Ordered a MRB, but got some extras! Help ID them PLZ?

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
If you may be adding things such as fruit you may want a carboy that's about a gallon larger than you r batch size. You can take up any additional space with marbles.

If you make a 5 gallon batch you'll lose ~ 1/2 gallon to "trub", which is sediment from yeast, grains, etc. So when transferring your 5 gallon batch will become a 4.5 gallon batch. But extra space is better than not enough when it comes to adding stuff. Better to get a 6-6.5 gallon carboy I'd guess.

My secondaries have been to another bucket for 7-10 days for dry hopping IPA's. I probably should have taken up the extra space, but didn't. I don't secondary anything else, yet... I'll be making a barleywine eventually.

I've never done such, but will be soon as SWMBO just bought (3) 3 gal carboys to begin making wine/mead. It was suggested to her that she could also use fish tank rocks to take up the space.
 
I will probably stick to dry yeast then. Is this the correct stuff? How many packs do I need for a 5 gallon batch?

You're describing a swamp bucket right? I can do that. I have a few huge 50 gallon storage bins I could put it into. I think the temp in my house is good though... its mid to high 60s. In the summer though, it gets up the low 80s, so I'll definitely need to invest in something for brewing then.

I haven't looked into washing yeast. I was actually about to start a thread asking what could I do with the used yeast. I read about someone making pretzels out of it!!! I'd love to try that haha!

I didn't even really know you COULD reuse yeast. I was gonna just get new yeast each batch. It's only $3 per pack...

If it saves money though, I'll learn how to wash yeast.
 
I've never lost half a gallon to trub. Maybe .5L or less usually. Straining into the FV will do that. You need only one packet of dry yeast for the average gravity 5 gallon batch.
 
That is the right yeast.

i'm not really sure how much volume I lose. But I've certainly left a little beer behind as it had trubby stuff floating in it.

I'll see if I can find a good link to washing yeast and the one I found on making a larger starter and saving a portion.
 
Gary from Homebrewer TV has one of his episodes on yeast washing on youtube. He's a mamber here. I think he shows it pretty well.
 
Washing yeast:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

Making a larger starter just requires similar steps, but instead of using 4 oz of DME for a starter you use 6 oz. Do your best to get about 1/3 into another jar for saving.

For a 1 qt starter I use 2 qt juice bottles that I cleaned and sanitized.

I chill the 1 qt of water/4 oz of DME and put in the juice bottle. Decant most of the liquid saving just a little to stir up the yeast and pour into the jug. Shake vigorously several times a day. After I shake it I unscrew the cap about 1/4 turn to allow the CO2 to escape. Cheap n easy.

For washing the yeast I use (2) 1 gal vinegar bottles, and (3) 2 qt juice bottles along with a large funnel.
 
I live in Eastern Alabama and you shouldn't need a swamp cooler in January. I brewed and New Years Eve and my fermenting bucket is sitting in a closet in the guest room. It's stable at 65 degrees (I don't set my furnace above 68). Once we get into Mar/April and the temps start to rocket up, then I'll be using a swamp cooler.

Luckily, I'm moving back to Minnesota at the end of the summer so this will be my first and last summer brewing in the south!
 
Do you have enough airlocks?

Are you making 2 wheat beers? Lots of wheat extract and no other type...

May need another fermometer.

You'll need a hose for the auto-siphon.

The carboy size may be small. 6 gal may be better if you are making 5 gal batches.

Don't forget that you'll need marbles or something on hand.
 
I have 1 airlock. Only going to be brewing 1 batch at a time for now.

Just 1 wheat beer for now. Will make more in the future I think. (is this the correct yeast for the wheat beer)

I have hose for the auto-siphon already

I'll switch it to a 6gal :D

I have tons of marbles around. I have kids... :D

I'll go ahead and toss in another airlock and another fermometer just to have em
 
You can make a wheat beer with that yeast. It's been suggested to me, but I've used the liquid wheat yeast WLP 320 American Hefeweizen.

How many lbs of wheat extract is that? It is their Bavarian wheat DME, correct?
 
Not sure what kind of alcohol level you are looking for, but this will be a min of 3.8%, and more likely about 4.3% ABV. They left room for you to add fermentables if you desire.

If you want to increase the alcohol you ought to buy 1 lb of DME or add honey or something.
 
I already placed the order : \

Did not know I needed hop bags... :(

I'll add some honey most likely. We have a lot of it here. My wife loves the stuff.
 
You can call them and have them change your order. If calling won't work an email might. I've had to call the next day...

Hop bags may not be a necessity though. Many seem to brew without them. It just keeps more of the hop mess out of the trub/beer.
 
Have you checked out hopville.com's brew calculator (calculus)?

I'll run the ingredients through it and give you the low down along with how honey will effect it.
 
It's also been suggested to me to use panty hose for muslin bags. Seems odd, but I suppose it would work.
 
As is the recipe states:
OG (Original Gravity) 1.038-1.045 and gives likely output as 1.043
FG (Final Gravity) 1.010-1.012 likely 1.012
3* SRM (color, which is very light yellow)
12.5 IBU's if all the DME is added in the beginning. It ought to be 15 or more for the style, which I can get if I add the wheat DME at flameout (end of boil)
4.1% ABV

If I add 1 lb of honey at flameout it brings the likely alcohol % to 4.9%.

I don't care much for the hop schedule, but this is what they designed.
 
S2005 said:
Ok, so the shopping list thus far is:

Auto-siphon $9.95
5 Gallon Plastic Carboy $24.00
Carboy Handle $5.50
Carboy Lid $2.75
2 Foodgrade Bucket Lids $3.90
Fermometer $3.50
2 US-05 Yeast Packs $5.98 ($2.99ea)
Blueberry Flavoring $4.95
American Wheat Extract $25.75

Totaling $86.28

Considering what items I already own, does this sound good?
Click to expand...

You have a carboy handle listed. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe these are mostly used with glass carboys. They CANNOT be used on a full carboy (glass or plastic) and an empty plastic carboy should only weight a pound or two.

It was my understanding you basically only use it on an empty glass carboy. Unless you have one that I didn't notice somewhere in this thread, you may want to save the $5.50. That is if you call to adjust the order as someone mentioned.
 
Fer sher man,I've read stories on here where the neck broke where the handle grips the carboy. I think a milk crate would be better for carrying it. Safety first man. I hate to see anyone get hurt from trying to save a buck. Like tires on my tuner,I value my hide more than saving a few bucks.
 
So, I found two lids at Walmart! They are food grade, and are HDPE (2)! Now I just gotta drill one, and find a grommet at home depot that works! :D



Also, I'm guessing my bottling bucket is 5 gallons, and the fermenting bucket is 6.5?



**Both Images are clickable-thumbnails**
 
S2005 said:
So, I found two lids at Walmart! They are food grade, and are HDPE (2)! Now I just gotta drill one, and find a grommet at home depot that works! :D



Also, I'm guessing my bottling bucket is 5 gallons, and the fermenting bucket is 6.5?



**Both Images are clickable-thumbnails**
Click to expand...

Right you are Sir.

Golly - I need to find someone like that who wants to unload all their old brewing equipment.
 
I'd be more inclined to think the other bucket is a 6 gallon bucket.

Something I did to all of my buckets was to mark them in 1/2 gal increments to ease top off for me. I started at 3.5 gals and would pour it from bucket to bucket and use a flashlight with the lights out and mark the water line on the outside of the bucket. It may not be perfect, but I'm not either...

IIRC I drilled a 1/2" hole in the lid, and the ID of the grommet is 3/8".
 
3/8 is awesome. They made everything standardized. I love this hobby.

I'll go to homedepot tomorrow and pick up a grommet :D

*****

BigFloyd, I know right?! When he came around the corner with buckets, I was like, what is that?!

A friend of mine started brewing the day after I did, Mr. Beer kit and all. One of HIS buddies gave him free Carboys he had laying around and never used!

THAT I'm jealous of.
 
You do need to check and make certain the measurement is correct. I may be wrong. It's happened a time or two!
 
Lol for sure I will. I'll go buy the grommet before drilling the hole, and I'll make sure it fits the airlock in the store before I buy it :D
 
S2005 said:
BigFloyd, I know right?! When he came around the corner with buckets, I was like, what is that?!

A friend of mine started brewing the day after I did, Mr. Beer kit and all. One of HIS buddies gave him free Carboys he had laying around and never used!

THAT I'm jealous of.
Click to expand...

Score!

Since getting my Mr. Beer kit for Christmas, I'm finding out about more and more folks around here (who I know) that have been brewing for years.

I'm hoping that one of them gets envious of my digitally controlled fermentation chamber (chest freezer with an STC-1000 and DIY paint can heater - it's da stuff:rockin:) and wants to set one up. I've already offered to make the controller/outlet box for a couple of established brewers. Maybe they'll reciprocate with some surplus equipment they have outgrown.
 
There ya go man! Thats a good plan!

I need to build one of those... I've been scouring craigs list for a chest freezer or mini refrigerator...
 
S2005 said:
I need to build one of those... I've been scouring craigs list for a chest freezer or mini refrigerator...
Click to expand...

Keep scouring. Sometimes it takes weeks, especially in smaller cities like where I am. If you're patient, it seems like the right one will just fall in your lap. Just have the cash on hand and the vehicle ready to go fetch it right away.:mug:

Go ahead and order the controller and build the box while you're waiting. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can get the STC-1000 shipped free in 2 days. Otherwise, you have to buy a small item to get the order over $25 and get free freight, but it's not 2 day. The other option is to get one on eBay from China a few bucks cheaper. Wait time on that is about 2-3 weeks.
 
Solid. Thanks for the advice man!

I'm thinking about the chest freezer. I found a few on CL in the $100 range that are 7 cubic feet. Is that enough to fit 2 carboys? I'm thinking in the future if I want to do two brews at once.

There is also a 5 cubic foot, for $75
 
Are those 2 brews for the month? I had to make room for as many as 4/mo, though 3 is typical.

i can't help you with the chest freezer question. I've yet to get one to put food into.
 
I was going to rotate 2 so yeah that would be 3 or 4 per month

But 2 in the freezer at a time, then on to bottling, which will also need to condition in the freezer as well... so it'll need a bit of room...
 
I generally do 1 per week. It ends up being a lot to do with brewing and bottling. You'll want room for 3 in there I'd think.
 
I was backed up once and was in a brew frenzy. It made for a lot of work on the other end come bottling time! I like it all spread out. But that's me.
 
Yeah thats what I was planning, one per week, or one every 2 weeks. That way I have time to drink em in between batches :D

I have another question about this STC-1000. Will it work on ANY freezer / mini fridge?

I notice it has a heat option! I don't think I'll need it to heat... but I was unaware you could even make a chest freezer / mini fridge heat...
 
I'm not familiar with it. But I'd think that it replaces just about any thermostat in a fridge/freezer.

I asked about the heat mode, which is for winter if it's in the garage. It keeps it from getting colder than desired.

Once you've brewed plenty you'll have a small stock pile. That is until all of your friends and family start showing up!
 

Similar threads

B
Sparkling Wines & Carbonation
Replies
2
Views
3K
ShellinTX
ShellinTX
C
Simple dumb beginner questions...
Replies
7
Views
1K
RPh_Guy
RPh_Guy
P
Yet another Keezer Build. But this one is Mine!
Replies
6
Views
3K
prof25
P
CodeSection
Closed System Bottling
Replies
5
Views
1K
CodeSection
CodeSection
KiniK
A Rookie's Tale
Replies
17
Views
915
KiniK
KiniK
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top