Best advice to give a new brewer?

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Newbie23

Newbie23

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Hey everyone

I’m new to the brewing scene - about 4 months ago started all grain brewing in a bag on the stove. I’ve made a few nice but basic brews, along with some pretty mental bottle bombs too!
I’ve just recently bought a Robobrew and have brewed my first batch on there, it’s currently in the fermenter and ill be bottling on the weekend, pretty excited to see how it turns out.

I guess I’m looking for your most important and obvious tips and advice on improving my brews. I’d like to enter competitions some time in the future, so would greatly appreciate any help

Currently I’m only fermenting in a basic plastic fermenter, then bottling using carb drops.
  • How much better does your beer get if you siphon off into a keg and carb using a C02 bottle.
  • Are there any fun little extra steps on the way to improve the quality of my beer.
  • If I was going to throw money at any particular stage of the beer making process, what is going to improve my brew the most?
 
Newbie23 said:
Hey everyone

  • If I was going to throw money at any particular stage of the beer making process, what is going to improve my brew the most?
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Reduce oxygen exposure and your beer will be better. Get at least 2 kegs, ferment in one and do a closed transfer to the serving keg.
There are many discussions here on HBT about how to accomplish this.
Also get a small chest or upright freezer and a temperature controller. The freezer can be used as both a fermentation chamber and a place to keep your serving keg cold, just not at the same time, so eventfully you'll need another freezer or fridge for the serving kegs.
I found all my kegging gear used on craigslist.
 
Temperature control during fermentation made the biggest difference in the quality of my beer. It doesn't have to be elaborate, depending on where you live and when you brew. Set the fermenter into a tub of water and control the temp with bottles of frozen water or buy a chest freezer and a controller. Both work, one is more expensive.
 
I may add water chemistry and pH control. Your water may be perfect for brewing as it is. If that is the case, lucky you! But more often than not, it is not...so it may be good to look at that aspect from the start. I know it made a world of a difference for me, at least as much as yeast management and controlling fermentation temperatures (which of course is also very important, as pointed out above).

Newbie23 said:
How much better does your beer get if you siphon off into a keg and carb using a C02 bottle.
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Depends on the beer. For the majority of styles there is nothing wrong with bottle conditioning IMHO. You can make very good beers that way.
Especially if you are careful to reduce oxygen exposure as much as you can post fermentation.
For very hop forward styles (NEIPA & Co), then yes, it may be sensible to look into kegging and closed transfers as suggested above.
 
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Newbie23 said:
pretty mental bottle bombs
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That is a great band name.

All I can think to add to the good advice you’ve already gotten here is PBW and Starsan are your friends. Wash it like you mean it. Especially bottles, kegs and fermenters. And don’t forget the valves.
 
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There are many areas to improve but I have to agree that temperature control during fermentation is one area that can have an impact with little investment. There is a lot of information on different yeast and different styles and what actually is going on with yeast and what chemicals they are producing under different conditions. I find it becomes a very educational when I research recipes for a beer style.

as for kegging and forced carbonating, that’s more for convenience. While there can be some differences between naturally carbonating and forcing CO2, for the most part, the potential to reduce O2 exposure during kegging can off set any improvement from natural carbonation. Forced CO2 let’s you drink it faster, but quick tapping reduces the benefits of aging. I keg fwiw, but I do let the kegs properly age in my fermentation fridge. I love not cleaning bottles and at after a long day pouring a pint from my kegerator as I sit down for dinner.
 
Newbie 23
Well done, I dived into all grain with a Robobrew about 3 + years ago and have been on the escalator ever since.
All above advice was on my list of suggestions but as the low hanging fruit is picked off have to try a bit harder for you.
Assuming Robobrew 3 something 35 litre, don't try and do a big high gravity all grain yet, if you do in a few brews aim for a ( are you metric or using a slide rule?) brew of about half capacity ie not aiming for 23 litres of 1.088. You will struggle and be disappointed, small batch you'll be fine and get there.
Big hoppy brews with dry hops x2 are a challenge and there are great beers out there with less extra steps.
Try and brew a few styles but err away from super light Buds, they are hard to make good and look so simple.
I found the robobrew very forgiving, aimed for around 3litre mash liquid per kg of grain and then sparge with about the same volume.
Buy a cheap fridge for temp control.
Water is very important but find someone who can help you with your home profile for the beer you are aiming for and then put your toe in and try and use a calculator to work out the answer they give you.
Yeast can transform your wort in so many ways, seems such an afterthought when you sprinkle the packet on the top of the wort you've slaved over for hours as a beginner. Changing to liquid yeast and then building starters and harvesting yeast was a revelation, to me it was as big a step or change as moving from no boil extract to all grain.
The basics of sterility and care to mature and serve the product with respect is not to be undervalued.
Finally there's no limit for you but prepare for failure and you'll fail less and learn more if and when it does occur.
I find no brew day is perfect, no checklist and no co pilot so you will crash a few planes, but no casualties with beer, just a dent in your pride and an opportunity to start again.
 
DuncB said:
Buy a cheap fridge for temp control.
Water is very important but find someone who can help you with your home profile for the beer you are aiming for and then put your toe in and try and use a calculator to work out the answer they give you.
Yeast can transform your wort in so many ways, seems such an afterthought when you sprinkle the packet on the top of the wort you've slaved over for hours as a beginner. Changing to liquid yeast and then building starters and harvesting yeast was a revelation, to me it was as big a step or change as moving from no boil extract to all grain.
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Some sound advice right here, both on the water and the yeast part.
I agree water chemistry can be daunting at first and become a rabbit hole, so it's great advice to find someone experienced that can help you in your first steps.
Once you have figured out the basics you'll see it's not that complicated. The most important things are to remove chlorines/chloramines if present, and have your water alkalinity under control, which will then have a direct influence on your mash and wort pH. Or you opt for the blank slate that is RO/distilled water, like many do. But I would definitely try first to get a grasp of the subject and of your own water. Even working with RO/distilled might still require adjustments for optimal results, depending on the beer style.
 
The most improvment you can get for your money is fermentation temperature control. Consider a fermenter with cooling or a fermenter than can fit in a fermentation chamber aka a fridge or freezer with inkbird temp controller).

As mentioned, temperature control is key. Both stable mash temps as well as fermentation in the optimal (and stable!) range for your yeast. A bad recipe that has been well fermented will be better than a good recipe badly fermented. The brewer makes the wort, the yeast makes the beer. Keep your yeast happy.

Kegs are fun but not necessary. They won't make your beer better but they will make the process easier. It's a big investment that you can skip.

You don't need to be anal about your FG. Don't bottle before time, but also you can leave the beer in the primary for a bit longer than needed. I often keep it there a whole two weeks so it fits my weekend brewing schedule. Brew and bottle/keg on Sundays. Wheat beers sometimes three weeks. Lagers definitely three weeks.

Don't use warm tap water and remove chlorine and chloramine( campden tablets).

Also, do yourself a favor and get the How to Brew 4th edition by John Palmer.
 
Get a bucket, make some sanitizer with Star-san, about 2-3 gallons, and keep that bucket nearby and throw everything in it that you will use, whether it touches the beer or not. Siphon from the bucket into your fermenters and kegs and siphon back to the bucket. If you bottle, make enough so that it will cover the bottle tops so all you need to do is stand them up. When you use a hose or wand throw it in first, then rinse after use and throw it back in. You can also use a storage bin as a sanitizer tray instead. Since I use an auto-siphon and hoses to transfer the sanitizer they are all sanitized by default too.

There is a subset of my toolkit that I use for every batch and those go in without even thinking about it now. I take the valves off my kegs and throw them in too.

When I started many years ago I was meticulous about sanitizing everything in advance, laying out paper towels to lay things on. Just throwing it all in the bucket is much easier and you stop thinking about it.

I haven't had an infection in the 15 years or so I've worked this way.
 
Wow guys, thanks so much for the feedback. I went to bed thinking I’d get one or two responses, this really is a great place to learn and get more information.

I had no idea the temp control during fermentation was so vital to a good brew.

I look forward to asking hundreds of more questions from you all 😁
 
kegs wont make the beer better. it will make brewing easier and faster but will have little impact on the final beer. if you want to make better beer 100% start with being able to control you fermentation temp. you may have a 68 degree spot in your house but fermenting is an exothermic reaction (creates heat). so while ambient might be 68 in you fermenter it could be 78. An old fridge of craigs list with an external controller will do wonders for you
 
Temperature control’s already been covered. The other thing I would buy is a grain mill. No more relying on inconsistent or otherwise questionable LHBS milling. Helps you dial in your efficiency.
 
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ChuckS1 said:
Temperature control’s already been covered. The other thing I would buy is a grain mill. No more relying on inconsistent or otherwise questionable LHBS milling. Helps you dial in your efficiency.
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+1 (as we spend the OP’s money)

Here is how this works. Efficiency itself may not limit improving your beer as it’s easy to just up your grain bill for pennies to hit your targets, but if it’s inconsistent, the estimates you plug into your brew software (did we mention brew software?) will be less accurate. Your mill will grind consistently assuming you mark you settings and keep them there. If you find your efficiency too low for your comfort, you can then, assuming holding all other factors constant) use a finer crush.

I love my LHBS and they really know what they are doing, they knew to double crush my grains for BIAB but I never knew for sure if it was always the same or if a good crush. I eventually got my own mill on an impulse buy from recommendations here about a sale on more beer, and all was well, same efficiency as with the crushed grains from my LHBS. I recently tightened the rollers and my efficiency went up 10pts. I was shocked.

since my LHBS and my initial settings resulted in consistent efficiencies, my beer didn’t suffer, and the pennies I save are too negligible to notice since I round off to the nearest 1/4 lb anyway but I feel more I control and the higher efficiency is an ego boost. Where having my own mill is really important is what I buy the occasional kit. I appreciate the online stores and every once in a while I come across a kit that I don’t want to source my own ingredients but I find the crush inferior to my own or my LHBS.

if you want competition worthy beer, a mill will certainly eliminate inconsistencies and give you more control.
 
The single biggest improvement would be a temperature controlled fermentation chamber. I use a 4.4 cubic foot mini refrigerator with a digital temperature control. I can set it for any temperature from freezing to ambient temperature.
5D87DCA2-B0F9-498C-8993-8B8DE3EED7C2.jpeg
 
I'm in the new brewer category, but it's amazing how much you learn when you take a virus enforced year off to brew full time. My goal is to make beer that people would pay good money for in any bar. Win some competitions. Impress the s**t out of my mates.

I look back to my first pretty average extract beer to the all grain Barley Wine in my fermenter that went through 14% today and there are definitely a lot of factors that have got me to where I am now.

Spending hundreds of hours reading and learning the aspects of brewing has probably contributed the most to the quality of what I am able to brew now.

I have written a lot of notes about the brewing process and also records from brew day I refer to all the time.

I would be lost now without Brewfather to help me build recipes and guide my brew day.

On the equipment front, going AG with the BrewZilla and my Grainfather temperature controlled conical are the two big assets I own that have improved my beer the most. Closely followed by the CO2 setup for closed vessel transfers. I can go from fermenter to conditioning keg for extended maturation, back to bottling keg and into bottle in a very low O2 environment. I couldn't do what I do without CO2.

Other gear I have and really appreciate - counter flow chiller, grain mill, yeast starter stir plate, oxygen tank and wand, refractometer, pH meter, scales that measure to 0.1g, tightly sealing buckets for bulk malt storage, a couple of good cleaning and sanitising products.
 
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I'll add one new piece of advice - patience! If a recipe recommends both a time to wait and a target to reach - wait the requisite time and then check against the target value. If you come up short - wait some more. This is especially true for the end of fermentation, lagering, and cold crashing but also applies to mashing, boiling, kettle and whirlpool hopping, cooling, making yeast starters, carbonation (force or prime), and pretty much every thing else brewing, It is rare that a step is left too long.
 
I’ll add one different thing that helped me - $20 a year for the Brewfather app! You can use it for free, and it’s super helpful to get a grip on recipe formulation and how small changes can impact the style as well as some general rules for water chemistry. I like the paid version because it allows you to keep your inventory within hands reach. I also agree with the yeast starter - doesn’t have to be complicated, you can find cheap stir plates that will work on Amazon for like 30 bucks. Finally two useful books - Brewing Classic Styles and Designing Great Beers. Best of luck to you!
 
For me it was keeping the fermenter in a 60 degree closet (winter) with heat wrap and temp controller. In Summer using a tub with water and ice bottles first 3 days, or using Kveik and a heat wrap.

The other was water. My well water is hard and has clear water iron so it goes through fairly new softener. Makes ok beer but when I switched to spring water, boom, all beers got better without the extra sodium the softener adds.

Btw if you continue to bottle and bulk prime just attach the bottling wand directly to the spigot with about 2 inches of hose. Makes bottling so much easier and you can fill 6, cap them and repeat. Get through 2 cases of bottles quickly.
 
There's some great advice here - but mine is to take things slow. Yeah, water chemistry can make a difference, but if your water tastes good to you out of the tap, it's fine for brewing, at least for the time being. Same with all the other "advanced" techniques, at least until you're really comfortable with the whole process. Then start changing / adding things one at a time.
The biggest things that can make a difference for a new brewer are sanitation, yeast health / happiness, sanitation, fermentation control, sanitation and sanitation.
Everything starts with being clean and sanitary. |You don;t have to get surgical suite clean, but make sure everything that touches your beer post boil has been soaked or sprayed down with sanitizer - I use a couple of the spray bottles from the local big-box hardware store and give things a good spritz when I'm preparing to use them. Fermenters and packaging (kegs or bottles, plus caps) get a good long soak.
Yeast health means to pitch an appropriate amount (give or take) for your recipe. They say it's not needed, but I prefer rehydrating dry yeast before pitching, and |I always make a starter for liquid. Takes a half hour at most either a few days or day before brewing, depending on methods, and it makes sure there's enough yeast in good shape to do what needs to be done.
Fermentation control - make sure it's a good temp. Low to mid 60'sF is good for most ale yeasts. There are a few that like it a bit warmer, around 70, then there's kveik which is a whole nother ball of wax. |Keeping it at an exact temp isn't 100% necessary, as long as it's in a good range. Keep the fermenter in a dark area - light is no good for beer. And resist the urge to costantly open the top to "see how things are going" and tasting / testing. I'll check in a couple times a day for the first couple days after pitching, make sure things are progressing - just checking the airlock - then I forget about it for a couple weeks. |The first time |I open (barring issues) is a few days before packaging, just to get a gravity check. I'll close it back up until packaging, and verify the gravity hasn't moved. Since I use a refractometer that just needs a few drops, I don't see the beer until I open for transfer. |This moves into the next part - avoiding contact with air as much as possible. Closed transfer is best, but not always practical. So when transferring, avoid splashing - get the hose down under the surface and let it come in from below.
 
advice I can give is "keep it simple stupid"...KISS

I can't tell you how many gimmicks and contraptions I've bought into over the decades...before Al Gore invented the internet all we had for information was some cottage industry magazines that were mostly advertisers hawking their latest inventions to us. Most of that crap was worthless, complicated, and didn't produce any better beer.

beer is a simple process. cleanliness and sanitation are where it's at...nothing else matters as much
 
skidmark said:
The best advice for a new brewer?

Don't start.

I'll be the only one to offer the truth. Homebrewing is an insidious disease that only gets worse with time.

Get out now, before it's too late.
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Ha. I'm part of Covid-wave of home brewers, and this is funny because it's true. Things can snowball pretty quickly.
 
Get one of the setups available to infuse the wort with pure O2 to oxygenate before pitching the yeast. Depending on the OG, you're not going to provide nearly enough O2 for the yeast to be able to do all they can without stressing. Using just O2 in the atmosphere the maximum amount you can get into the wort is 8ppm. Fine for low OG brews, but that's about it. Get one of the O2 infusion stones on a stainless wand along with an actual regulator (flow/min) and you're up and running. I've been using my same setup for about a decade now (even with my time off from brewing).

I also agree with getting your own malt crusher. That way you can buy your grain for several batches at one shot and not need to worry about either freshness or if you decide to tweak the recipe before brew day. Crush on brew day and you're set. Motorize the crusher and it will make your life easier.

I've been fermenting in converted commercial beer kegs for a long time now. Zero chance of light hitting the brew/fermentation, pressure safe, and I don't need to worry about it breaking/cracking. A plastic fermenter will fail long before a stainless one will. Plus, if I EVER get an infected batch, I can simply steam/boil in it to get it cleaned out.

I've gone the fermentation under pressure route since I started brewing again. Partially due to higher basement temperatures than expected. Partially because the batch is also partially carbonated when being transferred into serving/carbonating keg. It also reduces/eliminates the need for blowoff tubes for over active batches.

I also transfer under pressure (gravity syphoning sucks balls) since early on. Once I pitch the yeast into the batch, the fermenter doesn't move until it's ready to be cleaned. I have 2" TC caps with a thermowell and liquid ball lock setup on them (my gen1 caps). The gen2 caps will include the CO2 in ball lock fitting/setup as well. I actually plan to make the first of those in the next week or two. I have most of what's needed for the first one ready, just need to get the parts to my welding buddy to get him to TIG it all up. Especially since I want to convert an untouched 1/2 bbl keg into a fermenter for the coming brew. My current large batch fermenter (50L or 13.3 gallon) would be a bit tight for the 12 gallon end volume batch (about 13 going in).
 
As several others have mentioned already, my best advice for someone looking to improve their beer is to invest in temperature controlled fermentation.

Why? Well, you don't actually make beer. You make the sugar-water that we call wort. The yeast turn that wort into beer. You want your yeast to be happy, productive workers. To do that, you want them to be working in the best environment possible.

The other piece of advice for "next step" would be to pay attention to yeast pitch rates. That falls under the same category as temperature control, in that you want to keep your workers happy.

Then there's always the classic.... Relax, Don't Worry, Have A HomeBrew! Patience and planning are your friends!
 
Punx Clever said:
Nah man, nothing like a nice, brisk, 6am brew day with a big ol' cup of hot coffee!

I'd say no brew(s) before the boil though!
Click to expand...

I try to avoid brews until my mash tun is cleaned out, otherwise it may not get done! I typically clean it out once the boil is stabilized and rolling along.

Dan
 

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