Making The Plunge And Joining The Home Brewers Of The World

So ive reached and asked questions and what not and now im at the stage where im coming in and joining all of your guys in the world of home brewing..

I was gunna purchase the Brew Magic.. but decided to start off the old fashioned way and purchase some Burners, 3 Blichmann kettles, Pump, wort chiller and temp controlled fermenter fridge.. also filter and grain mill.. ( going for lagers )

my question is im looking to brew 10 Gallon batches ( 5 gallon keg, 5 gallon bottled ) im on 4 hockey teams which drink tons of beer so it will go fast..
anyways 10 gallon batches i would need 2 15 gallon kettles and 1 20 gallon kettel ? and for the burners its not a one burner fits all type thing.. what kind and how many BTUs am i looking for ?

Welcome aboard. You are certainly jumping in head first. That is quite the investment. I don't see why you need a twenty gallon kettle. I do ten gallon batches in three kettles of 15 gallons.

Oh and I recommend you look into electric Brewing if you are starting from scratch. That is what I do. its not for everyone, but I'm glad I ditched the propane.

electric is more control ?

In my opinion yes it has more control. Check out theelectricbrewery.com and the electric brewing forum on this board for a ton of great information.

but if i wanna stick to propane... any other thoughts

CrankyBeaverBrewery said:

So ive reached and asked questions and what not and now im at the stage where im coming in and joining all of your guys in the world of home brewing..

I was gunna purchase the Brew Magic.. but decided to start off the old fashioned way and purchase some Burners, 3 Blichmann kettles, Pump, wort chiller and temp controlled fermenter fridge.. also filter and grain mill.. ( going for lagers )

my question is im looking to brew 10 Gallon batches ( 5 gallon keg, 5 gallon bottled ) im on 4 hockey teams which drink tons of beer so it will go fast..
anyways 10 gallon batches i would need 2 15 gallon kettles and 1 20 gallon kettel ? and for the burners its not a one burner fits all type thing.. what kind and how many BTUs am i looking for ?

Click to expand...

Welcome! (old fashioned way he says )

Mash tun size depends on how much grain you intend on using. 15 across the board should work fine, but do as you like. One burner does fit all

which burner is that.. so if im doing 10 gallon batches this burner will sufice ?

the bayou ! found it.. hmm il have to get a stand for that..

It's big enough. Here's a picture of mine with a 15 gallon pot.

You're also going to need a wort chiller and fermentation vessels.

Lagers need a couple months of lagering time to be worth making a lager in the first place. So, in order to keep your pipeline going with lagers, you really need to have a fermenting chamber and a cold conditioning chamber. That's why you dont usually see brewpubs making lagers.

IMHO making really good lagers requires a bit more expertise than you have as a new brewer. On the other hand, you can make great ales, that taste a lot like lagers. Just something to think about...

hmm that is something to think about..

so when your saying fermenting chamber are you talking conicals or a fridge a controllered tempatures..

and when your saying cold conditioning chamber are you refering to the drop in temp for the secondary stage of lagers and ie a temp controlled fridge ?

Typically for lagers, you will ferment for 4-6 weeks at 48-52*F, then raise the temp to 55-58*F for a few days, then cold crash to 40*F and let it condition at that temp for a couple more months.

So, you will need a fermentation chamber (refrigerator, freezer or other chilled compartment that can hold a steady 48-52*F) that is also large enough to hold more than one batch of fermenting beer. What type of vessel you ferment in (bucket, conical, carboy) is pretty irrelevant except for their size requirements.

Then you will need a freezer for cold conditioning. I think cold conditioning is done best in Corny kegs, but that's just me. You will also need to decide when and how you will carb your beer.

thats what ive been asking on another thread.. i dont' want that sediment on the bottle of my bottles or cans.. i plan on filtering alot throughout the process for a very clean and clear beer.. but carbing has been confusing to me for the sediment..

You don't need A LOT of filtering for a very clean and clear beer, but you might want SOME.

If you're dead set on doing it this way, here's what I'd do: Ferment, diacetyl rest, and cold condition as I discussed. Use a cornelius keg with the last 3/4" or so of the "product out" tube cut off for cold conditioning. This will leave any remaining sediment at the bottom of the keg. A week or so before you're ready to bottle or serve it, transfer it to another corny keg by passing it through a filter. Then carbonate the new keg by adding co2 pressure (do a search for keg carbonating). You can then bottle from the tap with a bowie bottle filler or similar means, if you really want bottles. (Note: bottling from the keg is a bit tedious if doing more than a few bottles, but this is the only way you'll avoid yeast sediment in the bottles).

seems like such a hassle, but i guess thats what its gunna have to take.. when people make the step from home brew to microbrewery.. what do they use to make it clear ?

It depends, some microbrews have yeast sediment in the bottle just like homebrews. Most probably filter the beer at least a little to ensure no little bits of grain or other debris make it into the bottle. However, bottling pre-carbed beer generally takes more advanced equipment, or a slow tedious process.

I don't want to be a big downer, but it sounds like you'll be going through a lot of trouble and expense to produce a commercial-like beer, that in the end may not be as good as the commercial beer you want to emulate.

well ive been reading everyday for the past month and working on a great setup for what i want to to do.. just working out the fine details of what it takes.. and getting that non sediment beer is what im after.. in lager form. thanks for all your help..

OK, Great! I really wasn't trying to scare you off, but wanted you to be sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

The only thing I'd urge you to reconsider here is bottling. 5 gallons yields about 52 12oz bottles. The bottles have to be near frozen when filled in order to hold the carbonation in the beer, so that requires even more space in your freezer. And, filling them is going get old fast.

But, if the goal of bottling is just to take some beer to share with your hockey buddies after a game, you could easier fill a couple growlers to take with you each time. You don't have to worry so much about the carbonation since you'll be drinking it fresh (shortly after you've filled it).

True that could be a simple fix..

i mean what happens lets say if i wanna go micro ( dreaming of course ) then ill have to research more and see how the big guys do it..

Lots of micros and brew pubs do not filter their beer. And many homebrewers get excellent clarity by using: time, temp, Irish moss, gelatin, etc.

Bright tanks work well and long lagering.