Do you love IPA? Do you want to brew your first beer?

I recently had a co-worker who wanted to get into brewing. She loves IPA and double IPA. She also wanted to get her feet wet with the absolute minimum investment without sacrificing the beer quality too much.

Here is what I put together...

First, you will need to buy some equipment. You can't get around this. Here is my absolute bare bones equipment list. Others may use less, but in my opinion, if you can't stomach this investment, it isn't worth making crappy beer.

If you are relatively sure you will stay in the hobby for a long time, I suggest my more expensive but better investment kit here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/blogs/...oerderij-kabouters-start-kit-suggestions.html

So here is what you will need to brew your first double IPA:

1ea. http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/better-basic-starter-kit.html
1ea. http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/star-san.html
1ea. http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/jumbo-coarse-strain-bag-18-x-32.html
1ea. http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/fermcap-s-1-oz.html
total: $125.47 plus shipping and/or taxes

you will also need:
a kettle large enough to boil at least 3 gallons
another kettle that can hold at least 2 gallons
a stirring spoon

If you don't have a kettle, this is a good cheap option: http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/5-gallon-stainless-kettle.html

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Second, you need to get your ingredients. This thread is for a clone of Gordon double IPA by Oscar Blues Brewing Company and the recipe comes from "Can You Brew It?" a Brewing Network Show. The recipe was formulated by some of the best homebrewers in the business.


http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/535

Here is the list of ingredients you need, I suggest Northern Brewer. If you bring it to a store, the workers should be able to get everything for you. If you are ordering online, you should be able to find everything. Make sure the grain is milled. DME stands for Dry Malt Extract.

Ingredients:
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MALTS
4.00 lb DME Dark Traditional (Briess) (8.0 SRM)
3.50 lb DME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM)
0.70 lb Munich Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 min]
0.90 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
0.70 lb CaraMalt - 30/37L (Simpsom) (34.0 SRM)
2.5 grams Pale Chocolate Malt (Thomas Fawcett) (200 SRM)

HOPS
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days)
0.70 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (80 min)
3.40 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (10 min)

YEAST
1 Pkgs Safale US-05 Ale Yeast (Fermentis #US-05Yeast-Ale)

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Third, brew it. I have attached a zip file with step by step instructions for brewing this beer. It has everything a beginner needs including the steps almost always glossed over in instructions. My co-worker brewed this last night and said everything went really well and the directions were easy to follow.

Use the directions like a checklist and notes page to keep track of the day. I recommend having about 5+ hours free to do your first beer. That time will decrease a TON once you know what you are doing, but the first time always takes forever and you really don't want to be rushed. Have fun and try not to drink too much!

I figured there are a lot of people who could benefit from this. If you have any questions ask away!!!



View attachment Gordon_Instructions.zip

Good writeup.

How about offering the use of your equipment to brew with (either loan her the stuff, or have her come over and you two can brew together) before she makes the investment?

She wanted to do it herself and plans to brew more. She just didn't want to spend $500.00 to start. The above list is what she purchased and said it went well. She called a few times with questions, but for people reading this, there is always chat.

Sweet writeup. Seriously, you need to go into the brew journalism field, my friend.

It's been a long time since I've used liquid extract but I don't like the look of that 0.7lbs of munich LME. Doesn't it come in containers bigger than that? I don't know if it's a good idea for beginners just starting out to have leftover LME after the brew. If I'm missing something let me know and I'll shut up.

It comes in 3# containers, so they have to measure (or guess). Meh, if measuring is too hard ...

I would just toss the left over LME.

Toss the LME? Blasphemy! I thought you were targeting people who are trying to be economical!

Or save it and toss it later... like left overs after dinner out You can save it if you want.

How about use it for topping ice cream?..

Or your significant other's ... wait.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

Or your significant other's ... wait.

Click to expand...

mmmm! malty!

Technically you really don't need all the stuff in that kit to brew your first batches. I think I got my stuff together with about $60.

The hydrometer and beer thief are a luxury. The bottle filler is DEFINITELY a luxury. The bottle capper and caps aren't necessary (plastic bottles with screw on tops work just fine, you can even take used soda bottles and reuse them).

And if you have a cooler or anything with a spigot you can use that for bottling which saves you from buying a bottling bucket or whatever.

Heck even the bottle/carboy brush isn't needed until after the brewing/fermenting/drinking is done It all starts off new/clean, just give the equipment some soap water and starsan action and it's good to go.

And if you can loan her 1/4oz of starsan that can knock $5-10 off as well.

I realize I am nitpicking, but I have been through the "how little can I spend to try this out and make sure I like it" phase. And it was wayyyy cheaper.

I STRONGLY recommend against using a cooler or any not specific vessel for a bottling bucket. At bottling your beer is at risk of contamination and using a plastic container that may or may not have scratches and has been used for God knows what is a straight up awful idea.

Also a bottle filler costs about 4 dollars and will change bottling from a goddammnitthis****ingthisisspillingeverywhereiamfreakingout! kind of experience to a fun one you will want to do again. Your choice, but yeah you could skip it

Using old soda bottles is definitely a good way to bottle... just ask anyone who kegs how easy it is to remove soda odors and flavors from polished stainless steel surfaces and I can't believe that everyone isn't using old mountain dew bottles for their beer... In case my sarcasm was applied thinly DO NOT USE soda bottles. You can by new PET bottles, but that will be more expensive than saving some bottles and buying caps and a capper.

A brush isn't needed either. However, do you want to do a good job cleaning? I do. I recommended that kit because it also includes an oxygen based cleaner that will be great for cleaning out the fermenter and other dirty equipment as is described int he directions. Or you could use your orange blossom flavored Glad dish cleaner, I am sure it won't impart flavor to the plastic...

Good point on the Starsan... with the number of people I help with homebrewing, I could run a small Starsan distribution business. All for free too! That way I could make it a pain in the ass for everyone when they need to run to my house anytime they need to take a sample, rack, ferment, clean or sanitize anything. Again, if you can't afford $5 for the right equipment, stick to you natty Ice keg pack or buy some Skol vodka.

You are nitpicking. If you think there is a super cheap way to brew, there is. Check out Craigtube. I am sure the beer he makes won't kill anyone.

However, if you are interested in big IPAs and want to brew one that tastes good, I HIGHLY recommend not skimping on $5 here and $3 there. Get the basic equipment and brew beer that actually tastes good. Will you brew an exact Gordon clone on your first shot? Probably not. Will it be fun, enjoyable and result in a good beer that you are proud of? Yes.

If you want to make your own thread with your tips and tricks, please be my guest. However, jumping into a thread and saying, 'you know, you could do this way better like this' is not productive or helpful to new brewers. Especially when some of your methods are, in my opinion, seriously flawed. I don't support shatty homebrew. This is the cheapest start I would recommend.

I have a question that might be able to be answered here as I brewed my first batch of beer last Sunday (August 8th) (an IPA) and everything has been going well. I took my first hydrometer reading last night and its sitting nicely at ~1.012 and am planning on moving it to a secondary fermenter in the next 4 - 5 days.

From what I have read, when moving it to a secondary fermenter to dry hop, that you should add upwards of to ~half gallon extra of water to make up for the water soaked up by the hops pellets. Does this sound right? If so, what would the side effects be..would it naturally have a more watered down taste or less alcohol content? I was thinking about adding a bit of water too as when I had the blow tube on it, it did expel quite of bit of contents.

Any thoughts for a noob??

SauceBoss said:

I have a question that might be able to be answered here as I brewed my first batch of beer last Sunday (August 8th) (an IPA) and everything has been going well. I took my first hydrometer reading last night and its sitting nicely at ~1.012 and am planning on moving it to a secondary fermenter in the next 4 - 5 days.

From what I have read, when moving it to a secondary fermenter to dry hop, that you should add upwards of to ~half gallon extra of water to make up for the water soaked up by the hops pellets. Does this sound right? If so, what would the side effects be..would it naturally have a more watered down taste or less alcohol content? I was thinking about adding a bit of water too as when I had the blow tube on it, it did expel quite of bit of contents.

Any thoughts for a noob??

Click to expand...

I've never heard of adding water to make up for volume losses during dry-hopping. You either accept the loss, or you bump up the recipe to make a larger volume of beer to account for the loss (if you are that worried about it).

I would not recommend topping with water. You will dilute the beer and the balance dictated by the original recipe will be thrown off. Topping up as you lay out is not a usual practice. But who knows it might work.

I recommend just accepting the losses due to trub and hop absorption. You don't loose that much anyway.

Many people design their recipes to be 5.25 gallons to account for some losses allong the way and still end up with a full 5g.

One suggestion I have is using Fermcap-S during fermentation to avoid blow-off.

Another suggestion is keeping the hops in a bag or screen during dry hopping. It makes getting all the hop material out WAY easier. Not a necessary thing, but it does make it easier.

Awesome! Thanks for the answers. That was my one concern would be diluting. I will gladly deal with the loss in order to have a better tasting beer. I'm not going to lie, I tasted what I took out to take the hydrometer reading and its pretty delish. In the future I will just modify to add maybe another quarter gallon to make for losses along the way.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

She wanted to do it herself and plans to brew more. She just didn't want to spend $500.00 to start. The above list is what she purchased and said it went well. She called a few times with questions, but for people reading this, there is always chat.

Click to expand...

I think you should provide your phone number for all the noobs with questions out there :cross:

So I was gifted a bottle of this batch. It is by far the best first attempt I have ever had. It is probably one of the better homebrewed big IPAs I have had, and is close to the character of Gordon (from memory). Here is my review:







Aroma 9/12

Appearance 2/3

Flavor 16/20

Mouthfeel 4/5

Overall 7/10

Total 38/50

I have to say this is just impressive. I have always had trouble doing good IPAs in my brewing and to have this beer from a first timer is very good. Maybe I need to follow my own directions

A 38/40 beats the best IPA I have ever brewed which came in at a 36. This is possibly the most impressive homebrew I have had, just for the fact it is the first ever and actually good beer. Any of you have been around a while know I am critical of first timers who come on and say they brewed awesome beer their first time. Well, I am the one eating crow. It can be done.

That's a pretty terse review (okay I assume you hit submit accidentally and are editing now).

My first beer was an IPA and I still think it's my best, although my big/double IPA came out meh. Thanks for the informative thread though

Yep. My daughter wanted to watch a little movie before bed, so I had to cut out. The review is up and I will add pictures now.

OK. Updated with pics. Wow, that post took me 9 hours to complete

You want to take a stab at an AG conversion for this? I'm overdue for an IPA and this sounds pretty good.

I suppose one could always do a partial mash of 4.35lb 2-row with .875lb Munich and the other specialty grains, and just add the dark DME in the last 15-20 minutes. If I knew what was in the DME...

bernerbrau said:

You want to take a stab at an AG conversion for this? I'm overdue for an IPA and this sounds pretty good.

I suppose one could always do a partial mash of 4.35lb 2-row with .875lb Munich and the other specialty grains, and just add the dark DME in the last 15-20 minutes. If I knew what was in the DME...

Click to expand...

It isn't really my recipe. I changed the extract version to suit my brewing preferences. Here is the original recipe:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-oskar-blues-gordon-175564/