Greetings from Lincoln, NE

Hello there folks. I recently got into home brewing this year when a friend bought me a Mr. Beer Kit. Through a friend I stepped it up and ended up with the 5 gallon "Ale Pail" for free and I recently decided to brew the Brewer's Best Russian Imperial Stout. When doing some Google searches it lead me to this site and I was glad I ended up here because quite a few folks talked about how the fermentation for this particular beer was pretty strong. At the behest of some kind folks on here I talked to my LHB Supplier and he took the time to show me how to set up the blow off correctly. I'm proud to say that on Day 3 my brew is still going along strong and the aromas are still damn good! The house smelled good for a few days after the boil.

I'm thinking that after I get this batch bottled that I'm going to end up doing the Northern Best Dark Cherry Stout kit, but I do believe that since I found another thread on here regarding adding a little chocolate that I might end up doing that.

I do believe that I have learned one thing here, I didn't have a dedicated brewing kettle when I first got into this. I had a very old 3.5 gallon soup kettle that my mom hadn't used. I cleaned it up very good and it didn't impart any strange flavors to my Mr. Beer IPA, but I have also seen that a few folks on here really advocate a full wort boil. I do believe that I'm going to get myself hooked up with a 5 or 6 gallon brew kettle and try a full boil on my next batch.

Welcome to HBT from Omaha!

Nurmey said:

Welcome to HBT from Omaha!

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Thank you very much. I see that there are a few others from the Lincoln area who brew. I know that I'm very inexperienced, but of course I'm willing to learn and drink some recipes to see if they come out alright!

If you don't mind me asking, how many home brews do you have under your belt? I was told that I should observe some of the super experienced folks and take some pointers from them.

I've kind of lost count but it over 100 or so batches of beer that I've made with my hubby. I also make wine, mead, and cider just for the heck of it.

Welcome

Thank you to both of you. Wow, over 100 batches, so at best I have 99+ to really get the hang of it like you.

Do you guys use glass instead of plastic to ferment your beer? I have been told that over time the pits in the plastic will breed some nice bugs, but the same thing can happen with glass, can it not?

The fun thing about brewing to me is that it fits my mindset as a biochemist. I understand the metabolic processes going on in my wort and following the directions has never been my problem as I carry out step by step experiments.

I'm not a big drinker but it's the process I love the most. It appeals to my science geek nature I think.

When we first started brewing we only used glass but after a few years I bought my first bucket and better bottle and love them.

If you are carefully, plastic buckets can last for years. Don't store or carry anything but beer in them, never use anything but your hand or sponge to clean them, and do not stack them inside each other. They occasionally can get stained but it will not effect the beer.

The upside of glass is that you can get it perfectly clean and it will not harbor bacteria. The downside is they are heavy and if they break it usually means a trip to the emergency room.

Welcome from Chicago!

I just did my first full boil, and I have to say, make sure you have a valve on the kettle, pouring sucks a lot, it's totally worth the money.

I think most people here use glass carboys or better bottles for fermentation, but everyone starts with a bucket. Good luck on your next brew!

Welcome to the obsession!

I will have to look into glass at some point. I'm not too worried about the plastic buckets for now. I am going to get myself into an actual brew kettle here shortly. I'm going to do another extract kit here, The Dark Cherry Stout from Northern Brewer, and I saw that someone on here did that recipe but they did a Chocolate as well, and since I still have a few weeks until I bottle up my current beer I'm going to look around a little more and probably ask a question or two about the chocolate aspects of this.

Welcome from Omaha, Gringo. I just signed up myself. Hopefully you're enjoying the site so far; I certainly am. Hopefully, one of these days the brew clubs from Omaha and Lincoln can get together.
Cheers,
Joe

I honestly wasn't aware that there were local associations. Right now I'm actually looking at some equipment to better my operation. The last batch I did used an old soup stock kettle that my mom had and it was free, which was nice to avoid start up costs. When I first got into this a few months ago, I had the prospect of an international trip to meet and visit my future in laws, and the prospects of purchasing an engagement ring floating on the horizon, so saving a few bucks was a good idea, and after all it was a Mr. Beer Kit. Now that I have been back on US soil for about a month and I have seen the financial devastation, I can actually start spending a little money here and there on good equipment.

I happened on a homebrew site called Williams Homebrewing. They have great prices on boil pots. I ordered a 10 gallon brewpot with a 3/8 inch spigot already installed for $99.98. They have smaller ones like 8 gallon pots for less. If you are going to take the plunge like I did and get into all-grain brewing, you'll want a bigger pot than 5 gallons. Also, Northern Brewer and Midwest Homebrewing are great. Since I haven't been on this site too long, I don't know what else may be out there.
Great to hear from you.
Joe

Midwest and Northern are good. Austin Homebrew Supply is a favorite of mine and Forrest, the owner, is a member here. We also have Ed, the owner of Brewmasters Warehouse, as a member here too. I have not ordered from him yet but that's because I have quite a supply of ingredients.

From all accounts, Kirk in Lincoln has a very nice place but I haven't visited it yet. In Omaha we have Cornhusker Beverage or Frank at Fermenter's Supply that I use for local purchases. Warning: Frank doesn't have a lot of patience with new brewers and can be a bit brusk (understatement).

LOL about Frank and concurr. He's a member of the GAS and is very different at the meetings than at the Fermenter. Open and helpful come to mind. He's bringing his Hefeweizen to this weeks meeting to taste and we'll go over it and comment. I haven't tried Cornhusker yet and I'm interested about Kirk's. A trip to Lincoln for a game and visit to the shop sound appealing.
Joe

I got my kit at Kirk's and I will say this. The first time I went in there a few months ago to get an idea of what my start up cost would be and he seemed a little put off at me looking around. However, when I went in there recently and I even mentioned this forum and that I would probably want a blow off, he took the time to show me how to do a blow off and he gave me some good advice on making the kit I have here. I think that he was just a little rough around the edges for a newbie, but I bet if I went back there I could get some good solid help.

I can understand that there are probably a few folks who are put off by the new folks. I'm not sure that a 10 or 8 gallon pot is the best choice to get going. The 5 gallon pot is the one I'm going to start with and move on from there if I end up on AG. I really don't think I will end up doing AG for a while if I get into that aspect of it.

Five gallon pots are fine for doing extracts and if you move to AG you can always use the 5 gallon pot for heating your sparge water so it's a good buy either way.

It does rub me the wrong way when fellow HB'rs aren't helpful to the people just starting out or don't really take the time to explain things. Heck, everyone of us were there at one time or another and needed help. Giving our trials and advice and developing great relations is what it's about. Shoot, I need all the help I can get! The 5 gallon pot is a great all-around pot. I will continue to use it as well. I don't think any equipment is obsolete. I just suggested a 10 gallon pot if you were going to all-grain soon. Enjoy the obsession as I read earlier!

Hello and welcome from Lexington.

I've used Kirk's as my main supplier for about 3 years. He was a little cool at first, but as I've got to know him, he has been a great resource. He is more and happy to let me browse around.

Welcome aboard. I'm going to be in Lincoln next month. Any local brews I should check out?

TexasSpartan said:

Welcome aboard. I'm going to be in Lincoln next month. Any local brews I should check out?

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Hey, we just lost our police chief to you but I'll tell you about someplace in Lincoln anyway.

Empyrean Ales

TexasSpartan said:

Welcome aboard. I'm going to be in Lincoln next month. Any local brews I should check out?

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Most definitely. How long are you going to be in town and what are you going to be around for, football game???

Lazlo's has some great beers they make locally, I see that you have a Porter in your sights, they make a Vanilla Porter that is quite delicious.

Also you may consider hitting up Granite City. They are a chain here in the midwest and they are expanding as we speak, but a few weeks ago I was in there and turns out that our waitress for the evening was their assistant manager/brewmaster for the site because they were running a contest for their servers and the prize was the manager works your shift for you and gives you all of their tips. So anywho, I don't remember how we got on the topic exactly, as I had already consumed a few drinks before my lady took me there to meet her friends, but she took me on a tour of their brewery later that night and she explained to me that their company has a patent on a brewing process that they use, which is at their head brewery, they create all the wort minus the finishing hops and yeast and the ship that to each site, and then the brewmaster at each site will go through and add the yeast and hops and any other additions that they need to get. That way the beer always comes out tasting pretty fresh, but yet the flavors from each restaurant to the next are pretty consistent. I thought it was an interesting take on how to do it more large scale.

jackmaxcy said:

Hello and welcome from Lexington.

I've used Kirk's as my main supplier for about 3 years. He was a little cool at first, but as I've got to know him, he has been a great resource. He is more and happy to let me browse around.

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Wow, do you get out to Lincoln often to get stuff from Kirk's or do you mail order a lot of stuff from him?

I wasn't saying that he wasn't helpful and friendly, but my first time in his store, I think he could tell that I was a little dare I saw lost and shocked. I did also walk in with a pen and paper so I could get a feel for pricing and stuff, but I was also non-committal at that particular moment because of my expenses on the horizon, but I most definitely knew it was something I wanted to get into. The gal I work with who gladly gave me her old brew buckets, capper, thermometer, airlock and racking equipment told me that with a first time brewer that he can seem a little bit put off, but after you come in with a little knowledge and a recognized face he tends to open up and be a good resource.

I know how those things go, the cigar shop I always hit up here in Lincoln was like that the first time I went in there, the guy didn't want much if anything to do with me, but when he saw me in there regularly, he started picking my brain about what I like, started giving me deals on cigars and it became an enjoyable experience. I no longer need to get down there because I have a humidor aching with Cuban cigars, but that is another story for another day.

Another shout out from Omaha. Your local homebrew club is the Lincoln Lagers BTW.

PetVet said:

LOL about Frank and concurr. He's a member of the GAS and is very different at the meetings than at the Fermenter. Open and helpful come to mind. He's bringing his Hefeweizen to this weeks meeting to taste and we'll go over it and comment. I haven't tried Cornhusker yet and I'm interested about Kirk's. A trip to Lincoln for a game and visit to the shop sound appealing.
Joe

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Do stop by Cornhusker Beverage sometime. Just be prepared since it is not just a homebrew shop not all of the employees are well versed in homebrewing. (It is also a liquor store and oddly enough the largest retailer of wedding invitations in something like a seven state area) If you have homebrew questions Jim (the manager) and to a lesser degree his son Tim are good. (Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I work there on Saturdays only.)

camiller said:

Do stop by Cornhusker Beverage sometime. Just be prepared since it is not just a homebrew shop not all of the employees are well versed in homebrewing. (It is also a liquor store and oddly enough the largest retailer of wedding invitations in something like a seven state area) If you have homebrew questions Jim (the manager) and to a lesser degree his son Tim are good. (Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I work there on Saturdays only.)

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It's true you know, I talked to Chris last Saturday. The wedding invitation thing is kind of strange though. OTOH, while picking up some brew supplies for a friend we also picked up a nice Mexican liqueur.

I think I'm going in there this Thursday. I need to get some new ball-locks and beer line for my keg system. Can't wait to get somewhere new and look around. I was looking at the stainless steel wort chillers in the catalogs and would like to see if someone carries them locally. I haven't read too much about them but I'm willing to give them a try. Anyone use them?
Joe

PetVet said:

I think I'm going in there this Thursday. I need to get some new ball-locks and beer line for my keg system. Can't wait to get somewhere new and look around. I was looking at the stainless steel wort chillers in the catalogs and would like to see if someone carries them locally. I haven't read too much about them but I'm willing to give them a try. Anyone use them?
Joe

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First let me apologize for turning GringoCervecero's intro thread into an equipment discussion thread. This is just my opinion but I don't see the point in using stainless for this purpose. Copper has better heat transfer characteristics than stainless, is less expensive, and the trace amounts of copper that make it into the wort are consumed by the yeast and are good for the yeast. I either read or listened to an interview with a pro brewer in California who said that if he didn't have copper somewhere in his system he would probably throw a hunk of copper pipe in his boil just to get the copper exposure. He also said that the state of California was at one point testing their finished beer for copper since their boil kettles were copper and there was zero copper in the finished beer.

That said, don't even look at the copper chiller at Cornhusker, Jim bought it when copper prices were at their peak and it is priced that way.

Yes, I too, must apologize for turing this into an equipment discussion. I know I said it before but just to reiterate: Welcome Gringo. Thanks for the insight on the SS wort chillers. Like I said, I didn't know too much about them and how they compared to copper. The conductivity of copper seems unable to be beat. I didn't get a chance to stop in to Cornhusker and look around this weekend but I'm going to really try to get in this coming week. I am setting up a keggerator system and need more goodies.
Cheers!
Joe

Don't worry about turning it into an equipment thread. I just bottled my first batch (Russian Imperial Stout) an I took a little sample of it in a shot glass and I already love it before it is carbonated, going to be a long few weeks of conditioning!

I just brewed a different stout, the Chocolate Dark Cherry Stout, I took the NB Dark Cherry Stout kit and after discussing this with Kirk at length, I decided on doing actual cherries in primary and we will see if I do any of the cherry flavoring that came with the kit, it does smell a bit like cough syrup. Also added the chocolate at 20 min and it gave the beer a very interesting smell. My first stout required a blow off, and as a precaution I set this one up with a blow-off as well, but I'm at about 40 hours after pitching the yeast and I'm not seeing the kind of crazy fermentation that I was seeing with my previous stout, I will check it out in a few days hoping that the yeast have really kicked off.

In talking to the little lady in my life (soon to be fiance, she doesn't know that yet) she was curious in trying to replicate Blue Moon and I thought to myself, I already have a stout, I can know make "Eclipses" (Guinness & Blue Moon) or rough equivalents with my two beers. So a night after I did my 2nd stout, I went ahead and got all the stuff going and did up a Blue Moon Clone. When I got that Coriander and Orange Peel in the wort, it started smelling like heaven and I wanted to drink the hot wart already!

Picking up a nice long spoon was something I didn't think was all that worth it, but when I bought some stuff recently I spent a few bucks on a 24 inch spoon, and it has really come in handy, especially when trying to cool my wort quickly.

...and the Gringo jumps in with both feet!

The stout sound primo. I know what you mean about the aroma when you add a few spices and chocolate in. Best smell there is...just don't ask my wife. The cherries are an interesting addition. I tried make a cherry cream ale with the extract and yeah, it tasted bad. Dunno what I did but, the fruit flavored beers I've had made with real fruit are much better, I think. You'll have to let me know how the beer turns out or, how it is turning out...it's tough to not taste it as it ages.
Keep me posted,
Joe

Thanks, I will definitely have to keep you guys posted. It has only been in primary since Friday and I plan to bottle it up after 14 days. I apparently didn't need a blow off for this stout, but to be safe, last night when I opened it it was fermenting like crazy, but since it didn't violently ferment like the RIS than I did a blow off for nothing. I don't however believe that it hurts anything, as a lot of folks actually talk about fermenting without a lid.