My first brew is this weekend - anyone have suggestions for me?

Just thought I'd introduce myself. Long time beer drinker, but first time brewer.

I've gathered all my supplies, I have a large aluminum brew pot, two fermenters (One with a spigot for bottling), necessary tubing, airlock, brushes, sanitizer, etc.

I'm planning to make a heavily hopped APA, something almost close to an AIPA.

Here are my ingredients:

6.6lb Pale LME
1lb pale DME
1lb cracked Crystal 40L
1 oz Simcoe whole leaf
1 oz Centennial whole leaf
1 oz Cascade whole leaf
1 vial California Ale V yeast

My plan:

Steep grain for 30 minutes at 160F
60 min: Boil 3.3lb LME and 1lb DME, add .5oz Simcoe
30 min: Add .5oz Simcoe
15 min: add .5oz Centennial and Cascade
10 min: add 3.3lb LME
0 min: cool and strain hops while pouring into fermenter

I'm planning to ferment until it's slowed or stops, around 7-14 days from what I've read, then add the remaining .5oz of centennial and cascade and let it dry hop for another 7 days, then bottle into 22oz bombers.

Anyone see flaws, problems in my execution, or have a recommendation! I'll be sure to come back and update everyone on the process.

Sounds good, the only input that I have is, I love 22 oz. I use those and they are great for me. Not do great for friends and family that don't like my brews though lol more for me.

Good luck in your brews

Get a good nights sleep the night before an start early just in case something comes up and you have to go get supplies

A good nights sleep is great advice!!

I prefer a stainless steel kettle vs. an aluminum one. The aluminum can't be cleaned with the oxygenated cleaners like Oxyclean. I use the crap outta Oxyclean and swear by it.

If you use Oxyclean on aluminum, you will immediately oxidize it and getting that crap off of your kettle is a chore. Been there. Done that.

That is really the only reason why you should use stainless over aluminum.

Good luck and check in from time to time and update us.

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Bottled Chimay Red Clone
Bottled St. Arnolds Xmas Ale Clone
Clarifying Gruit using bittering herbs instead of hops
On Deck Summer Kolsch. Will brew this on National Home Brew Day.

If you can make a starter is recommend that with the liquid yeast

Prepare a brew sheet so you can make brew day notes that you can reference and make a check list to keep track of your needed steps during the process

Keep a bucket of sanitizer handy so you can keep items in it or quickly sanitize something as you brew

Take your time and don't get caught up in the excitement of your first brew and if you do screw something up, relax because it's probably not as big a deal as you will think it is

Have a great time and keep us updated! Cheers

Not sure about the AA units, but I would switch the 60 min Simcoe with the 15 min Centennial.

Your plan brings up a question I've had; perhaps some more experienced hands can offer an answer.

You are going to be steeping a pound of grain for a given length of time while holding it at a specific temperature. This suggests to me that you are going for some kind of mash and/or partial mash. But my understanding is that Crystal is one of many specialty malts that offer no diastatic power and hence will not benefit from any form of mashing.

So the question: Is there any benefit to fiddling around and trying to steep Crystal at a specific temperature? Why not just throw it in cold, bring the whole thing up to temperature and remove prior to boiling? (I understand you don't want to boil the specialties.)

Perhaps I'm over-thinking things -- a few weeks perusing this forum has my head spinning with info and ideas...

Tow pieces of equipment to invest in over the next few weeks: an autosiphon and a carboy (I prefer plastic). You won't need them on brew day but they'll help later in the process.

A secondary fermentation is a very easy way to improve beer quality and it gives you more flexibility.

The autosiphon is a very cheap and simple device that makes racking and bottling so much easier. Starting a siphon without it was so hard, and the autosiphon solved my biggest brewing frustration. I would just use that to bottle and ignore the spigot.

Happy brewing!

If using an aluminum pot for brewing, you actually WANT an oxidized layer inside the kettle before brewing. You can do an oxyclean soak to accomplish this, but most of us just do an hour boil with water and this gives you an idea of how long your system takes to reach a boil prior to brewing. And like the others have stated, stay relaxed. Have a documented plan, but don't stress if things don't go perfect and give yourself extra time in case you have to deviate from the plan. Also, wait to start drinking until the boil starts. Welcome to the obsession!

@JohnnyO

So you mean, boil the .5oz Centennial for 60 and do the other .5oz of Simcoe for 15 instead? May I ask why?

@Margos

My reasoning for steeping the Crystal 40L is to give a bit of freshness to the beer - from what I understand pure extract beers are never really great, just good. I thought it would be nice to have some actual grain used in the mix to make the beer fuller, although I understand it should be adding little to no gravity to the wort. Also I love the smell of fresh cracked malt.

ianhoopes said:

@JohnnyO

So you mean, boil the .5oz Centennial for 60 and do the other .5oz of Simcoe for 15 instead? May I ask why?

@Margos

My reasoning for steeping the Crystal 40L is to give a bit of freshness to the beer - from what I understand pure extract beers are never really great, just good. I thought it would be nice to have some actual grain used in the mix to make the beer fuller, although I understand it should be adding little to no gravity to the wort. Also I love the smell of fresh cracked malt.

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Centennial is a better aroma hop so it belongs at the end of the boil

As for steeping the grains, most extract recipes have some specialty malt for steeping to both impart some flavor and color to the beer and no this is not a mash.

You also do not ever want to boil any grain as it extracts tannins and causes taste problems. Outside of the recommends switch in hops I'd brew it as you've laid out.

Thanks Duboman.

I'm planning to rack to my secondary and dry hop in there, then bottle from that. Is that OK, or does anyone see me running into issues with my hops clogging a valve? I could always rack back to the primary for bottling since I plan to buy an autosiphon with my bottles, but that lessens the point of me getting the bucket with a spigot.

+1 Stainless. I hear Aluminum can impart off flavors

+1 Sanitation. Get a new "home and garden" spray bottle, and put some of your santizing solution in there. It's handy to have around. You can spray it on whatever you need right before you use it (if you use [and you should] a One Step cleaner like StarSan)

ianhoopes said:

Thanks Duboman.

I'm planning to rack to my secondary and dry hop in there, then bottle from that. Is that OK, or does anyone see me running into issues with my hops clogging a valve? I could always rack back to the primary for bottling since I plan to buy an autosiphon with my bottles, but that lessens the point of me getting the bucket with a spigot.

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I don't know if I'm alone here, but I usually have trub at the bottom of my secondary. If you do, you're definitely going to want to rack off of that before bottling. Sediment all up in my bottles doesn't sound tasty. My suggestion is to grab another pail sans-spout for a secondary, and use your current one as a bottling bucket.

I hear just about as much arguments for stainless as I do for aluminum. What it came down to is this is my first brew, and I got a 31-quart aluminum pan for $35. One of those in stainless was nearly four times the price. Also, I might break my arms trying to lift it, full of wort.

ianhoopes said:

I hear just about as much arguments for stainless as I do for aluminum. What it came down to is this is my first brew, and I got a 31-quart aluminum pan for $35. One of those in stainless was nearly four times the price. Also, I might break my arms trying to lift it, full of wort.

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That would be dreadful trying to lift all that. Only brewing with extract, so I figure I could get away with partial boils just fine. Thought I did pay about $35 for a 20qt pot.

Welp, I actually bought a turkey fryer. I suppose if it sucks I can always use it as just a stock pot. OR FRY TURKEY!!

ianhoopes said:

Thanks Duboman.

I'm planning to rack to my secondary and dry hop in there, then bottle from that. Is that OK, or does anyone see me running into issues with my hops clogging a valve? I could always rack back to the primary for bottling since I plan to buy an autosiphon with my bottles, but that lessens the point of me getting the bucket with a spigot.

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All right, so here you go......

Use your primary for initial fermentation for 1-2 weeks, at the end of one week take a gravity sample and see where it is, if not done, let it go another few days and read again. basically you want to take gravity readings once per day for three days to verify the gravity does NOT change, that means fermentation is done. When done, rack to secondary using your siphon, no splashing. Put the hops in a SANITIZED secondary and rack over them. Leave this to dry hop for 5-7 days. You may see bubbles but don't worry about it, it's from the hops and CO2 in suspension.

At the end of the 5-7 days you will then rack the beer into a bottling bucket.
Read This: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

After you read this you will understand the bottling process and how to deal with the priming sugar.

Hope all this helps you out. I'll assume this is your first beer so once you rack out of the primary you are free to brew up another batch and get the pipeline going!

cherrob123 said:

The aluminum can't be cleaned with the oxygenated cleaners like Oxyclean. I use the crap outta Oxyclean and swear by it.

If you use Oxyclean on aluminum, you will immediately oxidize it and getting that crap off of your kettle is a chore. Been there. Done that.

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Ok, right outa Palmer's "How To Brew", 3rd ed. p.310, "...when using aluminum for a brewing pot, do not clean the metal shiny bright between uses, or you may get a metallic off flavor. Like all metals, aluminum depends on a passive surface oxide for corrosion resistance, and scouring the metal shiny bright will remove the passive film.", and it goes on, "To clean aluminum, I recommend percarbonate based cleaners like Straight-A and PBW...." Oxyclean is a percarbonate cleaner, BTW.

So, yes I've used an aluminum pot and still do with no ill effect. I have a larger stainless steel pot too. When done, I'll just rinse it real well, no visible soil left. I have used oxyclean on the aluminum with no detrimental effects.

With all due respect, where do you get this information? In general, I'd like to see people start documenting sources on some of the information posted as "fact".

When it comes to credentials, I'm gonna go with Palmer on this one; always open to other information as long as the source is credible, of course.

mr_bell said:

Ok, right outa Palmer's "How To Brew", 3rd ed. p.310, "...when using aluminum for a brewing pot, do not clean the metal shiny bright between uses, or you may get a metallic off flavor. Like all metals, aluminum depends on a passive surface oxide for corrosion resistance, and scouring the metal shiny bright will remove the passive film.", and it goes on, "To clean aluminum, I recommend percarbonate based cleaners like Straight-A and PBW...." Oxyclean is a percarbonate cleaner, BTW.

So, yes I've used an aluminum pot and still do with no ill effect. I have a larger stainless steel pot too. When done, I'll just rinse it real well, no visible soil left. I have used oxyclean on the aluminum with no detrimental effects.

With all due respect, where do you get this information? In general, I'd like to see people start documenting sources on some of the information posted as "fact".

When it comes to credentials, I'm gonna go with Palmer on this one; always open to other information as long as the source is credible, of course.

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I agree, I know many people that use aluminum and have for many years with no ill effects. I do prefer stainless, but that's just me. Aluminum is a lot less expensive but if taken care of it will serve you well for many years!

On a side note, this is pretty off-topic so we should just cut it right here

marqos said:

Your plan brings up a question I've had; perhaps some more experienced hands can offer an answer.

You are going to be steeping a pound of grain for a given length of time while holding it at a specific temperature. This suggests to me that you are going for some kind of mash and/or partial mash. But my understanding is that Crystal is one of many specialty malts that offer no diastatic power and hence will not benefit from any form of mashing.

So the question: Is there any benefit to fiddling around and trying to steep Crystal at a specific temperature? Why not just throw it in cold, bring the whole thing up to temperature and remove prior to boiling? (I understand you don't want to boil the specialties.)

Perhaps I'm over-thinking things -- a few weeks perusing this forum has my head spinning with info and ideas...

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Different ways to skin a cat, right? You could steep and hold the temp, which doesn't have to be strict, but say between 150-160 for 20-30 mins. There is much more leeway here than with mashing. OR, You could place the grains in cold water, bring up to say 165 but no more than 170, and then remove them. The commonly given reason for not going above 170 is that you may extract astringent tannins. Personally, I'll bring the water up to 160, put the steeping grains in, and walk away for 1/2 hour, periodically returning to dunk the bag up and down. Typically there is some heat loss in that 1/2 hour, but with steeping that's not a problem.

Make sure your sanitation is done properly and you will end up wth beer. sanitation is the no.1 important thing on brew days.

oh and relax, and (soon) have a home brew!

duboman said:

I agree, I know many people that use aluminum and have for many years with no ill effects. I do prefer stainless, but that's just me. Aluminum is a lot less expensive but if taken care of it will serve you well for many years!

On a side note, this is pretty off-topic so we should just cut it right here

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Agree, it was a minor rant. That said, like journalists, in my opinion we should all be responsible about what we post and distinguish documented fact, anecdotal evidence and opinion.

Biggest and best advice I can give is RDWHAHB or in your case a craft brew. I have a turkey fryer which is aluminum and have NEVER had a problem with off flavors so you are a go! (Like previously mentioned, you do need to create an oxidation layer by boiling water in it for 30 + minutes).

Also, watch out for boil overs! Keep a spray bottle filled with water and spray your brew if you see it threaten to boil over.

Take some pics and let us know how it went! Cheers!

Dont drink too much while waiting for the 60 minute boil like I did last time.

Well, my first brew is in the books! I adjusted the hop schedule a little bit, adding .25 oz of the Centennial and Cascade at 15 mins, then another .25oz at 5 mins. Everything else went very smoothly.

I used the whisk attachment on my stick blender (sanitized of course) to aerate the wort, which made things super easy. Does anyone know if its possible to over-aerate?

Anyone have a suggestion on fumigation other than opening the windows and cranking the fans? I love the smell but my fiancée isn't a fan.

I'll let everyone know how things progress! Judging from the taste of the wort this is going to be tasty.

I am not aware of how to eliminate the smell quickly... My wife hates the smell and leaves the house every time I brew. I imagine she will be buying me a propane burner for fathers day so I'm not smelling up the house. She didn't really mind the smell of the California Common I brewed up today though.

Yeah, we're in an apartment now. When we get a house eventually I will plan on brewing outside or in the garage.

Yeah, no cure for the aroma with apartment brewing... Just make sure she knows when you are brewing so she can go out with the girls or something. I always make a point to clean the kitchen and dishes on brew day so my wife will forgive the smell.

Well everyone, we have success! Fermentation was going strong this morning - I checked after finishing my shower.

I placed the airlock on my fermenter at about 11:45 Sunday morning, so I would put the lag time at less than 24 hours (Which I suppose is normal for most beers). Now it's time to relax and begin the arduous process of waiting more than a month to drink (I'm dry hopping after fermentation ends)!

RDWHAB (Bourbon), I guess. It is Derby this weekend after all.

Congrats!

Keep us updated with how your process is going. Nothing better than to talk about some tasty beer in the works.

BTW- If you're having an issue with the smell, I suggest just getting a fan and some circulation going through your kitchen. I brew in a studio apartment, and my fiance can't stand the smell either. But with the ventilation she really doesn't mind, and there's no lingering odor.

I just cannot fathom not liking the smell of a batch boiling. It gets me all giddy inside.

Maybe I missed it, but did anyone mention the importance of a hydrometer and taking readings?

I have one and I already took a reading before sealing it all up. OG was 1.057.

The only "flaw" in your plan that I see is that I'm a fan of the .5 gallon and 1 gallon Growler jugs. They just look cool and it's convenient to just carry one over to a friend's party instead of a case of bottles. (that and you dont have to buy a new set of bottles when they inevitably disappear in someone's hands.)

ianhoopes said:

I have one and I already took a reading before sealing it all up. OG was 1.057.

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That's great then just plan to bottle after FG is stable over a period of a few days. You have probably read that by now. Don't try to plan to bottle by a certain number of days, but stable gravity, then even wait a few days longer. It really helps the beer turn out great. Best of luck!

Tip 1: don't use chlorinated water

One week in and I timed it, still getting about 5 burps per minute from the fermenter. In another week I will start taking samples, but anyone have an idea on how much longer I might have to wait until dry hopping? I can't drink this beer soon enough, but I will wait as long as it takes.

You can dry hop as soon as primary fermentation is done and the beer stops or slows gassing off. Even though the airlock is bubbling the gravity may be stable but there is still CO2 being gassed off, bubbling your airlock. If you dry-hop too soon, the escaping CO2 will drive off the aroma you are trying to add with the hops. I generally wait for 2-3 weeks to make sure primary fermentation is over, then dry-hop for one more week. To make sure all the hops settle out, on day 5 of dry hop I "cold crash" in my spare fridge until bottling day.

OClairBrew said:

You can dry hop as soon as primary fermentation is done and the beer stops or slows gassing off. Even though the airlock is bubbling the gravity may be stable but there is still CO2 being gassed off, bubbling your airlock. If you dry-hop too soon, the escaping CO2 will drive off the aroma you are trying to add with the hops. I generally wait for 2-3 weeks to make sure primary fermentation is over, then dry-hop for one more week. To make sure all the hops settle out, on day 5 of dry hop I "cold crash" in my spare fridge until bottling day.

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All good advice.

It may be a little late coming and someone may have already covered this, but DON'T use your pee as a sanitizer.