Brand new brewer

HI,
I just started brewing. A friend gave my husband a Mr Beer for Christmas.. and I commandeered it.. last week I started the kit that came with it with but dry hopped with 1/2 oz of cascade pellets.. Today transferred it to 4 2 liter bottles... and.. started a 3 gallon batch of Apple/Cherry Cider for myself (I don't care for beer). and.. a 5 gallon batch of IPA for hubby. I started with a Cooper IPA kit and added 1 oz Columbus hops (45 min) & 1/2 oz Cascade (5 min).
Not sure how bitter this will be.. but Hubby is a hop head!

So far the cider is bubbling away nicely.. but the IPA is foaming out of the airlock.. Guess I need to leave more head space next time...

Welcome to the forum debkid.

.. but the IPA is foaming out of the airlock.. Guess I need to leave more head space next time...

Click to expand...

You could fit a blow-off tube (large tube fitted to top of carboy that runs into a bucket of sanitized solution). This illustration is from Palmer's online book (http://realbeer.com/jjpalmer/Howtobrew.html)



Anyway, have fun, and enjoy the beer and cider.

BB

or even a small tube (siphoning sized) jammed into the bung. More chance of hops clogging but i haven't had a problem.

Good to have you onboard. There are a couple of ciderheads and meadfreaks here. I'm mainly into dark ales myself, but there is always a keg or two of cider around. I have a blackberry/apple in the keg and a spiced apple on the counter popping away.

Can't go wrong with extra Cascades. Whole hops work better for dry hopping, but use what you've got. I found a deal on columbus pellets earlier in the year and purchased two pounds, so everything is getting bittered with it.

Welcome aboard Debkid. It's plain to see this is NOT a "dying fad" as reported.

debkid said:

HI,
I just started brewing. A friend gave my husband a Mr Beer for Christmas.. and I commandeered it.. last week I started the kit that came with it with but dry hopped with 1/2 oz of cascade pellets.. Today transferred it to 4 2 liter bottles... and.. started a 3 gallon batch of Apple/Cherry Cider for myself (I don't care for beer). and.. a 5 gallon batch of IPA for hubby. I started with a Cooper IPA kit and added 1 oz Columbus hops (45 min) & 1/2 oz Cascade (5 min).
Not sure how bitter this will be.. but Hubby is a hop head!

So far the cider is bubbling away nicely.. but the IPA is foaming out of the airlock.. Guess I need to leave more head space next time...

Click to expand...

As for the bitterness, that will have a good bitterness bite, because cascade usually around 5.9% percent has a strong spicy, almost grapefruit aroma's like the beer sierra nevada pale ale. As for one thing with the cider. If your doing cider and get cider from a local farmers market or a health food store then i would really consider buying camdem tablets. Reason being is that when apples are pressed and have no preseratives in them, and no pasturization done then ecoli is an issue. I know first hand. I got ecoli poisoning from my cider. You see, when the apples are out in the orchard, there are animals like birds and small creatures that may go to the bathroom on an apple and then the apples get pressed and bottled. thats where ecoli is a factor. I was sick as a dog. I tasted the juice from the cider bottle, and failed to read the warning label in the store associated with drinking unpasteurized cider. Heed this warning, and buy camdem tablets and put them in your cider and let sit a day covered, and the next day pitch the yeast. the cambdem tablets will kill whatever is in there. Cheers

As I understand it, the blow off tube does more to catch the foam than keep stuff out. There is so much gas produced at that point in time, nothing is gonna be sucked in anyhow. I'd just let it blow, if you can stand the mess. when it slows down, put the airlock back on. This summer I had a plugged airlock, but in the cooler fall/winter it hasn't been a problem. I think I'll cut the end off of an airlock. They seem tapered excesssively to get them into the bung, that is the bottle neck where mine plugged.

I am on my last couple bottles of coopers (kit) IPA I didnt add anything too it and it tastes good but I think more hops would make it even better! thats my 3 cents

Ok.. the bubbles seemed to stopped... so we racked to secondary to clear..
A few minutes after racking it bubbled for a little while.. then seemed to stop.. right now I guess we are mainly waiting for it to clear up for bottling..

Of course hubby had to taste the testing tube full.. he said was pretty good.. but more hops would be good.. (next IPA will be a recipe I found with 120 IBU!)
Looks like I might need to start buying hops by the bushel rather than waste time with ounces..

Deb

debkid said:

Looks like I might need to start buying hops by the bushel rather than waste time with ounces..

Click to expand...

Sounds like you need Hops Direct

Thanks for the link I will definitely give them a try!!

Deb

Another provider of hops is Freshops. I've been pleased with them.