New and ready to brew

I have my wort chiller and a 6 gallon carboy in route. I also am going to purchase a starter kit that has the basics like the fermentation bucket, airlocks etc. I have been researching the 2nd fermentation process and it sounds like it would work out for me the best. Are there any recommendations as to what I might need to have to make my first batch the best batch?

Welcome to homebrewing! I recommend that you get a 5 gallon glass carboy for your secondary fermentation. Use the 6 gal. for primary fermentation. Forget using a plastic fermentation bucket. Use that for bottling. (Does it have a spigot on the bottom?)

Keep us posted on your progress!

The kit that I am going to get comes with two buckets. One is for fermentation and the other has the spigot. In my studies I was reading on using the bucket for primary and the carboy for secondary to watch for clarity. Depending on what the supply shop has I might invest later on in another glass carboy. I found a carboy on ebay for a very good price including shipping and handling so I jumped on it. I guess my question or request for direction is in the process of the secondary fermentation. From what I gather, you let the initial go till you get a bubble every 3 seconds. Transfer the contents, (without the trub) to the secondary and wait for one bubble per minute. One thing I have going for me is an ample amount of patience so I will gladly wait longer if it is recommended.

The kit that I am going to get comes with two buckets. One is for fermentation and the other has the spigot. In my studies I was reading on using the bucket for primary and the carboy for secondary to watch for clarity. Depending on what the supply shop has I might invest later on in another glass carboy. I found a carboy on ebay for a very good price including shipping and handling so I jumped on it. I guess my question or request for direction is in the process of the secondary fermentation. From what I gather, you let the initial go till you get a bubble every 3 seconds. Transfer the contents, (without the trub) to the secondary and wait for one bubble per minute. One thing I have going for me is an ample amount of patience so I will gladly wait longer if it is recommended.

Welcome to the forum. If you haven't guessed, this has the most homebrew info I've ever seen in one place. Kinda like going to a pub.
Anyhow, both glass and plastic work, but glass is better IMO you can see what's going on, and not ruin anything by letting in that oxygen. Be careful when going from boiler to carboy. Hot wort and cool glass is not a good match. I understand you're chillin' it first, but the warning's there for ya.

You will be OK with a plastic fermenter. I usually go 1 week in primary, then 2 weeks in 2nd and 2-3 weeks for bottle conditioning. It takes a lot of patience in the beginning so plan on 2 batches real soon to build up a stock. The waiting is much better after that.

gauthierk said:

The kit that I am going to get comes with two buckets. One is for fermentation and the other has the spigot. In my studies I was reading on using the bucket for primary and the carboy for secondary to watch for clarity. Depending on what the supply shop has I might invest later on in another glass carboy. I found a carboy on ebay for a very good price including shipping and handling so I jumped on it. I guess my question or request for direction is in the process of the secondary fermentation. From what I gather, you let the initial go till you get a bubble every 3 seconds. Transfer the contents, (without the trub) to the secondary and wait for one bubble per minute. One thing I have going for me is an ample amount of patience so I will gladly wait longer if it is recommended.

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It sounds like you have done your initial research well. Good work.

Everybody has a different rule for when to rack to the secondary, but I think most would agree that one bubble every 3 seconds it probably a bit early to do it.

"secondary fermentation" is misrepresentative of what you are actually doing. you are using a second fermenter, but you are not really fermenting in it. You are letting the beer age and clarify. You are best to let actual (primary) fermentation to be complete before moving it to a new vessel.

Other than that, I think you are pretty much ready to go.

It was suggested that you the 6 gallon glass carboy for a primary fermenter and get a 5 gallon one for a secondary. Not required, but I think you will like it. You can certainly use the bucket that came with the kit as a primary and your carboy as a secondary, but I can assure you that it will drive you INSANE on this first batch because you cannot see the weird and whacky world of fermentation inside that plastic bucket. with glass, you get to watch it. you'll have many urges to open the thing and peek at it.

Another option (which is how I did a large chunk of my early brewing) is to use the 6 gallon carboy as a primary and use no secondary at all... just leave it in the primary for a couple of weeks and then bottle it for a couple of weeks.

welcome to the hobby/obsession/way-of-life/waste-of-time/whatever.

-walker

Welcome aboard, gauthierk!

Sounds like you're well on your way to brewing. No harm in using the bucket. Before you know it, you'll probably be keeping both the bucket and carboy tied up with brews in order to keep up with demand

To chime in with Walker, I'd agree that you'll want to probably wait longer then a bubble every few seconds. I personally wait until it's gone all but completely silent, but everyone has a slightly different way of doing it.

I use a plastic bucket for my primary and I am happy with it. It allows you to be a bit less rigid in your techniques (for example, I have no compelling need for a wort chiller) and still make great brews. I use a glass secondary when needed. No worries about gear, though - it will accumulate as if by magic. Before you know it you will wonder what to do with it all.

Welcome to the insantity!!!

I have a few words of advice.

Buy a hydrometer if one doesn't come with the kit. When you put the wort in the primary, take a reading... Take another reading when you transfer to the secondary. Let the beer sit in the secondary for a couple weeks then take another hydrometer reading with a sanitized turkey baster or something like that. If the reading is within a point or two of the final gravity, bottle it. I don't rely on the bubble/airlock to tell me anything other than the fact that fermentation is going on. If I see bubbles, I assume that the beer is not done fermenting yet, and that bottling will lead to bottle bombs.

Get a carboy for your Primary fermenter. I agree with everyone else who says that you'll be dying to take a peek. With a carboy, you've got a huge window on what's going on.

Brew 2-3 batches, one after the other. You'll need to build up a supply because initially, you'll be drinking quite a bit of your brew.

Welcome to the site, and enjoy the beer!

Lots and lots of good tips. I have already called the local brew shop and they have 6 gallon ones in stock. The one I have comming in is a 5 so I'll probably go with two car boys and keep my bucket for backup. Another question to toss at everyone. For bottling purposes, is it better to go with the bottles that you can re-seal on the spot or go with like 22oz bottles for the first run. Another question is what would be a good choice for a first brew. I'm obsessed with canadian beer like from the Unibreau, prefered La Maudite but I also like belgin beers. What do you think I should attempt on my first run?

gauthierk said:

Lots and lots of good tips. I have already called the local brew shop and they have 6 gallon ones in stock. The one I have comming in is a 5 so I'll probably go with two car boys and keep my bucket for backup. Another question to toss at everyone. For bottling purposes, is it better to go with the bottles that you can re-seal on the spot or go with like 22oz bottles for the first run. Another question is what would be a good choice for a first brew. I'm obsessed with canadian beer like from the Unibreau, prefered La Maudite but I also like belgin beers. What do you think I should attempt on my first run?

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I like your choice of beer. I too like Canadian beer, in fact I haven't had a beer I disliked yet.
Don't worry about fermenting in plastic. I still primary and do some secondary in plastic with no flavor problems. Keep everything sanitary and simple until you get the hang of brewing and start a second brew as soon as you finish the first.
Good luck and I'm sure the fine folks here will guide you on your journey into the pleasures of brewing your own.

The fact that so many people post here is awsome. Helps people like me get my stuff together faster and learn more. Knowing that I like the canadian beer alot and would be interested in brewing the heavy stuff, what is recommended for my first batch? The local shop has alot of different kits to choose from. The kits are the ones where I have to boil the wort, and move from then. I figured it would be good for me to start off with everything premeasured. I purchased a book called Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. I'm taking in alot of information but still kinda confused by mashing, straining and so fourth but those are questions for later.

gauthierk said:

For bottling purposes, is it better to go with the bottles that you can re-seal on the spot or go with like 22oz bottles for the first run.

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For my first batch I started with buying a box of 12 of the 22oz bottles, but hated paying a buck a bottle when I knew there were so many free botles out there. I got the rest of mine for that and future batches by going to the local sports arena's concession office and asking if they could save beer bottles for me at their big events. Now I just let them know when I need some and I can go in and pick up a couple cases of Sprecher bottles about a week later. The first time I got them I was disappointed and surprised to find out they were twist off's, but I gave them a shot and they worked fine.

(FYI-in this case I use Sprecher Pub Ale bottles, I've found that their other bottles don't work as well for some reason)