freshyill
Member
Hey guys, I'm new both to home brewing and to the forum (this is my first post).
So I just brewed my second batch of beer last night (an amber ale/IPA hybrid from a friend's recipe), and I'm still working with pretty basic equipment. I enjoy doing it, and I think that sooner or later, I'll upgrade to better equipment. Right now, I've got the Ale Pail and the kit that comes with that, and some other basic stuff. I did my boiling in a big turkey fryer pot, but I did it on the stovetop (pretty much destroyed an electric burner in the process). I may actually assemble the fryer base and do it on that next time.
So anyway, what upgrades would be smart to purchase first that will give me the best beer for my buck? I figure I'll add something new each time I do a new batch, which will probably be a few times a year. I'd like to first upgrade the little things that will help the most and then, once my skill has improved, move on to the bigger items.
Now, about wort chilling. As I understand it, chilling it faster can improve the clarity of your beer. I chilled my wort last night in about an hour by immersing my kettle in a tub of very salty ice water. Some of the commercial wort chillers I've seen can get the job done in under 10 minutes, but they also cost $100+. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm curious: How much difference does it really make?
Thanks!
So I just brewed my second batch of beer last night (an amber ale/IPA hybrid from a friend's recipe), and I'm still working with pretty basic equipment. I enjoy doing it, and I think that sooner or later, I'll upgrade to better equipment. Right now, I've got the Ale Pail and the kit that comes with that, and some other basic stuff. I did my boiling in a big turkey fryer pot, but I did it on the stovetop (pretty much destroyed an electric burner in the process). I may actually assemble the fryer base and do it on that next time.
So anyway, what upgrades would be smart to purchase first that will give me the best beer for my buck? I figure I'll add something new each time I do a new batch, which will probably be a few times a year. I'd like to first upgrade the little things that will help the most and then, once my skill has improved, move on to the bigger items.
Now, about wort chilling. As I understand it, chilling it faster can improve the clarity of your beer. I chilled my wort last night in about an hour by immersing my kettle in a tub of very salty ice water. Some of the commercial wort chillers I've seen can get the job done in under 10 minutes, but they also cost $100+. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm curious: How much difference does it really make?
Thanks!