First Time Brewer: Hops or not?

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jhmills1981

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Second post here (after introduction post). I have all my equipment ready, and the ingredients for my first brew should be here on Monday. Just had a few quick questions.

I will be making 5-gallons of a pilsner using Muntons Export Pilsner Connoisseurs (3.3lbs), and Briess Pilsen Light DME 2 Lb. I have my trust "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and am starting with their beginner recipe since I thought it would be best to do a simple, successful recipe to get some confidence under my belt.

I will be placing those ingredients in 1.5 gallons of boiling water for 45 minutes and then following the "standard" procedures for fermenting and such. Does that recipe seem to be ok?

Also, I picked up an ounce of Cascade Leaf Hops and was thinking about seeping them. Being my first time, how much time should I steep them at the end of the brew for a mild bitterness? Or should I not use them at all?

Thank you in advance for the help. It's great to have such a great forum.

Sincerely,
Johnny Mills
:mug:
 
You're going to get a good beer making it by the book. But for some mild bitterness, I'd take about a quarter of your cascade and add it at the beginning of the boil. Since you've got it, I'd split the remaining 3/4 into two piles, and add one each the last 10 minutes and last minute of the boil. Get yourself a nice Pale Ale out of the mix!
 
Sounds great! I think I'll try that. REALLY looking forward to it. Thank you both for the comments. I'll let you know how it turns out. Cheers!
 
I have to ask, not having read the book (well, maybe a long time ago), but are you doing a lager yeast? When one says Pilsner, that means doing a lager yeast, and lagering is more complicated because of temperature control.

You can brew anything with ale yeast, such as US-05, which ferments well at 60-72 degrees (keep on the cooler end!). It won't taste the same exactly, but it'll be close and the temperature is easier to manage.

Follow KeystoneHomebrew's suggest for the hops for now. Can I assume the Munton's extract is already hopped? (Sorry, been a while since I've used them)

For 1.5 gallons, however, the amount of malt extract (liquid and dry) is too much. Does the procedure have you mix it with more cold water(boiled and then cooled) before fermenting? If not, it's not going to be right, IMHO.
 
Well don't I look like an idiot. ha. I know nothing about pilsners. I am new to the world of "good" beer. Still figuring out the difference in types of beer. Lagers versus Ales, etc. And I was going to use an ale yeast. I'm not trying to make the best beer in the world, just trying to make my first. ;)

The Muntons Export Pilsner Connoisseurs is already hopped. And yes, I would be mixing it with 3 gallons of cold water in my carboy.

Thanks for the advice. I know I have A LOT to learn.
 
The yeast included in that kit (I've made it several times) is in fact an ale yeast. That seems kinda weird, but they know a new brewer isn't going to have a dedicated fridge to ferment a lager in.

The procedure how you have it is fine. You can stuff about 7 pounds of extract into 1.5 gallons of hot water, so you're well under that.
 
Yeast is yeast, and sugar is sugar. Any yeast will eat any simple sugar. Ale yeast will happily munch on Pilsner LME. With reference to LME, the word "Pilsner" just means it's light-colored. Go for it with some US-05 (or whatever comes with the kit) and get a nice pale/blonde ale.
 
Yeah, there's a difference between Pilsner (beer style) and Pilsner (malt). Like they said above, pilsner malt is just a light-colored malt often used to make the pilsner style of beer (which is a lager and more complicated than you probably want for a beginner beer). You can make a fine ale using pilsner malt.
 
Thanks for all of the help. I sometimes forget Papazian's saying to relax, and overthink things. Really looking forward to my first brew. All of your replies have instilled a lot of confidence. I'll let you know how it turns out! :)
 
Papazian can say that all he wants, but a new brewer is gonna overthink it anyway. The advice helps, but there's nothing like a couple of brews under your belt to help you relax.
 
Thanks for all of the help. I sometimes forget Papazian's saying to relax, and overthink things. Really looking forward to my first brew. All of your replies have instilled a lot of confidence. I'll let you know how it turns out! :)

Since you're only boiling 1.5 gallons of wort, I'd suggest adding the vast majority of the extract (especially the canned stuff) at flame out.

In other words, don't boil all that extract. It'll darken terribly, and turn brown, and taste like "cooked extract".

I don't have TJOH in front of me, but it was written in the 70s initially. It's great, and I totally love Charlie Papazian, but with newer ingredients and knowledge some new techniques have evolved.

Since the canned stuff is prehopped, I'd go ahead using one pound of DME per gallon boiling (sounds like about 1/2 of your package) in the boil, add the hops as indicated, and when you finish the boil, add the rest of the LME and DME when you turn off the heat (so it doesn't go straight to the bottom and scorch, take it off of the burner when you add it, as well as turn off the burner!) and then use a whisk to stir it well (it'll be a little lumpy at first).

Then cool it in an ice bath, add to your fermenter and top up to 5 gallons with cool water. Add the yeast when you cool that to 65 degrees and you'll be all set.
 
Are you boiling 1.5 gallons because that's what the recipe with the kit calls for or because that's the biggest boil you can do? If you have a bigger pot, your beer will benefit by a doing a bigger boil and using less top-off water.
 
Since you're only boiling 1.5 gallons of wort, I'd suggest adding the vast majority of the extract (especially the canned stuff) at flame out.

In other words, don't boil all that extract. It'll darken terribly, and turn brown, and taste like "cooked extract".

I don't have TJOH in front of me, but it was written in the 70s initially. It's great, and I totally love Charlie Papazian, but with newer ingredients and knowledge some new techniques have evolved.

Since the canned stuff is prehopped, I'd go ahead using one pound of DME per gallon boiling (sounds like about 1/2 of your package) in the boil, add the hops as indicated, and when you finish the boil, add the rest of the LME and DME when you turn off the heat (so it doesn't go straight to the bottom and scorch, take it off of the burner when you add it, as well as turn off the burner!) and then use a whisk to stir it well (it'll be a little lumpy at first).

Then cool it in an ice bath, add to your fermenter and top up to 5 gallons with cool water. Add the yeast when you cool that to 65 degrees and you'll be all set.

Thanks for the tips. I think I will try this method. :) And yes, it is an old book, but I believe (or hope), it covers the basics for newbrewers like me to brew a successful first batch. I never thought about the scorching, although it makes plenty of sense. Thanks!
 
Are you boiling 1.5 gallons because that's what the recipe with the kit calls for or because that's the biggest boil you can do? If you have a bigger pot, your beer will benefit by a doing a bigger boil and using less top-off water.

I actually picked up a 5-gallon stainless steel stockpot, so I could boil more water with it. I never thought of the icebath technique previously mentioned. I was just going to put the hot wart into very cold water in the carboy. Would you recommend boiling with 3 or so gallons?
 
I actually picked up a 5-gallon stainless steel stockpot, so I could boil more water with it. I never thought of the icebath technique previously mentioned. I was just going to put the hot wart into very cold water in the carboy. Would you recommend boiling with 3 or so gallons?

If I understand you correctly, you plan to put the hot wort into the carboy, along with cool water? If its a glass carboy, PLEASE DON'T ADD HOT WORT TO THE CARBOY!!!

Thermal shock could shatter the glass.

Follow Yooper's advice on the ice bath, and then transfer the wort once its cooled off.

If I misunderstood, my apologies. Just trying to look out ;)

Good luck, and welcome to the addiction!
 
If I understand you correctly, you plan to put the hot wort into the carboy, along with cool water? If its a glass carboy, PLEASE DON'T ADD HOT WORT TO THE CARBOY!!!

Thermal shock could shatter the glass.

Follow Yooper's advice on the ice bath, and then transfer the wort once its cooled off.

If I misunderstood, my apologies. Just trying to look out ;)

Good luck, and welcome to the addiction!

You completely understood. And I definitely will be using an ice-bath now. Thanks for re-iterating that though. I would have been quite upset brewing my first batch only to have lost it and had to clean up 5 gallons of spoiled brew!
 
1st things first: don't worry. Be safe and have fun. If you take it too seriously in the beginning you'll have no fun and just okay beer. Make sure you enjoy the process. That way you want to do it again to improve your technique. Inhale the hops, watch the wort boil, play in the suds while you sanitize. It's far too easy to take for granted just how great of a process brewing is.

What's the worst that can happen? You waste $40 and wind up not liking this particular batch? That's no tragedy.
Most of us at some point have gone out to a bar with friends and spent $40 on yellow fizzy water. Now that's a tragedy.
 
Finally got all of my ingredients and hardware and brewed my first batch today. It was a ton of fun! I used 3 gallons of water, Muntons Export Pilsner Connoisseurs (3.3lbs), and Briess Pilsen Light DME 2 Lb, and an ounce of Cascade hops with an alpha acid of 8.9%. The alpha acid seemed a bit high, so I used about half for the whole 60 minute brew, and then the other half from the 40 minute mark. Then I scooped out about 3/4 oz of the hops, at the 50 minute mark, as I didn't want it to be too bitter. It looks good. Did an ice bath as suggested then poured it into the 6.5 gallon carboy and added 2 gallons of water (and the yeast of course).

Looking good so far. I don't have a hose on the carboy, just a standard airlock right now. It's been about 6 hours and all seems to be going well, the air lock is bubbling every once in a while. Not to often, but I'm kind of glad about that because I don't want a blowout. Although I think I'll be fine in the 6.5 gallon carboy.

Made a few youtube videos for my friends that were thinking about getting into homebrewing. It was a lot easier than expected. After sanitizing everything, I wasn't as excited as I had hoped (and maybe a bit nervous), about boiling my wort. I figured taking half an hour to get the water boiling, then another hour for the actual boil might be boring. It definitely wasn't. Playing with the ingredients, smelling and feeling them, especially the hops, was a great experience and I had a lot of fun! I did get a very slight burn on the bottom, but nothing I'm to worried about. The electric stove I was using was not really made for 5 gallon stock pots. The burn was only right where the range touched the pot and was very light.

Thank you all for all of your help, and I will let you know how it turned out in about 3 weeks!
 
You owe us an update! By now I assume you've gone from bottling to tasting?
 
So I've owed you all an update for over a year now. Sorry about that. My first beer turned out well, tasted just a bit hoppier than a Newcastle ale. It was very good. I did make a big mistake (apparently) when adding the bottling sugar. I guess it was too cold as I had to do it in the garage on a cold day (out of my control) and did not heat the sugar in water. The brew was barely carbonated. But hey, it was my first brew and I still enjoyed it :)

I finally got around to brewing another beer which will be an American Pale Ale. Just popped it in the secondary fermenter today. Before you say "Don't use a secondary fermenter for ale!" I know that. But I like trying new things and I'll be the one drinking it so I can do what I want. Ha. Had to mention that because I was just reading some posts where other brewers were really jumping on a guy for using a secondary fermenter for an ale, and while help and advice is much appreciated, we all should brew as we please. :)

So, I wasn't getting bubbles from the airlock between 5 minutes so I decided to rack it. I popped the top of the primary and it had some krausen still on the tip, albeit a small amount. I racked it anyways though on my next batch (I'm thinking I may start another APA this weekend), O will wait longer. Especially if it comes close to the high 1.068 OG that this brew had. It's down to 1.015 today which is more alcohol than I wanted, but that's ok.

Thanks to all the supportive members of this forum. I'm learning a lot and enjoying it immensely!

Sincerely,
Johnny

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