All being well, I pick my beginers kit (and first DME recipe kit) from the shioppers today and will start my first brew tomorrow. There may be more questions once I open the box but I have some already that don't deserve a thread on their own. Any help gratefully appreciated.
1) I read somewhere that rather than boiling 5 gallons, I can use bottled water, boil some with the extract and then put the rest in the fridge to add to the wort once boiled and thisn will speed up cooling. Is this OK?
2) Temperature is an issue for me (see many posts elsewhere). I recall reading that fermenting temperature can be a few degrees higher than room temperature. I have decided to put the fermentor in a room with AC set at 70-75 degrees. I'm assuming that I will need to put the fermenting bucket in swamp cooler type setup (water and ice, no fan), is this correct. Alternatively, if I just go with cooling the room, what room temperature would be apprpriate? I will have a thermometer touching the fermentor but a guide would be useful.
3) It seems that the first few days to week are the critical time, is there a point when letting it rise to 85 (ambient temp) wouldn't be a problem or am I asking for trouble?
4) Slightly pre-emptive here as I'm not sure of the timings on the kit but in 2.5 weeks I will be going away for 2.5 weeks. When I spoke to the shop they said it should be ready to bottle in 10 days or so (AHS Our Special Holiday Ale {21B}). If the instructions say more than 2.5 weeks, what is better, 2.5 weeks in the primary and 4 in the bottle or 5 weeks primary and 1.5 in the bottle? Also, if I leave the primary unatended, is there anything I need to be aware of?
5) Once I bottle, is it best to let the bottles rise to 85 or keep them in a fridge? I think I will need to bottle before going away so mainting them at 65-75 may not be possible.
Feel free to answer some or all of the above, and if it would be better to pout these in different threads, just suggest it.
Thanks in advance.
1) I read somewhere that rather than boiling 5 gallons, I can use bottled water, boil some with the extract and then put the rest in the fridge to add to the wort once boiled and thisn will speed up cooling. Is this OK?
2) Temperature is an issue for me (see many posts elsewhere). I recall reading that fermenting temperature can be a few degrees higher than room temperature. I have decided to put the fermentor in a room with AC set at 70-75 degrees. I'm assuming that I will need to put the fermenting bucket in swamp cooler type setup (water and ice, no fan), is this correct. Alternatively, if I just go with cooling the room, what room temperature would be apprpriate? I will have a thermometer touching the fermentor but a guide would be useful.
3) It seems that the first few days to week are the critical time, is there a point when letting it rise to 85 (ambient temp) wouldn't be a problem or am I asking for trouble?
4) Slightly pre-emptive here as I'm not sure of the timings on the kit but in 2.5 weeks I will be going away for 2.5 weeks. When I spoke to the shop they said it should be ready to bottle in 10 days or so (AHS Our Special Holiday Ale {21B}). If the instructions say more than 2.5 weeks, what is better, 2.5 weeks in the primary and 4 in the bottle or 5 weeks primary and 1.5 in the bottle? Also, if I leave the primary unatended, is there anything I need to be aware of?
5) Once I bottle, is it best to let the bottles rise to 85 or keep them in a fridge? I think I will need to bottle before going away so mainting them at 65-75 may not be possible.
Feel free to answer some or all of the above, and if it would be better to pout these in different threads, just suggest it.
Thanks in advance.
