Looking for noob pointers

Hey everyone. Just got my starter Brew kit(k6) in the mail today. I haven't much experience brewing. But I would like to try a pale ale recipe first, something along the lines of Sierra nevada. I would appreciate any tips and pointers, as well as web resources you guys can offer. Specifically with my equipment. Thanks

-J

I found that reading this through really helped me with my first batch. I used it to make sure that I knew in advance precisely what I was going to do.

How to Brew - By John Palmer

I also took careful notes of what I did while I did it, similar to what you would do in a chemistry lab.

1) sanitation - I like Starsan
2) Pitching proper amounts of yeast. See mrmalty.com
3) Good temperature control both while brewing and fermenting. Search swamp cooler
4) Patience. Get a hydrometer if you don't have one and leave the beer alone for at least 2 weeks the take gravity reading over 3 days. When you get the same reading for a couple of days fermentation is finished. You can now do a secondary or bottle but leaving it for 3-4 weeks is better.
5) Get another fermenter and start another batch ASAP. You will be surprised when your first batch is gone and the second is not ready!

Seconding everything kh54s10 said, with extra emphasis on good sanitation. Good luck and happy brewing!

Sanitation, patience, and FERMENTATION TEMPS. Learn to use your hydrometer, that's how you know what your fermentation is doing.

i think hardest part for me starting out was the wait. i rushed into bottle and drinking. i think i drank half my batch before it was ready. So I stress the patience part.

This entire forum is noob pointers, especially the stickeys and the section called beginner's section....

Also
The Stone Cold Lead Pipe Lock'd N00b Advice Thread.

And any of the active threads, especially in the beginner's section....Or we can just rewrite the ENTIRE forum in here.

Thanks guys! Cant wait to get started...it's a little tricky searching the forums on my iPhone when I'm suppose to be running the main control room in the largest anhydrous ammonia plant in Florida(shhhhhh)

joshuajbelanger said:

Thanks guys! Cant wait to get started...it's a little tricky searching the forums on my iPhone when I'm suppose to be running the main control room in the largest anhydrous ammonia plant in Florida(shhhhhh)

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You must have to fight off hoardes of methmakers while on duty, eh?

Yeah, luckily the methheads find it hard to get over the 10 ft gate with the barb wire, but they still try!

joshuajbelanger said:

Yeah, luckily the methheads find it hard to get over the 10 ft gate with the barb wire, but they still try!

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That is great! I bet it makes for some good entertainment watching a strung-out meth monkey trying to figure out how to scale the fence.

Hunter

What are the meth heads looking for in the plant? Drums and/or barrels of methylamine? Or is there some ammonia-related meth ingredients?

Maybe we should just stick to making beer

It is evidently an important ingredient.

Unibrow said:

What are the meth heads looking for in the plant? Drums and/or barrels of methylamine? Or is there some ammonia-related meth ingredients?

Maybe we should just stick to making beer

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How Anhydrous Ammonia is Used to Make Meth

Anhydrous ammonia can be used in making what most users consider to be a purists form of meth. Meth cooks use anhydrous ammonia in the place of red phosphorus to extract methamphetamine from ephedrine by way of a chemical reaction when mixed with lithium (usually via battery innards). Anhydrous meth is used in several types of meth recipes – most popular are the nazi, shake and bake and birch methods.

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This is how I first learned the term Anhydrous.

Anhydrous ammonia is able to be stored under pressure for a period of time in pressurized vessels such as propane tanks and fire extinguishers, but can even be stored in small quantity for a very short period of time in a cooler or thermos for use in the shake and bake method of meth making.

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You can sometimes come across propane tanks that have been used to store ammonia in, sometimes they end up back in those rhino propane cages where you swap your tanks.

The corrosive properties of anhydrous ammonia can cause the fittings on the pressurized storage vessels to corrode and turn blue. As such, never use a propane tank if the fittings have turned blue, as the metal has likely been weakened and can potentially cause an explosion.

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The biggest lesson I learned in quickly improving my beer was to control fermentation temperature. My first batch was pitched at 75 degrees and I followed the kit and had the fermentation temperature as measured on the outside of the primary at 72 degrees. While there are a variety of variables, when I started doing batches at 65-66 max (using us-05 or s-04 dry yeast), they started coming out MUCH better. I did a couple kits and then jumped to all grain - every one is different (not trying to say all grain is "better", my reason is that I like scratch baking and that with group buys I could make beer at less than 1/2 kit price via all grain. I use a modified biab method (found here on HBT) where the mash and sparge are done in a bag, which is pretty easy to do.

As also mentioned, sanitation is key and star san (or iodophor) is your friend. Having no-rinse sanitation is SO MUCH easier than when I brewed 15+ years ago and had to use things like TSP and bleach.

As Revy says, always always always take specific gravity readings, it's the best way to know what is going on with fermentation.

I've found beersmith to be well worth the $21 investment in understanding what is supposed to happen given a set of ingredients. (there are alternatives including free which I can't comment on).

Good luck and have fun. I just completed on Thanksgiving batch #10 of the year (and batch #10 in my new brewing era).

joshuajbelanger said:

Thanks guys! Cant wait to get started...it's a little tricky searching the forums on my iPhone when I'm suppose to be running the main control room in the largest anhydrous ammonia plant in Florida(shhhhhh)

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Bullish! A few months ago I was running an oil re-refinery and surfing the WoW forums! It can be done! That being said, it was a pretty lax environment at that time. It has since gotten a lot more professional; my work attitude too.

Patience is the best qualities a brewer can have. I have learned that with this hobby rushing into bottling/drinking your brew can be a big mistake. Sometimes the beer is not ready when the recipe says its ready. Giving the brew an extra few weeks can make a difference between a 'ok' brew and one you want to make over and over.

I brewed a Sierra Nevada type Pale Ale earlier this year, opened it up after the recommended conditioning period and I was really disappointed. It tasted nothing like what I was expecting. So I sat on the beer for months and sure enough, the longer it sat the better it got.

Patience, have it! Good luck with your batch!