Rob-O
Member
HomeBrewTalk sent me an email saying I haven't done much lately (not that I ever did), so here goes:
I'm an extract-with-grains brewer. I've been doing it heavily for just over 1.5 years. I have no competitive aspirations at all. I have two children, so I have no desire to become an all-grain brewer; I can brew 1 or 2 batches of beer in 4 hours, which suits me and my schedule just fine. I love beer, so I make it and drink it. I was a nervous brewer at first, but have since taken a few chances that have helped to make it more fun and more productive. All I can say is that while I've not entered any competitions, and never will, many friends and all-grain brewers drink my beer and love it. I have done all of the things listed below successfully, with no change in taste or quality, despite being told that I should not. I don't think I'm the first to do these things; I'm just offering a definite opinion rather than speculation.
1) You CAN do secondary fermentation in a plastic primary bucket. If you're using fruit, then you MUST use a bucket. You DO NOT HAVE to use a glass secondary.
2) Get a 5-gallon pot, double all ingredients, start with 3 gallons of water, do a 4.3-gallon boil (top up before start of boil, if necessary), split the wort evenly into two buckets and top-up--you just increased your efficiency by brewing two batches at once.
3) Make a starter, regardless of gravity. You can split the starter into two different batches from above. This cuts the cost of yeast in half.
4) You can dump a new load of wort into a bucket with yeast from the previous batch (provided you transfer the first batch to secondary the same day as you brew the second batch). Scrape as much of the old hops off the top as possible first. Fermentation will start in 2 hours. You can also split the yeast into yet another bucket. I've made 5 batches of beer using the same yeast begun with one vial of WLP.
5) The best way to give beer "mouth-feel" and body (a problem for extract brewers) without just throwing in more extract (and driving up the alcohol) is to steep 1 lb of flaked or rolled oats in it at 158 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes, with the grains, if using them.
6) Steep, sparge, boil, remove from heat and add extracts, then put it back on the heat after the wort is uniform and crank it right up to High to get it to your hops boil. It's faster, and there's no difference between doing that, and bringing it up slowly, or doing some kind "rest" step before going back to boil.
7) Iodophor doesn't need to completely dry before using the item that you sanitized in it. It's basically Iodine, and we all MUST drink a minimum amount of Iodine to keep our thyroid functioning properly. Also, Iodophor doesn't stink, it's reusable, it's easy to rinse, and it won't burn your hands or throat, like bleach.
8) You CAN microwave the water that you will use for the priming sugar for 3:30 to boil it and then dump in the priming sugar. Microwaves are terrible for cooking food, but good for boiling things.
9) You CAN use a half cup of liquid extract to make your starter the night before brewing and put tinfoil over the jar and put the lid back onto the jar without attracting mold or otherwise ruining the extract, provided that you use the opened jar in your brew the next day. I hate dried extract--makes a mess.
I'm an extract-with-grains brewer. I've been doing it heavily for just over 1.5 years. I have no competitive aspirations at all. I have two children, so I have no desire to become an all-grain brewer; I can brew 1 or 2 batches of beer in 4 hours, which suits me and my schedule just fine. I love beer, so I make it and drink it. I was a nervous brewer at first, but have since taken a few chances that have helped to make it more fun and more productive. All I can say is that while I've not entered any competitions, and never will, many friends and all-grain brewers drink my beer and love it. I have done all of the things listed below successfully, with no change in taste or quality, despite being told that I should not. I don't think I'm the first to do these things; I'm just offering a definite opinion rather than speculation.
1) You CAN do secondary fermentation in a plastic primary bucket. If you're using fruit, then you MUST use a bucket. You DO NOT HAVE to use a glass secondary.
2) Get a 5-gallon pot, double all ingredients, start with 3 gallons of water, do a 4.3-gallon boil (top up before start of boil, if necessary), split the wort evenly into two buckets and top-up--you just increased your efficiency by brewing two batches at once.
3) Make a starter, regardless of gravity. You can split the starter into two different batches from above. This cuts the cost of yeast in half.
4) You can dump a new load of wort into a bucket with yeast from the previous batch (provided you transfer the first batch to secondary the same day as you brew the second batch). Scrape as much of the old hops off the top as possible first. Fermentation will start in 2 hours. You can also split the yeast into yet another bucket. I've made 5 batches of beer using the same yeast begun with one vial of WLP.
5) The best way to give beer "mouth-feel" and body (a problem for extract brewers) without just throwing in more extract (and driving up the alcohol) is to steep 1 lb of flaked or rolled oats in it at 158 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes, with the grains, if using them.
6) Steep, sparge, boil, remove from heat and add extracts, then put it back on the heat after the wort is uniform and crank it right up to High to get it to your hops boil. It's faster, and there's no difference between doing that, and bringing it up slowly, or doing some kind "rest" step before going back to boil.
7) Iodophor doesn't need to completely dry before using the item that you sanitized in it. It's basically Iodine, and we all MUST drink a minimum amount of Iodine to keep our thyroid functioning properly. Also, Iodophor doesn't stink, it's reusable, it's easy to rinse, and it won't burn your hands or throat, like bleach.
8) You CAN microwave the water that you will use for the priming sugar for 3:30 to boil it and then dump in the priming sugar. Microwaves are terrible for cooking food, but good for boiling things.
9) You CAN use a half cup of liquid extract to make your starter the night before brewing and put tinfoil over the jar and put the lid back onto the jar without attracting mold or otherwise ruining the extract, provided that you use the opened jar in your brew the next day. I hate dried extract--makes a mess.
) Or those new to brewing who have read it "some where."
