Considering becoming a Brewer

[Bohunter]

Greetings,
I am thinking about getting into home brewing but it all seems quite complicated.
I was planning on doing some distilling until me wife discovered that that is illegal and she didn’t like that idea. Anyway, I now have a nice 15.5 stainless keg that I need to find a use for. From what I have read so far I need a recipe, contents of that recipe, a pot to cook it in and some containers to transfer the contents of the pot into for fermentation. That sounds pretty simple but it isn’t. Can I use my stainless keg for cooking using propane heat? How do I get product from the pot to fermenting containers? Can plastic jugs be used for fermenting? If I would cook say an 8 gallon wort would I need 8 gallons of fermenting space and then how much bottling capacity?
There’s a lot to learn. Any advice, recommendations or other miscellaneous info you have to offer will be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance...

 

[bracconiere]

you need to steep malt at ~150f...strain it, boil it with a preservative, hops are the current choice.....cool it enough so it doesn't kill yeast, then add yeast....

i've been brewing a bit, and reading your post makes me wonder if i'd be able to.....

barley malt tea, just need to figure out how to steep it at the right temp, and strain it....

 

[Tom Foolery]

Step one.. Read the book How to Brew.
Step two. Put a thin kerf cutoff wheel on a four inch grinder and cut the top out of the keg you’ve got.

 

[madscientist451]

Go on you tube and watch some videos on how to brew in a bag. Put the keggle aside for now, get a 16 quart cheap pot from Walmart or Amazon and start with 2.5 gallon brews. Use your kitchen stove as a heat source. Get a plastic carboy, a funnel, a hydrometer, an auto siphon and some star san or similar sanititizer. You should be able to get everything for less than $100, or even cheaper if you can find some good used gear on craigslist. If you decide you don't want to brew you won't have a lot of money into the gear. You can keep it simple or make brewing complicated, its all up to you. But I'd say start out simple, get some brews made and see where you want to go from there.

 

[Jim R]

Step one.. Read the book How to Brew.

Wow, you got the best answer in the second response.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Eve...1612063448&sprefix=john+palmer,aps,285&sr=8-3

 

[Bohunter]

Go on you tube and watch some videos on how to brew in a bag. Put the keggle aside for now, get a 16 quart cheap pot from Walmart or Amazon and start with 2.5 gallon brews. Use your kitchen stove as a heat source. Get a plastic carboy, a funnel, a hydrometer, an auto siphon and some star san or similar sanititizer. You should be able to get everything for less than $100, or even cheaper if you can find some good used gear on craigslist. If you decide you don't want to brew you won't have a lot of money into the gear. You can keep it simple or make brewing complicated, its all up to you. But I'd say start out simple, get some brews made and see where you want to go from there.

 

[Bohunter]

Thanks for all the help! The book sounds like a good place to start, I ordered it...

 

[bracconiere]

Wow, you got the best answer in the second response.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Eve...1612063448&sprefix=john+palmer,aps,285&sr=8-3

hey now, i don't think you should have to buy a text book to make tea...

 

[Velnerj]

Yeah I think I agree with what @madscientist451 said. A 15 gallon keg is not a good starting point for brewing. On top of the brewing equipment you'll also need more kegging equipment. That would include CO2 tank, regulator, hoses, a picnic tap (or some way to serve the beer) and a large cooling vessel to keep the beer cold in.

That's not to mention that you'd like to make 15 gallons of beer. You're gonna need a 18-20 gallon pot (beer is boiled and you'll need to account for the expansion and bubbling of the beer) something to cook said pot on (it probably won't fit on the kitchen stove) an18-20 gallon fermenter (fermentation takes a lot space too as the yeast creates a krausen above the beer) and ways to transfer the beer from one vessel to another. Most homebrewers brew on 5 gallon batches so you'd need to buy three kits (or something equivalent) to get enough ingredients to make a 15 gallon batch.

All in all that's a big upfront investment and you'd be better off starting with smaller batches to see if it is something that fits into your (and girlfriend's) lifestyle. Not to mention the time investment to read Palmers book and actually get to brewing (usually takes one month to make beer).

Don't get too overwhelmed by all that making beer is not rocket science, but it's not like making mac and cheese either.

 

[belgabrewing]

Step one.. Read the book How to Brew.
Step two. Put a thin kerf cutoff wheel on a four inch grinder and cut the top out of the keg you’ve got.

John Palmer's book " How to Brew" is available free here: Introduction - How to Brew

 

[hout17]

John Palmer's book " How to Brew" is available free here: Introduction - How to Brew

This is the first edition and is a good starting point; however, consider buying the updated 4th edition as things have changed some over the years since the first edition was published.

John Palmer rocks and in my opinion this is the bible for brewing.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

John Palmer's book " How to Brew" is available free here: Introduction - How to Brew

It was written in 1999. Given how old it is, either

• read it twice (1st edition, then 4th edition) or
• "buy once, cry once".

"Pro tips": sometimes ebook previews are worthless, sometimes they are valuable; different ebook providers seem to have the ability to offer different amounts of preview.

 

[Birrofilo]

For a beginner it is easier to start with hopped extracts, or hopped "kits".
With this technique, you would only dilute an extract which already contains hop, you would add some liquid malt extract or dry malt extract, ferment and bottle. Adding "dry hopping" would be a little complication of this technique before going to something more complicated. This technique will allow you to brew very satisfying ales with your tap water if it is of normal quality and good to drink, or even with RO water or oligomineral water.

That will help you learning the boring side of cleaning, sanitization, bottling. You can dilute in the fermenter, so you can prepare a typical 23 litres batch with a 9 litres kettle and a 6 litres kettle or so. This is the primary school of homebrewing, where you learn the basics.

The next step might be doing a different technique, the Extract+Grain, "E+G" technique. With E+G you steep (don't really "mash") some grains and then you boil your entire wort for hop extraction. You can buy "E+G kits" that have all the ingredients in the box. To be made properly from a kit, this requires a large kettle. That's the only added expense but this also requires some decision about where to brew, your gas stove might be insufficient and you have to plan either go electric or buying a turkey frier. Several styles can be brewed with the E+G technique without any problem. Awards have been won at competitions with beers brewed with this technique. This is the middle school of homebrewing, where you begin dealing with some technicalities.

The subsequent step is the "all grain" (AG) technique: this is the technique that gives you total control over all aspects of the beer. Some styles can only be properly brewed with this technique. This involves "mashing" the grains and probably "milling" them as well, plus doing some calculation regarding water addictions and pH of wort. There is more work but also more flexibility. This is the "high school" of brewing, which allows you to reach a certain artisanal quality.

Then you can go to University, where you will learn designing your own beer (but in fact you can do it also at middle school) or some complicated techniques such as cold brewing, counterpressure filling, hop growing, malting on your own, kegging, pressure fermentation, whatever satisfies your curiosity.

Starting from hopped extract is IMHO a rational thing to do, although one can certainly start from all grain if he feels so inclined.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

How to Brew, 4e chapter 1 walks through an extract+steep brew day.

Speed Brewing (chapters 1 & 2) walks through an "all-grain" brew day.

Both do a good job with regard to equipment (both needed and wanted).

No levels, just a big bag of ingredients, equipment, and techniques.

For a beginner it is easier to start with hopped extracts, or hopped "kits".
With this technique, you would only dilute an extract which already contains hop, you would add some liquid malt extract or dry malt extract, ferment and bottle. Adding "dry hopping" would be a little complication of this technique before going to something more complicated. This technique will allow you to brew very satisfying ales with your tap water if it is of normal quality and good to drink, or even with RO water or oligomineral water.

That will help you learning the boring side of cleaning, sanitization, bottling. You can dilute in the fermenter, so you can prepare a typical 23 litres batch with a 9 litres kettle and a 6 litres kettle or so. This is the primary school of homebrewing, where you learn the basics.

The next step might be doing a different technique, the Extract+Grain, "E+G" technique. With E+G you steep (don't really "mash") some grains and then you boil your entire wort for hop extraction. You can buy "E+G kits" that have all the ingredients in the box. To be made properly from a kit, this requires a large kettle. That's the only added expense but this also requires some decision about where to brew, your gas stove might be insufficient and you have to plan either go electric or buying a turkey frier. Several styles can be brewed with the E+G technique without any problem. Awards have been won at competitions with beers brewed with this technique. This is the middle school of homebrewing, where you begin dealing with some technicalities.

The subsequent step is the "all grain" (AG) technique: this is the technique that gives you total control over all aspects of the beer. Some styles can only be properly brewed with this technique. This involves "mashing" the grains and probably "milling" them as well, plus doing some calculation regarding water addictions and pH of wort. There is more work but also more flexibility. This is the "high school" of brewing, which allows you to reach a certain artisanal quality.

Then you can go to University, where you will learn designing your own beer (but in fact you can do it also at middle school) or some complicated techniques such as cold brewing, counterpressure filling, hop growing, malting on your own, kegging, pressure fermentation, whatever satisfies your curiosity.

Starting from hopped extract is IMHO a rational thing to do, although one can certainly start from all grain if he feels so inclined.

 

[Jhedrick83]

I just got pushed down this hill not too long ago myself. How to Brew was recommended to me by these guys and I got it ASAP from Amazon. I've read through the first half a couple times over and it helped immensely. I still have plenty of questions regarding minutiae but it made me way more confident in knowing what I am doing. It's really not that hard after you read the book. The later chapters are great for getting more advanced as well. Way beyond worth it to get the book.

 

[Deadalus]

Yeah I think I agree with what @madscientist451 said. A 15 gallon keg is not a good starting point for brewing. On top of the brewing equipment you'll also need more kegging equipment. That would include CO2 tank, regulator, hoses, a picnic tap (or some way to serve the beer) and a large cooling vessel to keep the beer cold in.

That's not to mention that you'd like to make 15 gallons of beer. You're gonna need a 18-20 gallon pot (beer is boiled and you'll need to account for the expansion and bubbling of the beer) something to cook said pot on (it probably won't fit on the kitchen stove) an18-20 gallon fermenter (fermentation takes a lot space too as the yeast creates a krausen above the beer) and ways to transfer the beer from one vessel to another. Most homebrewers brew on 5 gallon batches so you'd need to buy three kits (or something equivalent) to get enough ingredients to make a 15 gallon batch.

All in all that's a big upfront investment and you'd be better off starting with smaller batches to see if it is something that fits into your (and girlfriend's) lifestyle. Not to mention the time investment to read Palmers book and actually get to brewing (usually takes one month to make beer).

Don't get too overwhelmed by all that making beer is not rocket science, but it's not like making mac and cheese either.

I agree it's a big vessel to start out with and don't recommend it. Some of the reasons provided don't follow. I brew 5-6 gallon batches regularly on a 3 vessel keggle system, mainly that size batch to work on recipes. The system is good for up to about 12 gallons, a bigger boil kettle could be utilized as you suggested to fully use that vessel as a mash tun. Kegging is not required though, a person can still bottle that amount if they wanted. You can bottle two five gallon batches at separate times or one ten gallon batch all at once. A full 10 gallon batch is pretty heavy to transfer without a pump or gravity system on top of the keggle weight! It can be done with gravity to answer one question asked, the pot has to be higher than fermenter. It's a keg without a top. At what volume can you personally move a 1/2 barrel beer keg alone? The cutout part doesn't weigh very much, I have lids made out of it.

 

[Toto's]

I would start to brew a beer, a 5G or even less. Bottle it. See how you like it. See if it's something you like. Do a BIAB ( brew in a bag )
Try to do with the minimum equipment at first. It you enjoy it great, you can purchase everything you need to improve your beer production.

You can choose a beer and this forum will help you to brew it.

 

[porterguy]

I suggest a combination of 1) read the book and 2) Madscientist's suggestion about brew-in-a-bag. OTOH if your idea of baking a cake is to buy a box of cake mix and add water, then extract brewing is a better option. After one extract batch, I thought "that's it, that's what home-brewing is all about?". So I switched to all-grain BIAB and never looked back. But that's just me. LOTS of people are happy with making extract beer, and you can make outstanding quality, award-winning beer doing extract brewing. All grain, IMHO, just allows for more creativity/flexibility.
And an FYI, it can be a VERY addictive hobby.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

... box of cake mix ... extract brewing ...

Check out the two "no boil NEIPA" threads that started in late 2019.

Rumor has it that "Betty Crocker" turned in her mash paddle in early 2020.

 

[Beermeister32]

The first batch I made while studying beer was actually making a carboy of apple cider. It got you thinking fermentation and working out the basics without the complications of producing wort.

 

[Transamguy77]

I agree with what was already said, information is key, also check out YouTube and watch some videos sometimes it’s way easier to watch someone rather than to read and try to figure it out.

Here is a link for a starter kit that has everything you need to make beer except for bottles, you’ll need 2 cases of pry off top bottles. Brew Share Enjoy Homebrew Starter Kit

Making beer is pretty simple it just seems complicated, after you make a couple of batches it’ll become less daunting. And @bracconiere put it pretty simply, make a big batch of tea with lots of sugar and add some yeast and in a couple of weeks you’ll have beer.

 

[bracconiere]

life is a highway - tom cochrane

And @bracconiere put it pretty simply, make a big batch of tea with lots of sugar and add some yeast and in a couple of weeks you’ll have beer.

(i don't know how that first quote got in, but i'll leave it )

the only trick to making barley malt tea is knowing the 'best' temperature range to steep it is between 145f-158f.....thankfully now that we have thermometers, you don't have to just keep doing decoctions, playing a guessing game.