Just to make sure

I just wanted to make sure i have a firm grasp on what i am doing before i set out to try something new.

if I add hops (regardless of type) at 60 minutes it will add to the bitterness of the beer, adding hops at anytime between 30 minutes and flame-out will add to the aroma and flavor.

The temp of the wort when i add to my water in primary should be roughly 85 degrees, and my wort temp should be about 65-70 during fermentation.

I can leave wort in primary for around a month or move to secondary to add fruits/dry-hop etc.

To dry hop i should use actual hops, not the pellets in a hop bag and let it sit in secondary to get my desired taste.

I should get a kit that is milled all-grain, since i don't have the equipment necessary to mill anything.

BTW these are all questions not statements, so please correct me if i'm wrong, i am one of those people who are not satisfied doing it the easy way. I am going to order an all-grain kit this afternoon and just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.

Thanks!!!

Sounds like you've got it all right, although I'd chill your wort to around 70 degrees before pitching yeast....not 85.

I think this is mostly right.

The only minor quibbles are:

chad610 said:

I can leave wort in primary for around a month or move to secondary to add fruits/dry-hop etc.

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True but it can be less, too. I think anywhere from 2 weeks to a month for a "normal" gravity beer is fine.

chad610 said:

To dry hop i should use actual hops, not the pellets in a hop bag and let it sit in secondary to get my desired taste.

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This one will get the biggest disagreement from the most folks, I suspect. Whole hops are fine for dry-hopping, but most people (including most commercial craft brewers) use pellets & they argue pretty convincingly that you get better results from them mostly because they age much better & lose vastly less over time.

chad610 said:

I should get a kit that is milled all-grain, since i don't have the equipment necessary to mill anything.

Click to expand...

You didn't say anything about mash temperature, etc. and from your previous statement about adding water to primary it originally sounded like you were planning an extract brew. If you're doing all-grain, you've got a huge # of extra steps & you'll likely not add any water to primary because you need to do a full boil (6+ gallons reduced to 5 gallons) to make all-grain worthwhile.

Hope that helps.

chad610 said:

I just wanted to make sure i have a firm grasp on what i am doing before i set out to try something new.

if I add hops (regardless of type) at 60 minutes it will add to the bitterness of the beer, adding hops at anytime between 30 minutes and flame-out will add to the aroma and flavor.

The temp of the wort when i add to my water in primary should be roughly 85 degrees, and my wort temp should be about 65-70 during fermentation.

I can leave wort in primary for around a month or move to secondary to add fruits/dry-hop etc.

To dry hop i should use actual hops, not the pellets in a hop bag and let it sit in secondary to get my desired taste.

I should get a kit that is milled all-grain, since i don't have the equipment necessary to mill anything.

BTW these are all questions not statements, so please correct me if i'm wrong, i am one of those people who are not satisfied doing it the easy way. I am going to order an all-grain kit this afternoon and just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.

Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

I only have a couple of "corrections"! The hopping at 30 minutes contributes much more to bitterness then to flavor. The additions at 20 minutes and 15 minutes contribute more to flavor than bitterness, and the very last additions contribute more flavor and aroma also. Boiling the hops is what makes the oils in the hops turn into bittering compounds, so the longer the hops are boiled the more bitterness you get.

I dryhop with either pellets or leaf hops. I haven't noticed much of a difference, but others will swear they get more aroma out of leaf hops. I just use whatever I have- sometimes it's hard to get some hops in leaf form.

Grains must be milled, so order them crushed if you don't have a mill.

For fermentation temperature, use the temperature that is given by the yeast manufacturer. Each yeast manufacturer has a website, with the optimum temperature for each strain listed. That's a really good tool, as that will give you the best results.

Just as important as fermentation temperature is the amount of yeast pitched. I like to use mrmalty.com's yeast pitching calculator. That will help you decide on how much yeast you need for a batch.

If you're doing all-grain, you don't add water. You chill the wort to fermentation temperature, generally under 70 degrees. For extract batches, you can do a smaller boil and "top off" with cool water.

chad610 said:

I just wanted to make sure i have a firm grasp on what i am doing before i set out to try something new.

if I add hops (regardless of type) at 60 minutes it will add to the bitterness of the beer, adding hops at anytime between 30 minutes and flame-out will add to the aroma and flavor.

yes

The temp of the wort when i add to my water in primary should be roughly 85 degrees, and my wort temp should be about 65-70 during fermentation.

i chill to ferm temp before pitching

I can leave wort in primary for around a month or move to secondary to add fruits/dry-hop etc.

yes

To dry hop i should use actual hops, not the pellets in a hop bag and let it sit in secondary to get my desired taste.

I've used both. I use pellet now to dry hop

I should get a kit that is milled all-grain, since i don't have the equipment necessary to mill anything.

yes

BTW these are all questions not statements, so please correct me if i'm wrong, i am one of those people who are not satisfied doing it the easy way. I am going to order an all-grain kit this afternoon and just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.



Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

Good luck and enjoy

chad610 said:

if I add hops (regardless of type) at 60 minutes it will add to the bitterness of the beer, adding hops at anytime between 30 minutes and flame-out will add to the aroma and flavor.

Click to expand...

Normally 15-0 min additions add to aroma and flavor. I've eliminated 30 min additions from my hopping schedule.

chad610 said:

The temp of the wort when i add to my water in primary should be roughly 85 degrees, and my wort temp should be about 65-70 during fermentation.

Click to expand...

You want to pitch yeast at or below the desired ferm. temp. So pitch ~ 62-67F.

chad610 said:

I can leave wort in primary for around a month or move to secondary to add fruits/dry-hop etc.

Click to expand...

3 weeks is plenty on most ale fermentaions as long as the hydro says it has stabilized.

chad610 said:

To dry hop i should use actual hops, not the pellets in a hop bag and let it sit in secondary to get my desired taste.

Click to expand...

Either work fine. Pellets or leaf will give good flavor/aroma when used as dry hops. For pellets no bag is necessary-just throw them in the pool.

chad610 said:

I should get a kit that is milled all-grain, since i don't have the equipment necessary to mill anything.

Click to expand...

Do you have a mash tun and a way to boil at least 6.5 gallons?

if I add hops (regardless of type) at 60 minutes it will add to the bitterness of the beer, adding hops at anytime between 30 minutes and flame-out will add to the aroma and flavor.

Click to expand...

Check out this handy chart https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=7238&cat=all&ppuser=14092

The temp of the wort when i add to my water in primary should be roughly 85 degrees, and my wort temp should be about 65-70 during fermentation.

Click to expand...

You want your final wort temperature to be about 70 degrees or less when you pitch your yeast in. I don't worry much about my fermentation temperatures, as long as it's not above 70ish. Too low and it will go very slow, too hot and it could make funny off flavors. I have never experienced them.

I can leave wort in primary for around a month or move to secondary to add fruits/dry-hop etc.

Click to expand...

Yep, if you can wait that long. Mine sit 2 weeks. As long as its done fermenting

To dry hop i should use actual hops, not the pellets in a hop bag and let it sit in secondary to get my desired taste.

Click to expand...

You can use whatever you want.

I should get a kit that is milled all-grain, since i don't have the equipment necessary to mill anything.

Click to expand...

All grain means you mash the grains to get your wort, instead of using extract. It's a much bigger process compared to adding extract to your brew kettle. It sounds to me like you are a new brewer, and I don't think All grain is the way to go for you. Extract is probably what you want.

BTW these are all questions not statements, so please correct me if i'm wrong, i am one of those people who are not satisfied doing it the easy way. I am going to order an all-grain kit this afternoon and just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.

thank you guys! i think i will stick with extract brewing after reading your comments, it's hard to tell what all goes into an all-grain brew by reading posts. You guys definitely answered all the brewing questions i had!

Thanks again!