First brew without a kit, questions.

Hey everyone,
My brother and I started brewing a few weeks ago. We're going to be doing our third batch today. Our first was a 20-minute boil kit from Midwest Supply in Minneapolis, MN (We're from South Dakota, REPRESENT!!! :rockin. We're fairly confident it will be drinkable, since it looks like those are almost impossible to screw up. Our second was an American Amber Brewers Best kit. This time, we decided to find an actual recipe and buy the ingredients ourselves. Here's what we decided on:

American Pale Ale

5 lbs extra light DME
1/2 lb crystal malt
Amarillo Hops (2 oz total, 60, 30, 10, and dry hop)

Here are my questions:

1. The recipe called for Cascade hops. They were out of pellet cascade hops and I didn't want to jump into leaf hops quite yet. The guide they had at the store said Amarillo was an acceptable substitute. I feel pretty confident in that decision, hows it sound?

2. Turns out the recipe calls for 2.5-3 oz of hops. 1 oz at 60, .5 at 30, .5 at 10, and .5-1 dry hop. Should i go get another packet, and would you recommend doing a full 1 oz dry hop or just the .5?

3. The recipe called for Wyeast american ale yeast. Really dont want to jump into those kinds of yeast just yet, is a packet of dry yeast sufficient for most beers? Is it ok to just sprinkle it on top like we did with the first two kits or should we really be following the instructions on the packet?

4. Is a week in the primary and a week in the carboy sufficient for most kit beers? Should we do a bit longer with this one?

5. Finally, probably a dumb question. The first two kits both came with priming sugar for bottling, and instructions on adding that to the bottling bucket and such. I assume its safe to say the exact same procedure is followed for all beers, so I can just plan on buying a packet of priming sugar with every brew?

Thanks for your help everyone!

Oh, forgot one more. The DME came in 3lb. packages. If the recipe calls for 5lbs., is it ok to add the entire 6? How will this affect the final product?

I ran it through BeerSmith. Category 10A (American Pale Ale)
Use all 6# of DME

Est OG 1.053 IBU's 47.4 9.8 SRM Use the hop schedule in your original recipe and save the 1/2 oz

I would try a whole packet of US-05 yeast.
Suggest 2 weeks in primary and a week in secondary
Get priming sugar with each batch... use this website for how much priming sugar for each style
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html?11708866#tag

What Banjoman says except I'd do a 3-4 week primary then go straight to bottling.

Buy the corn sugar in bulk to save money! Dissolve the sugar in about a pint of water, boil for about 10 minutes, cool a bit then add to the entire batch in a bottling bucket and stir gently for about 3-4 minutes. This should give a great mix and consistent carbonation for each bottle!

Wyeast is pretty simple and you shouldn't fear using it. I have used activators for every brew so far and all you do is smack it a couple days ahead of brew day and let it sit out overnight to see if it swells. If it swells, your yeast is good. At the OG above, 1.053, you may need a starter. The information is conflicting and the only thing I know for sure about brewing is that nothing is really right or wrong. It is all shades of grey.

Where bouts in SD?

What KevinW said except I would use table sugar for priming. You need about 10% less table sugar vs corn sugar to get the same level of carbonation, and it's much cheaper.

-a.

Oldyote said:

Where bouts in SD?

Click to expand...

Sioux Falls

Thanks for your help everyone! I'm thinking I'll end up doing a total of 3 weeks (depending on gravity readings and such) with about 1.5 - 2 weeks in the primary and the remaining time in the secondary. I figure if I spent the money on the carboy I may as well use it!

It's amazing at all the miner "differences" you see in one thread.

2 week primary, 1 week secondary vs. 3-4 week primary then bottles.
Corn sugar vs table sugar

Isn't homebrew awesome! My advice is stick to the recipe as close as you can. I also agree with the use a secondary philosophy as well. Helps separate more sediment from your brew, and it just makes for a cleaner, clearer looking beer. IMHO!

Remember it's YOUR beer, So in charlies words "Relax and have a home brew!"

I'd check out "Beersmith" software if you haven't already done so, dandw12786. There is a 21 day free trial and then you can buy it if you like it. It will tell you a LOT about what your beer can potentially do

Best of luck!

Whippy said:

I'd check out "Beersmith" software if you haven't already done so, dandw12786. There is a 21 day free trial and then you can buy it if you like it. It will tell you a LOT about what your beer can potentially do

Best of luck!

Click to expand...

I actually downloaded that and started looking at it... not really understanding it very well Maybe I'll get it figured out a bit better soon...