Brewing next weekend for first time...someone check me!

[electricd7]

OK,

So I have been wanting to brew my own for months, but have had several things happen which has delayed me. Next weekend I think I will finally be ready. I am going to be doing an extract for the first brew, but in a converted keg kettle, so I plan to boil the full 5 gallons. Here is the recipe I will be using:

American Cream Ale
6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
8 oz. Carapils specialty grains (15-30min at 155 degrees)
2 oz. of Cascade pellet hops (1oz 30-60min, 1oz last 2 minutes)
Danstar Nottingham yeast

My keggle is setup with a ball valve and bazooka tube at bottom, so I am thinking because these hops are pellets I need to find a way to keep them from clogging my screen. Probably will use a 1gal paint strainer in the boil?

At about 45 min, I plan to add my 50ft stainless chiller to be sure it is sanitized as well. Then after 60 minutes, shut down the burner and turn on the water to cool below 80degrees as dictated by the instructions. At that point I will drain the wort into a 6gal sanitized ale pail and sprinkle the yeast on top. Add the lid and airlock (half-filled with water) and carry to my basement (at about 70 degrees) for primary fermentation. I plan to leave it this way for 1 week before transfering to glass carboy for an additional week-10 days.

Does this all sound correct so far? Am I missing something?

I am going to keg this 5gal, so at what point do I transfer to the keg? Do I need to prime the keg with some sort of sugar? This is where I am confused the most because most of the posts I have come across deal with bottling and leaving them for weeks in the bottle for conditioning. What about with kegging?

I also dont have a hydrometer or refractometer for checking SG. Is this a must? Any other advice anyone can give me so that this is a successful 1st brew would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ED7

 

[bobot]

I have never kegged, so I'll leave that part alone. I would advise a few things: Add the majority of your gold extract in the last few minutes of the boil, your color and flavor will benefit by doing so. Also, do not be impatient with the primary fermentation. Leave it in there until fermentation is complete, no matter how long that takes.
Good Luck!


P.S. Get a hydrometer, that's how you'll be certain that fermentation is complete.

 

[WileECoyote]

OK,

So I have been wanting to brew my own for months, but have had several things happen which has delayed me. Next weekend I think I will finally be ready. I am going to be doing an extract for the first brew, but in a converted keg kettle, so I plan to boil the full 5 gallons. Here is the recipe I will be using:

American Cream Ale
6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
8 oz. Carapils specialty grains (15-30min at 155 degrees)
2 oz. of Cascade pellet hops (1oz 30-60min, 1oz last 2 minutes)
Danstar Nottingham yeast

Big difference in 30 to 60 min for what hops do in your brew, you will need some of those hops in for 60 min for bitterness, 30 min is for hop flavoring, 10 min or less is for aroma, if it were my brew, maybe add 3/4oz at 60, 3/4oz at 20 and 1/2oz at 5 min.

My keggle is setup with a ball valve and bazooka tube at bottom, so I am thinking because these hops are pellets I need to find a way to keep them from clogging my screen. Probably will use a 1gal paint strainer in the boil?

Yes, the paint strainer bag will work great.

At about 45 min, I plan to add my 50ft stainless chiller to be sure it is sanitized as well.

Last 15 min will be enough time for this.

Then after 60 minutes, shut down the burner and turn on the water to cool below 80degrees as dictated by the instructions. At that point I will drain the wort into a 6gal sanitized ale pail and sprinkle the yeast on top. Add the lid and airlock (half-filled with water)

I use vodka in my airlocks, its sanitized, or StarSan works too.

and carry to my basement (at about 70 degrees) for primary fermentation.

You need to read the yeast pack or look it up for proper temp range for each yeast, fermentation temp is huge in making good beer.
70 deg is a bit warm for most yeast, 65 is the norm, your brew will produce heat when fermenting so it can be 10+ deg hotter than ambient air temp, a swamp cooler will help, rope handle tub $6 at walmart, put fermenter in it, add water, add frozen water bottles as needed to keep temp down.

I plan to leave it this way for 1 week before transfering to glass carboy for an additional week-10 days.

Lots of different opinions on this, I like 10 to 14 days in primary it seems to let the yeast finnish the beer better for me, secondary when i use one is anywhere from 14 days to 2+ months.

Does this all sound correct so far? Am I missing something?

I am going to keg this 5gal, so at what point do I transfer to the keg? Do I need to prime the keg with some sort of sugar? This is where I am confused the most because most of the posts I have come across deal with bottling and leaving them for weeks in the bottle for conditioning. What about with kegging?

I go right from primary to my Keg at 14 days on a lot of my beers (lighter beers=yellows and ambers), if I secondary its 14 days to 2+ months depending on the brew (big beers=high gravity and dark beers)

I age my (yellow, amber) beers in kegs for a minimum of 6 weeks (4 if your in a hurry)

Then chill keg for 12 hrs before I hook it to the gas at 9 psi for 10 to 14 days before tasting, you can carb a keg with sugar, but from what I have read you will want to use a bit less sugar than if you were bottling.

I also dont have a hydrometer or refractometer for checking SG. Is this a must? Any other advice anyone can give me so that this is a successful 1st brew would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

let it primary for 14 days since you have no way to check SG, home brew beers are better with age, be patient it will pay off big.

ED7

Good luck, you'll do fine.

Cheers

I can never seem to get the multi quote to work, so read thru above and I hope this helps.

Also +1 to what bobot said.

 

[electricd7]

Great! really good advice guys! I will plan to leave in primary for 14 days. My basement is actually cooler than 70 as I keep my second floor at 70 with only one thermostat, so I am guessing its more in the 65-68 degree range.

When you age your beer in kegs, do you do so with no CO2, or do you purge the headspace with C02, then release, then refill to 9-10psi?

Also, if I had a hydrometer, how exactly would I use it? When do I check SG and what should it be at before moving from primary to secondary, and again what should it be at before moving from secondary? I am guessing the SG doesn't change a lot in the secondary, but again I am a newb, so I am looking for any advice you have!

 

[WileECoyote]

Great! really good advice guys! I will plan to leave in primary for 14 days. My basement is actually cooler than 70 as I keep my second floor at 70 with only one thermostat, so I am guessing its more in the 65-68 degree range.

When you age your beer in kegs, do you do so with no CO2, or do you purge the headspace with C02, then release, then refill to 9-10psi?

Also, if I had a hydrometer, how exactly would I use it? When do I check SG and what should it be at before moving from primary to secondary, and again what should it be at before moving from secondary? I am guessing the SG doesn't change a lot in the secondary, but again I am a newb, so I am looking for any advice you have!

Hello I hook up keg to co2 bottle, purge the headspace with C02, and leave the 9 psi in the keg, unhook keg and let sit for aging, others here use 30 psi to set keg seals but mine have always sealed at 9 psi.

Hydrometer, I use right before pitching yeast, every batch will very on readings a bit, example reading=1.052 @ 75 deg
I use it again after 10 to 14 days from brew day, take 3 readings 1 each day to make sure readings are stable or 1 reading every other day is even better, right before transferring, bottling, kegging, secondary, example reading=1.010 @ 65 deg, if your 14 day reading is dropping your beer is still fermenting, so don't move it till its stable
keeping track of hydro and temp will allow you to calc your alcohol lvl in each batch.

Remember these numbers will change with each batch and can change quite a bit for different types of beer.

big beers=example reading=1.110 @ 75 deg before pitching yeast
and finished reading example reading=1.022 @ 65 deg

light beers=example reading=1.035 @ 75 deg before pitching yeast
and finished reading example reading=1.006 @ 65 deg

You will need to use each recipe you brew to calculate what these numbers should be.

For now, I would concentrate on sanitation and your fermentation temps, oh and leave the lid off pot when boiling the wort<<< very important.

Cheers

 

[mblanks2]

American Cream Ale
6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
8 oz. Carapils specialty grains (15-30min at 155 degrees)
2 oz. of Cascade pellet hops (1oz 30-60min, 1oz last 2 minutes)
Danstar Nottingham yeast

Is this a kit? If so do they recommend a full volume boil? Some kits only recommend 2.5 to 3 gallon boils and using a full boil will change the hop utilization greatly which COULD change the desired taste profile. If this a kit I would recommend that you stick with boil volume recommended.

 

[brewkinger]

Ok I am doing this on my smartphone so pardon any mistakes.
I agree with the partial boil comment above for hop utilization purposes.

I think your hop instructions are confusing. You have 2 oz but seem to be adding 1oz at 60, 1 at 30, and 1 at 2 minutes. Does not add up.

No need to worry about clogging the bazooka.

No need to put chiller in for so long. Last 10-15 minutes is enough.

70 degree ambient air temps are too high for most ale yeasts. Search swamp cooler for a cheap And easy way to keep it a little cooler.

Leave it in primary for at least 2 weeks
No need to secondary. (Numerous debates on this forum, most of them heated). Personal preference to secondary though.

No idea about the kegging questions.

 

[brewkinger]

And get a hydrometer!

 

[electricd7]

Found a local home brew store in my town today! Will pick up a hydrometer before brewing. As for the hops, 1oz should be added for either the entire 60 min boil or after 30 minutes for the last 30 minutes. The other 1oz should be added at the 58min mark for the last 2 mins of the boil. Tried to follow the way other posters talk about timing and must have gotten it wrong, sorry. As for the chiller, I plan to add it for the last 15 mins of the boil.

 

[electricd7]

Also, it is a kit but the instructions say if your pot can handle more than 2.5 gallons to boil more but don't say how much. Just figured it would be better to boil the entire 5 gallons. Still learning.

 

[brewkinger]

Adding that first oz at 60 min will have a much different effect than adding it at 30 min.
Do whatever the instructions tell you to.

 

[brewkinger]

Adding it at 60 min will have more bittering effect. Adding it at 30 is still considered bittering addition, but it will only be utilized for 30 min.
If you have a 5 gal kettle, I would not boil much over 3 for your first time.
Turn off heat when you make hop and extract additions and have a spray bottle o water handy to prevent boilovers. They are messy, especially inside on stovetop.

 

[electricd7]

I have a 15gallon kettle

 

[brewkinger]

I have a 15gallon kettle

Ahh yes. In that case, boil away!!!

 

[WileECoyote]

Big difference in 30 to 60 min for what hops do in your brew, you will need some of those hops in for 60 min for bitterness, 30 min is for hop flavoring, 10 min or less is for aroma,

if it were my brew, maybe add 3/4oz at 60, 3/4oz at 20 and 1/2oz at 5 min.

This was in my first reply

start boil at 60 min add 1st hops, then when 40 min has passed add your 20 min hops, after 55 min have passed add your 5 min hops

Cheers