 06. The last time I sampled it was in Oct 06. Yes, I am just drinking it now. I'm sure it's been ready for a while now, but I know it won't spoil. But I've been busy soaking up some of my Hefe Weizens.

This beer was NOT filtered and the little dots you see floating in the brew are carbonation bubbles raising to the surface.

Be patient and happy brew year!!

Q4T^^^^

Standard rule of thumb
1 week in the primary
2 weeks in tthe secondary
3 in the bottle/keg
-------------------------
6 weeks with some exceptions

I know what you mean, but I don't subscribe to that rule of thumb.

It's OK for some, but not for me.

I will share no beer before it's time...

You are the exception.

You are so right. I remember my first batch of Kolsch. After 2 weeks in the bottles it was milky and tasted all yeasty. I kept drinking it trying to decide if I screwed up or not and finally I just forgot about it for about 3 months or so. Then I popped one open and found out that it was crisp and clear like the ones in your pictures and tasted like nectar of the gods and then I got this sickening feeling when I realized I had less than a case left. Patience is right. But it's sooooo hard!

mmditter said:

You are so right. I remember my first batch of Kolsch. After 2 weeks in the bottles it was milky and tasted all yeasty. I kept drinking it trying to decide if I screwed up or not and finally I just forgot about it for about 3 months or so. Then I popped one open and found out that it was crisp and clear like the ones in your pictures and tasted like nectar of the gods and then I got this sickening feeling when I realized I had less than a case left. Patience is right. But it's sooooo hard!

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I go the turtle egg theory : 1000 to start with and at least your are in with a chance of some of them reaching maturity.

mmditter said:

I got this sickening feeling when I realized I had less than a case left. Patience is right. But it's sooooo hard!

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Oh yes, I know that feeling. But doing 10 gallon batches let you drink one right away, and then have one that actually ages.

LoL

While you're all here, might I ask why the homebrew kits are so popular this year?

beer4breakfast said:

You mean equipment kits?

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Seems like they're a popular gift for men this year. Who put them on the list?

AND......Your beer is not ruined!!!!!

Leave it be for a while and it'll be fine.

AND!!!!! go buy a hydrometer then you'll know you didn't kill it.

dibby33 said:

I go the turtle egg theory : 1000 to start with and at least your are in with a chance of some of them reaching maturity.

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Absolutely hilarious, and so true. It's been three months since I brewed my first batch, and I have two bottles left. I brew my second batch two and half months ago, and am also down to just two bottles of that one. But, I have three other batches bottled, and I'm starting to get behind/ahead enough that they're aging better. The last bottle of batch two, which I drank tonight, was awesome. I'm saving the last couple bottles for a few months now.

beer4breakfast said:

I don't know. Maybe Alton Brown brewing show reruns made a big impression? Or else it's just an idea that's picking up steam and more people are hearing about it. Suddenly in mid 2006 I started noticing people talking about homebrew more and more on other forums I frequent, especially barbecue, jeep, and geek forums. I don't recall a media blitz about bleach, so it couldn't have been that.

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For me, a brew supply shop opened up about a half mile down the road, which is just ridiculously convenient. The funny thing is, one of my friends that I've been telling about and sharing my brews with used to brew, and his wife bought him ingredients to brew up a doppelbock for Christmas, which was a totally unexpected surprise.

Maybe the time for the rise of homebrewing has truly arrived, my brothers!

beer4breakfast said:

I don't know. Maybe Alton Brown brewing show reruns made a big impression? Or else it's just an idea that's picking up steam and more people are hearing about it. Suddenly in mid 2006 I started noticing people talking about homebrew more and more on other forums I frequent, especially barbecue, jeep, and geek forums. I don't recall a media blitz about bleach, so it couldn't have been that.

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Yeah, dude, out of the blue, one day, I see, on the Digg toplinks page (which sees a NUTload of traffic!), a link to HowStuffWorks's 'How Beer Is Made' page.

Patience is aLOT easier to achieve when you have a big backstock of beers. That's what I've noticed. 4 months ago, I'd not have had the patience to "lager" (read: cold-condition @ 37f) my smoked porter for months on end. I'd have bottled that sucka after 2 weeks in secondary, and been popping test bottles within a week. Now...well, it's been in there for over 2 months, and I hardly think about it. I've got probably 14-16 cases of 12's, and 8 cases of miscellaneous large-format bottles...so I can afford to wait. Though, I'll be completely honest: I recently got a convection space heater, and I've got my guest bedroom at probably 75-80f right now, and my IPA and Spring Cherry Stout are in there carbonating. I tried a bottle of both of them this past weekend after less than a week in bottle...but, hey, when you've got two cases, I figure, why not?

As a newbie here's my advice...Go to your beer store and keep buying micro brews that you haven't tried. Not only will you find some beer you didn't know you liked, you will also stock up on bottles for your HomeBrew....And leave your brew alone until it's ready!

dirtymartini said:

As a newbie here's my advice...Go to your beer store and keep buying micro brews that you haven't tried. Not only will you find some beer you didn't know you liked, you will also stock up on bottles for your HomeBrew....And leave your brew alone until it's ready!

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Chalk it up to your "beer education" That's what I do.

dirtymartini said:

As a newbie here's my advice...Go to your beer store and keep buying micro brews that you haven't tried. Not only will you find some beer you didn't know you liked, you will also stock up on bottles for your HomeBrew....And leave your brew alone until it's ready!

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ROTF - yep, that's what I started doing. And it keeps a steady resupply of required bottles coming in too! I wash and remove labels on maybe 6 bottles a week now, down from what, the 50 or so required in one batch when I first started 2 months ago.

But you can't just ask the newbs to WAIT. I couldn't do it, and I'm a patient person on most other matters.

Like "Lather. Rinse. Repeat." made famous at the OJ trial:
Brew. Drink. Repeat.

I second the opinion to just brew more. If you get a couple extra carboys/buckets you can easily do a rapid fire consecutive brew. Of course, I'd piggy back brewing with racking and or bottling to make better use of setup/sanitation. I hardly ever "just" rack or bottle or brew anymore. I drank my first batch within 6 weeks of it being bottled. I still have half of my 2nd batch and now that I'm on batch 8, batches 3-7 have hardly been touched.

By the way, try not to gain 20 pounds and walk the line of alcoholism like I have as a result of the hobby.

Newbies: Here's how to ensure that you will follow through with a new batch right away.
Buy 2 kits with that use the same yeast strain and brew them a week apart.
When you rack beer #1 off the primary, pour you new batch on the old yeast cake.

dirtymartini said:

As a newbie here's my advice...Go to your beer store and keep buying micro brews that you haven't tried. Not only will you find some beer you didn't know you liked, you will also stock up on bottles for your HomeBrew....And leave your brew alone until it's ready!

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GREAT ADVICE.

Don't brew something you're not already sure that you love. It's hard to go through 2 cases of something you hate. (80/- anyone?

Cheesefood said:

Don't brew something you're not already sure that you love. It's hard to go through 2 cases of something you hate. (80/- anyone?

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Hey cheese, that would be a great beer to use for making chili and other soups.

Great advice man! My 2nd secondary just arrived today along with a bunch of other helpful stuff as well as more extract kits. I opened up all the kits to inspect and found that some even have grains that need steeping, baby steps my friends, baby steps! I plan on getting about 3 batches in by the end of Jan so I'm well stocked for my birthday and St. Pats, both in March or course. Patience......

olllllo said:

Newbies: Here's how to ensure that you will follow through with a new batch right away.
Buy 2 kits with that use the same yeast strain and brew them a week apart.
When you rack beer #1 off the primary, pour you new batch on the old yeast cake.

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What do you do after you put the new batch on the old yeast cake?
Add the additional yeast that came with the second kit?

This may be basic stuff but it seems to run counter to what the books i'm reading say so i'm more than a little confused by this advise.

I'll post my other Q's on the newb thread Thanx

nkonkle said:

What do you do after you put the new batch on the old yeast cake?
Add the additional yeast that came with the second kit?

This may be basic stuff but it seems to run counter to what the books i'm reading say so i'm more than a little confused by this advise.

I'll post my other Q's on the newb thread Thanx

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No, just hang on to that yeast. Stick it in the fridge. With dry yeast, there's really no cost savings but you'll be getting a very quick-starting ferment. Liquid yeast runs $7 per pack, so you can save money but pitching on the yeast cake. Supposedly, you could get some mutations after doing this three times so then you use new yeast. I've never done it three times, usually just two because then I"m making a different kind of beer.

A good book to read is "How to Brew" by John Palmer. There is the free online book, and then the real book. Great resources and current information.

Lorena