What advice would you have for yourself back when you started out?

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Fadeux

Fadeux

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Ok, I am brand new at this. I think I am going to start my first batch within a week. The question I would like to ask every experienced brewer on here is this.


If you could go back to that day you brewed your first batch, what advice would you give yourself, knowing what you know now?

Obviously no wrong answers, but I look forward to seeing what people say. Thanks!
 
I'm fairly new so I remember this well.
First of all, Relax, don't worry have a home brew RDWHAHB.
This isn't as hard as it may seem.

Make sure to sanitize your equipment. You can't do that too much.
Nothing touches the beer unless it has been sanitized, (except water and hops).

As long as you don't contaminate the beer, it will taste fine.

When you put your beer into the fermenter, it is good to get the gunk out, but if you don't it won't ruin the beer.

The guys on this forum are very good at this and can teach you alot but remember they are in the quest for better beer. You don't have to be as good as them right out of the gate.
 
Have everything in order written down so you don't forget anything.. Sanitize sanitize sanitize...Most important, have FUN. What's better than making beer... I was really nervous making my first beer. After 40 batches or so it gets a little easier.:D
 
I think I would have had to offer the advice to pour the wort through a filter when I put it in the fermenter. I still forget to do that, but if I would ever remember my brews would clean up faster.
The above advice was good too... especially the relax part, although it is really no more important than the advice to sanitize. Speaking of sanitzing... I think I wish I'd known about Star San sooner...that stuff is great! If you do use it when you start here's more advice ... don't worry at all about the foam. Just pour right on it, no sweat.
Welcome to the addication!
 
The advice I always give is to start out with a quick beer. A nice middle of the road Pale Ale or English Bitter. Ed Wort's Pale Ale or Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde are great examples.

If you do this you will be able to brew, ferment, bottle, and be drinking in as little as 4 - 5 weeks. This is not really enough time but you will be very impatient on your first few batches and these beers can at least tolerate a little less time from step to step.

Beers like double chocolate stouts or imperial IPAs or Belgian strongs take months to reach their best.
 
Consulted HBT before my first batch.

Bought a bigger Kettle.

Been more patient.

Start off with a simple recipe. Defintely a Kit
 
Fadeux dude,

Yup,
about the only thing you can do wrong
is not to sanitize well.
But what does this mean?
What does it mean to sanitize everything?
Hmmm...

After brewing 15 or 16 years {I forgot}
I have learned to soak the bottling bucket 'valve' in Idophor,
{removed, open, 'sanitize' and then replace.}
Before even sanitizing the bottling bucket.
{It sanitizes the outside of the valve and the insides too}

Take a long brush and after dipping it in Idophor
running it through the reracking cane,
bottling cane, reracking hose.
Before you even sanitize the canes and hoses.
Then soak them in Idophor.
{I have a long wire that is run the entire length of the hose
and the brush is pulled through backwards.}

An ice tea spoon you are going to use to grab your hop bags
out of the hot water can be sanitized.
As can the plate it will sit on.

Writing everything down on a big piece of paper
and hanging it in front of you when you brew is a good idea,
I do that too.

Everything that gets Idophored for each step,
1. Brewing
2. reracking
3. bottling

But the most important thing to 'Sanitize' is your hands.
Think where your hands have been,
You pat your dog, scratch your axx, lift the toliet seat,
Soak your hands in Idophor water 2-3 minutes
and 'use a clock' so you can't cheat,
the longer the better.

Use nylon hop bags and sanitize them.
Rinse them good {with clean hands.}
I remember the advise:
"Knife, throw away thise 10 year old cloth hop bags!"
My ale improved vastly after that.

Wouldn't hurt to use plastic gloves while brewing
'but I can't work in them.

There, I have a batch of 'Crystal bisquet' which is ready to bottle.
And my disability check comes tomorrow.
I am headed down to the Homebrew Headquarters
and 'get me' a new bottling bucket 'valve' as mine leaks.
Its the washers, but the old valve is 15-16 years old
I can't really 'get in there' to clean it
like I can a cane or a hose so I'll just get another
and have a spare for emergencies.


Good luck homebrewing


Lets 'git ignert' and go coon hunting!


J. Winters von Knife
and Sandymay
jacksknifeshop
Jack the Knife's World Famous Fifth century forge, Knife shop and Skullery
 
I'd say, "Self, this is going to take a lot longer than you think, so start early." I think I began my first batch around 9:00 at night. Got to bed around 3:00. It's amazing what a mess you can make. And wort can take a LONG time to cool if you don't prepare. And the longer everything takes, the drunker you get (or at least that's how it works for me).

Other than that, sanitation is key. Luckily I worked in a lot of kitchens so I was used to it.

But as Tom Petty says, the waiting is the hardest part.
 
Sastrugi said:
I'd say, "Self, this is going to take a lot longer than you think, so start early." I think I began my first batch around 9:00 at night. Got to bed around 3:00. It's amazing what a mess you can make. And wort can take a LONG time to cool if you don't prepare. And the longer everything takes, the drunker you get (or at least that's how it works for me).
QUOTE]

I remember the the night I bottled my first batch (5 gal IPA). I figured I would get about 48-55 bottles out of it. I only had 36, so obviously I needed at least 12 more. Started drinking Longhammer ESB, and had a great routine, drink, soak, dry. After bottling, I had enough bottles (plus a few), and only 2 ESB's left. SWMBO walked in the door, I apologized, and slept on the couch.
Click to expand...
 
I just bottled my first batch. The hardest part for me was siphoning to bottle bucket. The beginner kits don't come with an autosiphon so I had to practice for about 20 minutes until I got it. Kit instructions suck to say the least but in the end they were correct. I just had to do it to understand.

And then the flexible tube would not come off the racking cane so I can switch to bottle nozzle. I tried pliers, everything. The fit was so tight, I had to freakin cut it off with a knife. I still don't know what's up with that.

When I finally switched flexible tube to bottle nozzle it was way too long. I had to raise the bucket so I could bottle on the floor. Not the most comfortable position to learn something new. Sticky wort ended up all over the floor right in the path to my sanitized bottles. Tracked the stuff everywhere after that.

Keg systems are looking real good about now :)
 
Use StarSan in a spray bottle and spray the crap out of everything that will touch your beer post boil.

Buy an immersion chiller, chilling 10 gallons in 10 minutes is great.

Make a check list of everythign you plan on doing. Write everything down and keep a log of all your past brews. So you can improve your process the next time.

Keg your beer.
 
  1. Take detailed notes and record your recipies. Back in the 1970's I brewed a stout, but I didn't have the ingredients listed in the recipe, so I made wholesale substitutions to use the ingredients I had. That beer would have put Guinness out of business if I could have repeated it, but I never recorded the recipe, and although I tried many times to re-create it, I never came close.
  2. Be patient. It took me over a year to realize that the last beer from any batch was always the best, and I had drunk the entire batch before it was ready. My beers were so much better if I didn't start to sample them until they had been bottled for 3 - 4 weeks
-a.
 
Relax, first and foremost. I was so uptight the first time I could have shat diamonds.
Sanitize but not to the point of paralysis.
As ajf said, take notes. I didn't the first time. It didn't hurt anything but notes help keep everything organized well.
 
Just relax and have fun.



I know some wont agree with this but I've found it kind of hard to screw up a brew. Yes, I've made mistakes here and there but so far things have been enjoyable nothing horrible has happened. Sanitizing is important but don't worry too much. People have been brewing for thousands of years...it ain't rocket science. Just enjoy the ride.
 
Cheap vodka in the bubbler, don't crack too many brews before you pitch yeast,let your hydrometer tell you when the beer is done fermenting.All small additions in zipper bags with time to add to boil written on them.
 
Boerderij Kabouter said:
I would tell myself not to waste a bunch of money on beginner rated equipment. I wasted soooo much money on equipment only to replace it a few batches later. Build toward your dream system right from the get go.
Click to expand...

+1

Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and when I started this insanity I had no assurance that I'd enjoy the journey.

If I could turn back the clock, I'd buy it all up front. The brew rig, the kegs system, the keezer. All of it. And I'd have saved a mint worth of cash in the process.

However, the road I traveled to get here has been fun.
 
Don't do it man!!!! It will rob you blind!!!!!j/j


you have already come to the right place #1 and Yuri gave you some great advice I would probably do that.
Cheers
JJ
 
1-start next batch right away
2-leave first batch alone...
3-be patient
4-see point number 1

the best advice I can give is to not "meddle" with beer...let the yeast work in peace...
 
Do not stick your penis in the carboy.

You will save yourself a lot of embarrassment and Crisco.
 
944play said:
Get that bucket in a water bath. Just because the room is 75F doesn't mean the beer is. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

+1 I was very frustrated my first several batches because of a terrible off flavor due to high ferment temps. This is not stressed enough IMHO.
 
Make sure you have everything you need before you start. Give yourself enough room to brew. Don't worry about keeping up with what others have, you can brew good beer with just the basic equipment.
 
Keep good notes. Without them, it will be very difficult to recreate good beers and to diagnose any problems that you may run into
 
Aerating dissolves atmospheric oxygen into the wort.
The yeasties eat this oxygen to help make their cell membranes flexible.
Flexible membranes help yeasties divide and reproduce.
Yeasties that have a good reproduction phase ferment your beer cleaner and faster.

If you forget to aerate, it takes much longer for the fermentation to get started, stresses the yeast, and can lead to other buggers like lacto taking over your wort.

To aerate:

1. Cool wort to pitching temp.
2. Pitch yeast.
3. Get a chair to sit on next to your fermenter
4. Place fermenter carboy/bucket on a tennis ball.
5. Rock carboy/bucket back and forth slowly on tennis ball. You will "slosh" it some.
6. Continue rocking at this slow pace for 5 agonizing minutes.
 
Don't be over anxious to make your own recipes. Use other proven recipes for a while, and when you do make your own recipe, KEEP IT SIMPLE.

No pumpkin, no more than 1 pound of honey, no more than two specialty grains, no unusual methods. Just not yet.
 
Fadeux said:
Ok, I am brand new at this. I think I am going to start my first batch within a week. The question I would like to ask every experienced brewer on here is this.


If you could go back to that day you brewed your first batch, what advice would you give yourself, knowing what you know now?

Obviously no wrong answers, but I look forward to seeing what people say. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Go ahead and get the 20 gallon brew sculpture now, it will be cheaper this way. And add the "smart system" while you are at it.
 
1. StarSan. Great stuff. Santize Sanitize Sanitize.
2. Organize. Make sure you understand the process and write it down. Follow it.
3. RDWHAHB. If you sanitize, it's very hard to not make good beer.
4. Your first batch may be the hardest, it gets easier the next time

continuing...
5. Fermentation temps are important. Find out what is right for your beer, and keep the fermenter at that temp, or just below or your beer could have bad off flavors.
6. Practice transferring hot and cold water from vessel to vessel so that you can develop a good method of doing it without introducing germs or burning yourself.
7. Cool that wort! Whatever method you use to cool your wort after boiling, practice first and see how it goes.

I found that most of my problem wasn't that I didn't quite understand what I needed to do, it was that I was unorganized, and therefore unprepared when the rime came to do it. You can make great beer with little money spent in fancy equipment, but your life will be much easier if you at least practice moving liquid from here to there.

Lots of great advice here. We should build a sticky of advice or something.
 
1. Buy an immersion chiller right away, even if not doing full boils. That was by far my best purchase.
2. Whenever you think to yourself, "ZOMG ARE MY BEER RUINED!!1!?" stop and take a deep breath and say, "No, probably not." It's hard to mess up beer, and if you do ruin it, you will know because when you taste it you will want to die. So, quit worrying.
3. Never buy a case of empty bottles! You can buy a 24 case at Sam's for about 24 bucks, and an empty case for about 15. That means you get 24 beers for 9 dollars. Also, take your friend's empties and return (some) of them with full home brew.
4. Buy a second and third carboy right away. Start another batch the weekend after your first, then start appfelwein the day after.
 
dontman said:
The advice I always give is to start out with a quick beer. A nice middle of the road Pale Ale or English Bitter. Ed Wort's Pale Ale or Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde are great examples....
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think that's a great idea for a new brewer. Hefeweizens are super-quick too. It's nice to start with a fast beer or 2 while getting the pipeline filled with the brews that take longer to mature.
 
I am currently waiting on my first batch, so this is all still very fresh for me.

I would say:

1. Brew a quick beer first. I choose Scottish 90/- and regret it. I believe a lower gravity ale would be the way to go.

2. Watch your beer as much as you like, but don't waste your time and beer taking needless hydrometer readings. It all adds up.

3. Try to remember to filter the wort. I forgot.

4. Aerate as recommended.

5. Leave it at least a couple of weeks in the primary (if using a secondary) unless you want to deal with everyone on this website telling you that you moved it too soon.

6. Relax and wait for your home brew.
 
I did ALOT of reading (both in this forum and in books) before brewing my first batch so i was prepared and already had the RDWHAH mindset, however one thing i wish i had done is pratice the racking/bottling more. It was very messy.
 

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