Anything You Wish You had Known

I am just getting into home brewing. Picked up "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" and my wife and I are taking a home brewing class tomorrow. Is there anything you wish you had known when you brewed your first batch. I would extend that to any great recipes, or equipment you wish you had to start with.

I wish I would have known to relax and not worry so damn much. Most people brew their first batch as if they are handling radioactive material near their small children. I know I did.

Use common sense. Be as clean as you would in your mother's kitchen and sanitize what needs to be sanitized. If you have read the book and follow instructions you'll be hard pressed to screw it up to the point that you don't end up with drinkable beer.

Oh, and have a couple beers on hand. It's in the rules.

Keep a 5 gallon bucket filled half way with water and sanitizing solution(i use the one that came with my first kit) so that way you can dunk everything you need to in there for a quick rinse. Or let stuff sit in there till its needed. Ive done this and it makes life a lot easier if you lay your stirring spoon on the counter by mistake, then u can just rinse it in the bucket and its ready to go again. just makes life easier.

also have lots of beers on hand.

Filter your water. Next to poor sanitation, IMHO chlorine is the one thing that can really ruin a beer. Either get bottled drinking water from the store or filter your own tap water. In the grand scheme of things, the small $$ it costs to make sure you have good chlorine free water is well worth it when compared with the heartache of pouring the beer you worked hard to make and having it taste medicinal.

My 2 cents.

Be patient with fermentation. Let the yeast do their thing. They know what they're doing. Having said that, they like a nice stable temp. The biggest improvements in my beers on my low-tech system are proper time and temperature for the yeast to work.

Depending on what "Recipe Kit" if any you are buying; don't go by the directions that come with them. If you buy a kit, search these knowledgeable boards and go with that.

Lots and lots of beer. Well, not too much. Dont get too hammered. Then you will come to realize this craft sucks you in.....mainly your money and time. However, I am jealous. Wish my SWMBO was into it as well.

I wish I had known how addictive this hobby would be.

For each brew, take notes.
Trust me, there is nothing worse than brewing a batch of beer that is so much better than anything you could get commercially, but not being able to repeat it, because you can't remember how you did it.

-a.

Treat chlorine/chloramine and make your first kettle no less than 36 quarts - you're going to buy one soon anyway, might as well skip the intermediate steps.

KellyK said:

Filter your water. Next to poor sanitation, IMHO chlorine is the one thing that can really ruin a beer. Either get bottled drinking water from the store or filter your own tap water. In the grand scheme of things, the small $$ it costs to make sure you have good chlorine free water is well worth it when compared with the heartache of pouring the beer you worked hard to make and having it taste medicinal.

My 2 cents.

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I ruined half a dozen batches by not filtering out my water. I had everything else...full boil, temp control, sanitation, the works. But especially on my lighter beers, the chlorine in tap water killed it.

-Go to the local hardware store and buy a bucket wrench for your carboy.

-Glass carboys are endlessly entertaining. Consider having one sooner rather than later.

-A cheap brew kettle will get you much further than you would expect.

-Keep a running log of the amount of time you have spent cleaning and sanitizing bottles. Then when you start thinking about kegging add up all the hours you have spent and ask yourself if it's worth the investment.

I wish I had known it takes a little while to clean up and to always have a friend to help.

I generally make an estimate for the amount of time everything will take me and then add an hour onto that. Gives a rough estimate of how long your brew process with cleanup should take. At least it does for me.

Never ever use a glass thermometer. Get a digital one right away!

This group has great information. There are things I learn on here that I would not have run into even after 100 brew sessions!

Yeast Starters are your friend! I think one of the biggest improvements in my beer has been pitching the proper amount of yeast and keeping the fermentation temperature in the yeast's range!

Keep good brewing notes. You are going to make an absolutely killer batch of beer from some mess-up on a brew day. Remember what it was so you can repeat it

I don't remember how the beer turned out for my very first batch of beer, but I remember my first all-grain.

Two things i learned from it: rdwhahb and make sure your thermometer is accurate.

Use dry yeast at first until you are ready to make starters. Don't buy crappy equipment. Use a kit for your first batch or two but after that start experimenting, don't get locked into buying kits. It is much more fun to come up with your own recipes. Six pounds of DME, a pound of crystal malt, 2-4 ounces of hops, a packet of Safale, and some good clean water can make you some real good beer. Don't get intimidated. Oh, and keep it clean!

wort boils over quickly! Keep an eye on it and a spray bottle of water handy to knock it down if it gets close to overflowing.

Yes, I get first call! Terrific idea for a STICKY!(if it builds)

There are so many ways to commit your energy and your budget, in retrospect getting to a full boil with chilling capability would be my priority. I can taste the difference, watered down beer vs. beer. Sorry if this offends anyone, just my opinion.

If you are using dry yeast then perhaps discard any yeast that may come with your kit if you do not know how old the packet it. I like to use US-05 dry yeast for many of my standard ale brews. Learn how to spend a short time rehydrating the dry yeast you use.

-Set aside a couple of beers from each batch to revisit a few months down the road.

-Take good notes of processes and recipes (Beersmith was a serious plus for me).

-Consult this forum whenever you need great advice.

When making a yeast starter in an Erlenmeyer flask , don't expect to make as much starter as the capacity of the flask states. I made a mess in both my 1L and 2L after putting 2L of wort it it. It will bubble over. Oh, BTW, this is on a stir plate. So far, nice thread.

I wish I knew how much temperature control affects the quality of the finished product.

The first hop addition is when your most likely to have a boil over.

I wish I had known how important fermentation temperature control was.

I wish I had known the importance of pitching enough yeast for lagers.

I wish I had learned sooner how to make bottling day fun and easy instead of a huge headache.

As stated above, fermentation temperatures are a big deal. Get a "fermometor" to affix to your carboy (which is another must have starting piece, so you can see it working and RDWHAHB). Make a swamp cooler, if needed, to keep your fermentation temps in check! Just one bad batch for me so far, before temp control, you don't want banana beer.

Oh, and if you don't think you need a swamp cooler, realize that your beer temp rises considerably within the first few days of fermentation. An ambient temp in your room of 68F could easily turn into a 74F beer if it is fermenting vigorously.

EDIT: I wish I had StarSan on hand the first few brews. SOOOOO much easier and reliable than thoroughly washing bleach water out of everything. Stuff always seems to smell like bleach if you've been handling it while washing and rinsing with it.

So much has been covered. Probably obvious but - keep old towels around when transferring, racking etc, underneath wherever you are moving the beer to. Makes it easier to clean up! Also, +1 on the advice about water, softened water near ruined my first 4 batches before I caught on.

Great thread so far! I've only brewed a couple of batches so far, but here are some of the things I wish I knew right away:

1. Triple, quadruple, quintuple check everything. There is nothing worse then being in the middle of a brew day and needing to do or get something important

2. Ice is important! Only if you don't own a wort chiller.

3. there is a 90% chance your beer will taste just fine

4. You will want to get more equipment, and make more beer right away

I wished I had a better way to control the temperature when I started.

Well... Maybe I'm against the grain.... But I wish I would have known how easy it is to pop a few beers into the fridge on Monday in anticipation of the weekend. It's sooooo much more rewarding chilling my own beer than driving to the store and paying $10 to $15 for a 12 pack.

I wish I would have known how much I home brew I would be drinking because had I known before hand, I would have never started making my own beer at home....


(I think the hobby, in my next life, will be finding a balance of sobriety and intoxication..... OR.... just going to AA... )

E

That brewing takes patience (I am still learning this) You should know going in, if you want good beer your probably two months out minimum kettle to belly. There for take your time I still try to rush the process and squeeze in a brewing day when I don't have enough time to finish. If You are going to wait at least two months to drink the beer you might as well take your time doing it the right way (preparing, cleaning, sanitizing, etc)

Calibrate your thermometer and hydrometer before you start. I saw a post somewhere on calibrating your hydrometer, and the thermometer is easy, just test it in ice water and you should get 0. And making an Inversion Coil is easy, cheap and so worth it, just get some copper tubing at you local hardware store, and ask them what fittings you need to attach it to your tap. Just make sure you know what type of tap you have or you will be going back to the hardware store.

This answer is subject to change as I learn more

Sanitation (Star san is MY choice)
Fermentation Temps - Critical to making the best beer (Most ale yeast like 62-68F!!)
Pitch enough yeast - Just like fermentation temps
If brewing from a packaged kit, throw out the instructions and get your info here!!
Homebrewtalk.com - I wish this site was available back in the early 90's!
Most of all, RDWHAHB!

therealrsr said:

Yes, I get first call! Terrific idea for a STICKY!

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That gets my vote, I think there's a lot here that every beginner should read. It shows you whats important to brewing good beer, and seems to be highlighting common mistakes to avoid

BendBrewer said:

I wish I would have known to relax and not worry so damn much.

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+1000. This is an essential rule.

LaurieGator said:

This group has great information. There are things I learn on here that I would not have run into even after 100 brew sessions!

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+1, but...

like other hobbies, there's a lot of YMMV (your mileage may vary) in homebrewing. this board demonstrates the diversity of brewing techniques.

in other words, how you brew is up to you. everybody does things differently and even the pros change their minds sometimes. so just relax and enjoy brewing.

-Do not use a remote probe thermometer that is designed to monitor roast meat in the oven. The probe to wire connection is not waterproof and you will eventually short the connection. I went through 2 $20 probes before getting smart and reading about it on here.

-Temperature indication is important during extract brewing but critical for AG brewing (which is not any more difficult than extract - just a little more time consuming).

-Temperature indication/control during fermenting is critical.

-Glass thermometers are ok IF - you are using the correct range and IF it is NOT a floating thermometer. i.e. Lab Thermometer. You pay for accuracy/lower price with fragility. Acurate, rugged, designed for high temp liquid remote probe/non-remote probe digital thermometers are expensive but worth it.

-Not all digital thermometers are created equal. Do some research before you purchase or you will be repurchasing thermometers.

-During fermentation and depending on the beer and setup (carboy vs. bucket), you may encounter vigourous fermentation. Have a blowoff tube setup nearby (or instead of the airlock). Last night I walked by my Hefeweisen in the carboy and it was hissing at me pretty loudly. I immediately sanitized my blowoff tube and replaced the airlock with it. (A loud release of CO2 informed me that yes, I was about to have a nice burp of kraussen everywhere).

-Be wary of where you brew if you use a propane burner. Carbon monoxide dangers are very real.

-The more organized you are the more fun the brew day can be. Lay out your ingredients, brewsheet (if using), equipment and sanitation bucket.

-Sanitation is beerlyness

-Finally, if you miss you temps, times, forgot to sanitize something and realize it later, you will still most likely have great beer to drink. All these things we do that sound ridiculous at times is to just increase the chances (already high as it is) of getting a great beer.

-Oh and ask a lot of questions but use the search function first. There are a lot of threads buried on these forums with great info. Can't sticky them all.

Rob

how long it would have taken. i wouldn't have started that late at night if i had known.

I wish I had known that YMMV rule sooner. Do the math on your brews, especially if you're brewing from a recipe whose techniques/equipment are different from yours.

Love it? Let your neighbors try it too. Great way to network and get feedback.

Please ignore this double post. Sorry.

Don't become obsessed with "big beers" just cause you can brew them (unless you really like them).

It took me quite a while to realize I was underpitching yeast. Check out the info at http://www.mrmalty.com/

It also took quite a while to realize that Bleach and Iodophore were more difficult to use (for me) than StarSan. StarSan in a spray bottle is a must have for me now.

I too started with the Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Just realize that the book is somewhat dated but it is the "classic". The other three that I'd suggest as "must read" are: How to Brew (Palmer), Brewing Classic Styles (Zainasheff and Palmer), and Designing Great Beers (Daniels). I page through those books A LOT. How to Brew seems to me to be simply a more modern/updated version of the Complete Joy of Homebrewing (but it doesn't necessarily replace it). The recipes in Brewing Classic Styles are delicious. Lots of recipe formulation and history info in Designing Great Beers.