A few questions from a beginner

[Lemontato]

EDIT: With the answers I received, I have a few new questions:
13) Where can I buy/find cheap pry-off bottles?
14) Should I look into getting 16oz/20oz bottles?
15) What cooling method is the most cost effective? I'm not sure a swamp cooler would do, it's already quite humid here where I live.

Hello everyone,

I just started my 2nd batch which is currently fermenting and I have a few questions.

1) On both batches, I accidently let my concentrated wort boil over during the step which requires me to boil for 30 minutes (I use the Best Case beer kits). It didn't boil over much but I am just wondering, how does this affect the beer? Do I lose flavor or something or is it just annoying to clean and not much effect on the beer?

2) I was retarded and used my hand to approximate the temperature of the wort to make sure it wasn't too hot to pitch the yeast. I don't think my hand was dirty but I don't remember. On a scale of 1 to you-screwed-your-batch, where am I sitting with this?

3) I use the dry yeast which comes with the beer kits, is liquid yeast better? Should I buy liquid yeast? If so, which one to buy? How do I know what type of yeast I need?

4) I currently am using a secondary fermenter but I've read a few times that it isn't necessary. What purpose do the secondary fermenter have? Is it just to have better clarity and less deposits in the beer when bottled? Should I switch to only primary, if so, is there some steps that need to be altered?

5) When fermenting, my wort is usually sitting in a piece that is at about 22C, is that too warm? Should I wrap it in a wet towel? The instructions that come with the beer kit say that 15-23C is fine but I've read that being in the 22-23 range is getting a bit too warm and might give some off-flavors.

6) I have standard beer kit which pretty much every local homebrew shop sell, that is a 30ish liters primary fermenter, a big glass secondary fermenter, an hydrometer, thermometer, Oxy-san powder, some pinkish powder that serves as a cleaner, airlock thingy for the secondary fermenter. Is there anything else I should look into buying? I also bought a bench capper and a bunch of caps.

7) Where do you guys get your labels made? Is there a website that make some easy-to-remove labels so I dont have to fight with every bottles after drinking them to remove the label?

8) Speaking about the labels, how do you remove yours? I use a pot scrubber after submerging the bottles in hot water, works well enough.

9) Right now I'm bottling in twist cap bottles and it seems to do the job, my first batch has only been bottled for a week and the carbonation seems to be coming along, but it's still weak. Is that due to the twist cap? Would I really gain something from pry-off bottles?

10) Should I bother with cold crashing since I'm using a secondary fermenter? I drank a few of my first batch beers and the deposit in the bottle is rather negligible so I don't think I would gain anything from it?

11) How do I know the IBU of my beer? There are a few terms I don't understand yet and so reading on this is confusing me a lot.

12) What should I know before moving to all-grain recipes? What would I need to buy? How much harder is it? Where can I find some good tutorials? I don't know much about brewing without a kit and don't know where to start looking.

That's all the questions I have I can think of right now! Thanks a lot for taking your time to help me out

 

[flars]

Hello everyone,

I just started my 2nd batch which is currently fermenting and I have a few questions.

1) On both batches, I accidently let my concentrated wort boil over during the step which requires me to boil for 30 minutes (I use the Best Case beer kits). It didn't boil over much but I am just wondering, how does this affect the beer? Do I lose flavor or something or is it just annoying to clean and not much effect on the beer?Just a clean up job that is all.

2) I was retarded and used my hand to approximate the temperature of the wort to make sure it wasn't too hot to pitch the yeast. I don't think my hand was dirty but I don't remember. On a scale of 1 to you-screwed-your-batch, where am I sitting with this?Sanitation of all the tools you use is important. Likelihood of a contamination here is small. should have used that thermometer and used it for rehydrating the yeast.

3) I use the dry yeast which comes with the beer kits, is liquid yeast better? Should I buy liquid yeast? If so, which one to buy? How do I know what type of yeast I need? Dry easts are very good now-a-days. It is a best practice to rehydrate dry yeast. Look for info on the yeast manufacturers sites. Some sites: Wyeast, White Labs, Danstar. Which yeast you use depends upon what you are brewing.

4) I currently am using a secondary fermenter but I've read a few times that it isn't necessary. What purpose do the secondary fermenter have? Is it just to have better clarity and less deposits in the beer when bottled? Should I switch to only primary, if so, is there some steps that need to be altered?secondaries have been used for clearing a beer. sufficient time in the primary does the same thing. (Your recipe probably says primary for four to five days and transfer to the secondary. You do not want to use a secondary until fermentation is complete. The hydrometer tests for Final Gravity. FG is usually two weeks. Secondaries are typical for aging a beer measured in months or additions like oak chips. Good racking techniques leave the sediment in the primary.

5) When fermenting, my wort is usually sitting in a piece that is at about 22C, is that too warm? Should I wrap it in a wet towel? The instructions that come with the beer kit say that 15-23C is fine but I've read that being in the 22-23 range is getting a bit too warm and might give some off-flavors.That is to warm for most ale yeasts. Fermentation gives off heat. Your wort will be warmer than the ambient temperature. Use a stick on thermometer for your primary to track temperature. Look up swamp cooler.

6) I have standard beer kit which pretty much every local homebrew shop sell, that is a 30ish liters primary fermenter, a big glass secondary fermenter, an hydrometer, thermometer, Oxy-san powder, some pinkish powder that serves as a cleaner, airlock thingy for the secondary fermenter. Is there anything else I should look into buying? I also bought a bench capper and a bunch of caps.Starsan is a very dependable sanitizer. It is a no rinse sanitizer. Don't scratch your bucket cleaning it. Scratched surfaces can harbor bacteria. Bench cappers are nice.

7) Where do you guys get your labels made? Is there a website that make some easy-to-remove labels so I dont have to fight with every bottles after drinking them to remove the label?Labels are nice, but extra work and expense. I use a magic marker to mark the cap.

8) Speaking about the labels, how do you remove yours? I use a pot scrubber after submerging the bottles in hot water, works well enough.
I soak commercial bottles in water with dish soap. Most labels just scrape off with a piece of plastic.
9) Right now I'm bottling in twist cap bottles and it seems to do the job, my first batch has only been bottled for a week and the carbonation seems to be coming along, but it's still weak. Is that due to the twist cap? Would I really gain something from pry-off bottles?
Twist offs don't seal reliably.

10) Should I bother with cold crashing since I'm using a secondary fermenter? I drank a few of my first batch beers and the deposit in the bottle is rather negligible so I don't think I would gain anything from it?
Don't cold crash or use a secondary for now. Leave your beer in the primary for two to three weeks. Your hydrometer sample will show you when it is clear.
11) How do I know the IBU of my beer? There are a few terms I don't understand yet and so reading on this is confusing me a lot.IBUs are probably listed in your kit. there are on line calculators also. Brewers Friend has one.

12) What should I know before moving to all-grain recipes? What would I need to buy? How much harder is it? Where can I find some good tutorials? I don't know much about brewing without a kit and don't know where to start looking.I would stick with extract kits until all the procedures become first nature. Link to online book. Appendix references other books to read.

http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html

That's all the questions I have I can think of right now! Thanks a lot for taking your time to help me out

Only had time for very basic answers. Hope it helps. Come back. We are always happy to help out.

 

[GotDrunkThenLost]

I've only done 7 brew myself so I'll answer what I can and even then feel free to take what I say with a pinch of salt:

2) Probably not screwed - there are a few threads around here (including a great one from Revvy) where similar things are done. That kind of thing should be avoided where possible but there are studies showing the vulnerability to infection is greater post fermentation compared to before.

3) I think thats a preference thing.

4) Secondary nowadays is for longer term ageing or adding ingredients after initial fermentation. No big deal if you've already moved from primary to secondary but also seems to not be necessary in most brews.

5) My last brew I tried to keep the water around the fermenter (not the beer within) at 18c using WLP002, the one I brewed earlier today I'm going to try to keep the water at 16c using WLP007. It's yeast dependant, have a quick google on your yeast and let the folks here know how you're fermenting you'll get some good advice.

11) I use Brewmate recipe designer app, there are plenty like it, plug in your process and ingredients and it'll tell you.

12) 4 of my 7 batches have been AG, I use Brew In A Bag (BIAB), do a search here you'll find plenty of information. I use a bag and my kettle (and another kettle to have some other water heated) and do alright, Once I understand water chemistry better and understand my water pH I'm sure I'll get better. My answer is to not be afraid of it.

 

[Kevin79]

1. Not only are boil overs messy, but yes you are losing a portion of your fermentables (sugar) in your final product which means a less flavorful, lower alcohol, and drier beer.

1.5 impossible to know, but you are probably fine as far as getting an infection from the bacteria from your hand. It is more concerning that you are judging yeast pitching temps with your hand instead of a thermometer. I would say infection from your hand is unlikely, but having strained yeast and off flavors from improper pitching temps is a strong possibility.

2. There are advantages and disadvantages to both dry and liquid yeast. Dry yeast is more convenient and has a high viliabilty, especially if rehydrated but there is a lack of style options for dry yeast. There is a plethora of liquid yeast strains out there that allow you to really allow you to nail the perfect flavors and chose characteristics you want in your beer and they are typically regarded as being of higher quality then dry yeast. The style of yeast you use depends on several factors including style of beer, alcohol tolerance, and expected fermentation temperatures. For example, you would use a hefeweizen yeast strain if you planned to brew a hefeweizen. Or if you were brewing in the summer and you had no way to control your fermentation temps, a higher temperature ranged yeast strain like a saison yeast might be appropriate.

3. Using a secondary is a matter of preference. However the general consensus is that they are not necessary for medium to low gravity beers. Secondaries are more popular to clear out higher gravity beers or beers that have fruit added to the primary. There are many who will say that. Secondary will significantly improve the quality and crispness of the beer no matter what type of beer it is however.

4. You have the basics. I'll let someone else comment more on this. Typical early things to consider buying that will improve beer quality include something to control temperatures (swamp cooler or fermentation chamber depending on how serious you want to get) and better ways to aerate/oxygenate your wort (O2 tank, filtered aquarium pump)

5 and 6. There is a dedicated forum for labels on this site. I personally don't label but Suggest spending a few minute browsing there and you will find plenty of avenues on how to do it. There are even people there who will help you with designs.

7. Yes. Twist off bottles allow CO2 to escape and result in poor carbonation. There is also the risk of infection here as well. Use only pry off bottles in the future.

8. Again cold crashing is a matter of preference. If you aren't satisfied with the clarity of your beer prior to bottling, go for it.

9. I'm not sure on how to determine the ibu's of a finished beer other than putting the recipe used in a brewing calculator.

Hello everyone,

I just started my 2nd batch which is currently fermenting and I have a few questions.

1) On both batches, I accidently let my concentrated wort boil over during the step which requires me to boil for 30 minutes (I use the Best Case beer kits). It didn't boil over much but I am just wondering, how does this affect the beer? Do I lose flavor or something or is it just annoying to clean and not much effect on the beer?

1.5) I was retarded and used my hand to approximate the temperature of the wort to make sure it wasn't too hot to pitch the yeast. I don't think my hand was dirty but I don't remember. On a scale of 1 to you-screwed-your-batch, where am I sitting with this?

2) I use the dry yeast which comes with the beer kits, is liquid yeast better? Should I buy liquid yeast? If so, which one to buy? How do I know what type of yeast I need?

3) I currently am using a secondary fermenter but I've read a few times that it isn't necessary. What purpose do the secondary fermenter have? Is it just to have better clarity and less deposits in the beer when bottled? Should I switch to only primary, if so, is there some steps that need to be altered?

4) I have standard beer kit which pretty much every local homebrew shop sell, that is a 30ish liters primary fermenter, a big glass secondary fermenter, an hydrometer, thermometer, Oxy-san powder, some pinkish powder that serves as a cleaner, airlock thingy for the secondary fermenter. Is there anything else I should look into buying? I also bought a bench capper and a bunch of caps.

5. Where do you guys get your labels made? Is there a website that make some easy-to-remove labels so I dont have to fight with every bottles after drinking them to remove the label?

6) Speaking about the labels, how do you remove yours? I use a pot scrubber after submerging the bottles in hot water, works well enough.

7) Right now I'm bottling in twist cap bottles and it seems to do the job, my first batch has only been bottled for a week and the carbonation seems to be coming along, but it's still weak. Is that due to the twist cap? Would I really gain something from pry-off bottles?

8) Should I bother with cold crashing since I'm using a secondary fermenter? I drank a few of my first batch beers and the deposit in the bottle is rather negligible so I don't think I would gain anything from it?

9) How do I know the IBU of my beer? There are a few terms I don't understand yet and so reading on this is confusing me a lot.

That's all the questions I have I can think of right now! Thanks a lot for taking your time to help me out

 

[Lemontato]

Thanks a lot to all of you

 

[ChelisHubby]

Well I would not want to guess about how accurate your hand is calibrated for tempature ? I hope the kit was pretty cool to touch. lol There probably is no infection, But depending on fermentation tempature you might get some strange flavors. I would let it ferment for 3 weeks and then taste it and I would probably bottle it if it taste like beer. Good Luck!

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[ChelisHubby]

Well I would not want to guess about how accurate your hand is calibrated for tempature ? I hope the kit was pretty cool to touch. lol There probably is no infection, But depending on fermentation tempature you might get some strange flavors. I would let it ferment for 3 weeks and then taste it and I would probably bottle it if it taste like beer. Good Luck!

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[Lemontato]

Well I would not want to guess about how accurate your hand is calibrated for tempature ? I hope the kit was pretty cool to touch. lol There probably is no infection, But depending on fermentation tempature you might get some strange flavors. I would let it ferment for 3 weeks and then taste it and I would probably bottle it if it taste like beer. Good Luck!

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/

I was just distracted I do have a thermometer, I just didn't think to use it right away! Checked the temp with it right after.

 

[andy6026]

EDIT: With the answers I received, I have a few new questions:
13) Where can I buy/find cheap pry-off bottles?

While you can look around on the inter-web for cheap pry-offs, if I could go back to where you are, I would avoid spending any money wherever possible on bottles and save the money towards a kegging system. As many of us that still bottle will tell you, as well as those that keg, bottling is time consuming, somewhat messy, and inconvenient, especially when you know that a much better way exists.

14) Should I look into getting 16oz/20oz bottles?

See above. I use 20z bottles because they hold a full pint and you'll spend a bit less time cleaning and filling bottles.

15) What cooling method is the most cost effective? I'm not sure a swamp cooler would do, it's already quite humid here where I live.

If a swamp cooler is not effective enough then you'll need to dedicate a refrigerator with a thermostat that will allow for fermenting temps, OR, install an air-conditioner in the room.

Hello everyone,

I just started my 2nd batch which is currently fermenting and I have a few questions.

1) On both batches, I accidently let my concentrated wort boil over during the step which requires me to boil for 30 minutes (I use the Best Case beer kits). It didn't boil over much but I am just wondering, how does this affect the beer? Do I lose flavor or something or is it just annoying to clean and not much effect on the beer?

You lost beer and had to clean up. That's it.

2) I was retarded and used my hand to approximate the temperature of the wort to make sure it wasn't too hot to pitch the yeast. I don't think my hand was dirty but I don't remember. On a scale of 1 to you-screwed-your-batch, where am I sitting with this?

Hard to gauge on a 10-point scale, but it will depend how much bacteria you had on your hand, what type, and how much healthy yeast you pitched. If you're going to stick your hand in your beer, it's better to do so after it's done fermenting, as the alcohol in the beer gives the beer a better chance not to get infected.

3) I use the dry yeast which comes with the beer kits, is liquid yeast better? Should I buy liquid yeast? If so, which one to buy? How do I know what type of yeast I need?

I wouldn't say that liquid is better/worse than dry. Some kits come with crappy and hard to identify dry yeasts. Supposedly the better kits come with better yeast, but I'm not the person to give good advice on this.

4) I currently am using a secondary fermenter but I've read a few times that it isn't necessary. What purpose do the secondary fermenter have? Is it just to have better clarity and less deposits in the beer when bottled? Should I switch to only primary, if so, is there some steps that need to be altered?

Yes, it's mostly about clarification. That CAN be important at times. If I brew something with a lot of hops then I find only going through the primary directly to bottling bucket jams up my bottling wand a lot, gets some hop debris in the beer and they're more likely to be bottle-gushers when I open them.

5) When fermenting, my wort is usually sitting in a piece that is at about 22C, is that too warm? Should I wrap it in a wet towel? The instructions that come with the beer kit say that 15-23C is fine but I've read that being in the 22-23 range is getting a bit too warm and might give some off-flavors.

It all depends on the yeast. I'm more familiar with ferenheir in which the yeasts I use typically like somewhere around 52-68 range

6) I have standard beer kit which pretty much every local homebrew shop sell, that is a 30ish liters primary fermenter, a big glass secondary fermenter, an hydrometer, thermometer, Oxy-san powder, some pinkish powder that serves as a cleaner, airlock thingy for the secondary fermenter. Is there anything else I should look into buying? I also bought a bench capper and a bunch of caps.

You'll need an auto-siphon, a bottling buck and bottling wand, and I highly recommend a blow-off tube for initial fermentation. Down the road things like stir plates, wort chillers, etc., are important to improve your beer and make brewing a lot more convenient.

7) Where do you guys get your labels made? Is there a website that make some easy-to-remove labels so I dont have to fight with every bottles after drinking them to remove the label?

I make my own using the free program paint.net and then I print them off on a color printer using regular paper. I cut them out and stick them on with a glue stick. I've heard of others sticking them on with milk, but I haven't tried it. The glue-stick ones peel off super-easily in hot water. Labelling was a luxury that I jettisoned very early in the process as it is a lot of extra work.

8) Speaking about the labels, how do you remove yours? I use a pot scrubber after submerging the bottles in hot water, works well enough.

Same

9) Right now I'm bottling in twist cap bottles and it seems to do the job, my first batch has only been bottled for a week and the carbonation seems to be coming along, but it's still weak. Is that due to the twist cap? Would I really gain something from pry-off bottles?

You'll likely get more consistent carbonation with pry-offs. See above about kegging.

10) Should I bother with cold crashing since I'm using a secondary fermenter? I drank a few of my first batch beers and the deposit in the bottle is rather negligible so I don't think I would gain anything from it?

I didn't cold crash until recently. When I did start, it seemed like a minor miracle as to how well it clarified the beer.

11) How do I know the IBU of my beer? There are a few terms I don't understand yet and so reading on this is confusing me a lot.

There's a lot of new terminology in brewing that can seem daunting. If you plug your ingredients and hop schedule into an online calculator (there are many) it'll tell you the IBUs.

12) What should I know before moving to all-grain recipes? What would I need to buy? How much harder is it? Where can I find some good tutorials? I don't know much about brewing without a kit and don't know where to start looking.

AG brewing takes longer, as you have to do a mash and most recipes require you to boil the wort for at least an hour. You'll need a grain mill (unless your LHBS crushes for you) and a mash-tun (unless you BIAB). I much prefer AG brewing to extract. It's a much more involved process, as you have more control, and it's considerably cheaper. It's not all that hard, and while some people bypass extract altogether, it is kinda handy to learn how to boil water before ban before you bring in the extra steps of milling and mashing. there are plenty of online tutorials. The simplest method of mashing is called 'batch sparing', so look for tutorials on that and go for it. While not entirely necessary, I recommend a better thermometer than those $3.99 floating thermometer jobbies, as it's almost essential to get a fast and accurate mash temp as soon as you start to mash. There's a great online tutorial (by Jenn and somebody) on how to easily build your own mash-tun from a standard rectangular cooler, but beware what metals you use -- galvanized steel is poisonous, so always use stainless steel, copper and brass (best to remove surface lead) where possible.

That's all the questions I have I can think of right now! Thanks a lot for taking your time to help me out

No problem. Good luck and happy brewing. If you do switch to AG, don't be put off if your first few batches don't come out stellar. There is a learning curve, but you'll adjust fairly fast.

 

[danath34]

13) If you don't mind a little elbow grease, craigslist was a boon for me. I got 100 bottles (in boxes) for free. now some of them were very nasty, some had cigarettes, some had bugs, some had mold, so I gave them a good long soak, hit em with a brush, gave them an even longer soak (couple days cus I was lazy) in a strong bleach solution, rinsed very well, and finally hit them with star san. they cleaned up beautifully. in the end they were just like new. the next cheapest/easiest is probably to hit up friends and bars to see if they can set some aside for you.

14) Completely up to you. I enjoy bottling and prefer having 12oz because it's more servings. "feels" like more beer. but that's my preference. there's nothing easier than bottling in swing tops.

15) it should be obvious here that I'm a huge craigslist fan. I bought an old fridge off craigslist for about $50, an STC-1000 temperature controller for about 15-20 and some miscellaneous parts from radio shack for probably another 15 or so. I stuck the temperature controller in a nice little box with a power switch and a standard a.c. inlet along with four a.c. outlets. two outlets per channel, one channel for cooling ( fridge) one channel for heating. the extra outlets are in case I want a fan to run while the fermentation chamber heats/ cools. just a little wiring know-how and it's set and forget temperature control for less then $100. you can certainly find fridges cheaper and forego the box, switch, and outlets/inlets and have a less polished solution (that still does the same thing) for under $50. that's probably the best bet.

 

[Wolfbrau]

Here's my take.

1. Just a clean up job. And a crappy one given how sticky wort is.

2. There's a chance it could be infected, but hey, lesson learned, right? Part of brewing is learning your process and knowing you're getting better every time. Only god knows if it will get infected or not at this point. Just relax and enjoy the ride is my advice.

3. The primary reason to use liquid yeast is the variety. Dry strains are awesome these days and, when paired with good fermentation practices, make some of the best beer on earth. I like to pitch a large amount of healthy yeast, so doing liquid requires a starter unless the smack pack is like less than a week old. That adds more complexity to the operation and, thus, more opportunity for error. Rehydrating dry yeast is very easy once you get your process down.

4. I am "new-school" and believe that the secondary is only useful in extremely limited circumstances, doubly so if you are kegging. I only secondary if I plan to both age a beer and then dry hop it or add other stuff that will require another transfer.

5. Fermentation temperature control is the single largest improvement a beginner can make to their beer, in my opinion. I'd get temperature control before going all grain, or even to a full volume boil. Yeast generate a lot of heat during fermentation. The middle of the carboy can be sitting 15 degrees warmer than ambient temperature at the very time it's most important. If you insist on fermenting hot, I recommend using saison yeast, like Danstar Belle, which can take the heat.

6. Fermentation temperature control!!! Get an old chest freezer and wire it up with a Ranco or Johnson or Love or whatever temperature controller. You can absolutely win gold medals with all-extract, partial boil beers if you pitch enough healthy yeast and keep your fermentation closely monitored. After that, find a method to oxygenate your wort. I recommend an aquarium pump or O2 tank.

7. Check out Grog Tags.

8. Water and elbow grease. I then wash with a kitchen faucet attachment and sanitize using the rinse and dry cycle on my dish washer. I put aluminum foil over the top to keep them sanitary for the indefinite future.

9. Pry-offs help because the cappers seal the lids tight, preventing CO2 escape during conditioning.

10. Don't worry about cold crashing, finings, etc until you've got good temperature control. For now, you're relying on bottle conditioning to mature your beers.

11. Pick a recipe calculator and use it to get your predicted stats. For homebrewers, IBU is almost always an estimate using one formula or another. It really doesn't matter which calculator you use as long as you remain consistent. I like beertools, many people have their own personal favorite like beersmith or promash. IBUs are an intricate business that rely mostly on your own experience.

12. FERMENTATION TEMPERATURE CONTROL!!! Then oxygen. Use dry yeast and rehydrate it well. The "hot side" of making beer is very exciting, but you'll get better (dramatic) results focusing on fermentation. Especially with the extracts, hops and yeasts readily available today.

13. Go to a store that sells specialty beer and ask how much a case of Grolsch swingtops is, special order. I bet it's cheap. You won't regret it.

14. Whatever's convenient for you.

15. I use a Ranco single-stage (i.e., no heating) with a chest freezer. I put the ranco on an extension cord so I didn't hack up my freezer. I attach the probe to the carboy using plumbers putty or, if I'm out, bubble wrap and duct tape. I pitch 2 degrees colder than my fermentation temperature and let it rise naturally, then do a diacetyl rest at 4 degrees higher than that at low krausen. You can be doing temp control for under $150-200 if you use craigslist.