Another FNG from Minnesota

[Pelican of the Desert]

Hey everybody!

I've never homebrewed before in my 38 years, but over the past year my interest level has been steadily increasing and I now have a ton of questions about where to start (kits) and everything that's needed to brew beer properly.

Been a fan of craft beer for about 10 years, coming from a background of chugging the clearest beer possible in college for the purpose of getting wasted, simply tolerating the taste. A decade ago I realized, wow, beer is so much better if you spend more money for a quality brew and actually take time to enjoy it! My favorite neighborhood brewery is Waconia Brewing, and my favorite MN brewery has to be Surly, although it's really impossible to pick an overall favorite with so many stellar options available.

My father in law gave me a Growlerwerks uKeg for Christmas and I've had fun playing with that over the past week or so, and I'd like start by brewing a small batch and force-carbonating using the uKeg.

Looking forward to learning and contributing where I can.


Brian.

 

[NeoBrew]

Welcome. It's a great hobby!

 

[IslandLizard]

Enjoy your brewing and beer journeys!
The forums here are a good resource. Look for a recipe you like that has good feedback, get the ingredients from your local brew store and you're on your way.

You can ferment small batches in pretty much any food safe container. As long as it can hold the volume and at least 1/5-1/4 of it as empty headspace so the krausen (foamy yeast) doesn't ooze out the top, or worse, exits explosively.

 

[MaxStout]

Welcome to HBT, from another frozen Minnesotan!

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from Colorado

 

[Pelican of the Desert]

Thank you everybody for the warm welcome!

I have to be transparent - I found a one-gallon kit on clearanced-clearance at Target for like $10, so I figured, what the hell, it will give me a chance to screw up on something cheap for my first time. I took a crack at it yesterday and was doing fine, then about 3 hours in when I put the kettle in the sink full of cold water and ice, I took my eye off of it and it rolled over, resulting in my first one gallon wort drain pour and a 0% overall success rate.

Discouraged I am not, because I'm pretty sure the beer would have sucked anyways. I have a one gallon kit on the way from Northern Brewer and I'll be trying my hand with that as soon as I get it, and you bet I'll keep my eye on it the entire way through this time around. As mentioned before, I also intend to force-carbonate using my uKeg instead of bottle conditioning.

One of the things that turned me off from getting into brewing was the preconceived notion that it meant starting with 5 gallon batches which I have absolutely no interest in, at least right now. I don't drink that much beer, I'm the ONLY person in my family that appreciates good beer, and I don't have many friends that drink period. I also get tired of drinking more than a couple of the same kind of beer in a row. I was elated to learn that there are some really good one gallon options out there which to me seems like a great place to start, and if the inspiration strikes, I'll gear-up to higher production down the road.

 

[MaxStout]

Make whatever batch size you like. That's the nice thing about brewing--any recipe can be scaled down. I know a brewer who ferments batches in plastic half-gallon Simply Orange bottles. Small batches are an ideal way to experiment with recipes and processes. You could make a bunch of them in one afternoon. And with 1-gallon brews you won't feel the need to buy kits. Go to the LHBS and just buy the raw ingredients you need.

Here is a huge thread devoted to 1 gal. brewing, which you might find helpful.

 

[NeoBrew]

Sorry to hear about the roll over! That sucks.

You might be surprised when you do finally get that first batch done. It just could be a whole lot better than you think.

One tip I would offer is to store the fermenter in a good spot. The brew day part is really just like following a recipe. It's not too hard and even small deviations probably have a nominal impact on the beer.

When you ferment, keep it somewhere relatively cool. Most ales like to be brewed between 65 and 68F. Keeping the fermenter somewhere in a space that is between 60 and 65 would be ideal. (The fermentation will probably boost the temp a couple degrees, even in a small batch.) Also, it should be somewhere out of direct light. The light can 'skunk' the beer.

If you do those two things, you are more than likely going to end up with something you enjoy drinking.

Brew on!

 

[Pelican of the Desert]

Make whatever batch size you like. That's the nice thing about brewing--any recipe can be scaled down. I know a brewer who ferments batches in plastic half-gallon Simply Orange bottles. Small batches are an ideal way to experiment with recipes and processes. You could make a bunch of them in one afternoon. And with 1-gallon brews you won't feel the need to buy kits. Go to the LHBS and just buy the raw ingredients you need.

Here is a huge thread devoted to 1 gal. brewing, which you might find helpful.

The opportunity for easy experimentation is what's so attractive about the small batches. I've read about scaling recipes and I'm glad you confirmed that here. I've started looking through recipes a bit on this forum and oh my lord...I need to take one step at a time...and thank you for the link to the 1gal brewing thread, that's hours and hours of fun right there!

Sorry to hear about the roll over! That sucks.

You might be surprised when you do finally get that first batch done. It just could be a whole lot better than you think.

One tip I would offer is to store the fermenter in a good spot. The brew day part is really just like following a recipe. It's not too hard and even small deviations probably have a nominal impact on the beer.

When you ferment, keep it somewhere relatively cool. Most ales like to be brewed between 65 and 68F. Keeping the fermenter somewhere in a space that is between 60 and 65 would be ideal. (The fermentation will probably boost the temp a couple degrees, even in a small batch.) Also, it should be somewhere out of direct light. The light can 'skunk' the beer.

If you do those two things, you are more than likely going to end up with something you enjoy drinking.

Brew on!

Thank you! Cooking is something I do often and really have fun with, so the kitchen part of the brewing process will be something I look forward to and enjoy. I appreciate the fermenter tip...we have an unfinished basement (for now) with a nice dark corner that stays several degrees cooler than our main living-space which I keep at 68 degrees in the winter, I think that should be a good spot for it. My goodies will be here tomorrow, I'm excited!!! I'll likely use my Coleman cooler this time for the chill down and not use so much water, it was floating last time which was obviously my biggest mistake (other than turning my back on the kettle).

 

[TKWoody]

I know a brewer who ferments batches in plastic half-gallon Simply Orange bottles.

Here is a huge thread devoted to 1 gal. brewing, which you might find helpful.

That would be me. Although I'm going to stop using Simply bottles as they've dropped to 52 ounces. Pure Leaf Ice Tea looks like it will become my small batch favorite. It's fun to do a small batch and split it between several containers. Then I can experiment with yeast, dry hops, etc.

Welcome from another Minnesotan.

 

[bracconiere]

I know i'm late to the party...But, Welcome! (and don't forget about cider too! their tally for the year can use every gallon it can get!)