First time - Here is the plan

[CanadIan]

A buddy and I are planning on getting into brewing our own beer. I figured I would post here my plan so that I can maybe avoid some pitfalls from the get go.
The primary motivation to begin with is the pursuit of good beer, with secondary motivations of DIY enjoyment and eventual money savings (cheaper than imports from the LCBO). We are both big fans of english ales, porters, and stouts.

So on to the plan...

Equipment:

Starter kit(LINK)

6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Primary Fermenter with Grommeted Lid
6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Bottling Bucket with Spigot
Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
Siphon and Bottling Set-up
Hydrometer
Liquid Crystal Thermometer
Bottle Brush
Twin Lever Capper
Airlock
Bucket Clip​

Turkey Fryer Set(LINK)

30qt Pot
Propane Burner
12" Thermometer​

Mesh Bag(for steeping grains)​

First Recipe:

My friend is a big fan of St. Peter's Organic Ale, and looking at a recipe posted here it seems as if it won't be too difficult.
Here is the original recipe as it was posted:​

I'm interested in getting the recipe for this ale. I found another poster asking for this recipe, too, with this as the reply

9 lbs. english 2-row
1 lbs. crystal 60

1.25 oz hallertau (60 min.)
.75 oz. hallertau (30 min.)
1 oz. bramling cross (0 min.)

english ale yeast
burton salts
1 tsp. irish moss

og 1.050
ibu 33

edit: i chose the bramling cross cuz. its the only enlgish hop described as 'fruity'; On st petes website they only list malt and hallertau as ingredients, but describe the finish as 'full of citrisy hops' which sounds like cascades, amirillo, or centennial to me...

Comments? Updates ?

TIA

I have adapted it a bit to fit what I can get at a Canadian supply shop, and converted it to Extract with steeped grains.
My Recipe:

6lbs Muntons light DME(unhopped)
1lbs crystal 77 for steeping

1.25 oz NZ hallertau (60 min.)
.75 oz. NZ hallertau (30 min.)
1 oz. either NZ hallertau or bramling cross (0 min.)

safale S-04
1 tsp. irish moss​

I am assuming I will not need the burton salts because I am using extract and untreated well water. I haven't decided If I will use the hallertau or the bramling cross for the final favouring as St. Peter's only states that they use New Zealand Hallertau. I am planning to use crystal 77 rather than Crystal 60 because it is the closest available to me. So it will be a bit darker(correct me if I'm wrong here).
I'm assuming I'm going to have to do my wort boil with the full water volume to keep the same effect for the hops. Am I correct that the Irish Moss is just to help clarify the beer?
I plan on leaving it on the primary for the full duration until bottling rather than racking to secondary.
​

So...What do you think?

 

[cuttsjp]

Irish moss is indeed a clearing agent.

Long primary is fine. Secondary is more of a means of freeing up vessels. Old yeast off-flavors are pretty much a thing of the past.

You do need to do a full wort boil to get the same hop utilization. If you do the full boil on your turkey fryer (which you're already planning on buying), definitely get a wort chiller to cool your wort down to pitching temps. It takes FOREVER otherwise.

I would get a glass carboy for your fermenter instead of the Ale Pail. You will almost certainly buy one within the next year of brewing anyway. It's just slightly more expensive, but there are lots of advantages, not the least of which is getting to watch the action when your beer is fermenting! Glass is also way easier to clean and sanitize (when you eventually get cracks or scratches in plastic, it is easy for bacteria to "hide out").

Lastly, welcome. You have entered into a wonderful and satisfying hobby that will not let you down (as long as you sanitize!).

 

[C17-EHSE]

Noticed you are from Belleville. I'm pretty much a noob so I don't have any answers per se. I just wanted to say that I love your neck of the woods. I was there in Aug and September of 2007 and Mar and April of 2008. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and worked at CFB Trenton when you got your C-17s. Hope to come back some day. Reid's soft serve is the best!

 

[unionrdr]

We have no problems with the ale pales at all. Just use PBW & a soft cloth to soak/scrub them,& you'll be fine. They're easier to use when adding things as well. Not to mention,a bit lighter & safer when lifting/moving them.

 

[CanadIan]

Do I really need a wort chiller for now... We are trying to start out as cheap as possible, while still able to make good beer. I can see getting a chiller down the line, but I saw this post about cooling a similar cooker:

Just did our first 5 gallon boil in the fryer last Saturday. Same problem, no way to cool the wort. However 2 large bags of commercial ice and a 6 dollar plastic trash can worked wonders. We dumped about 1/2 a bag in the bottom of the trash can and lowered the fryer into it then placed ice all the way around the stock pot by hand so as not to splash. Went from 212 degrees at flameout to 74 degrees in 18 minutes. Was below 140 in less than 5.

I am still going to get a wort chiller but I am definately not in as big a rush as I was.

If I can do that for now, then I can get a chiller after a few batches (to spread the cost out so my friend stays happily married).

Is that reasonable?

 

[beergolf]

I would get a glass carboy for your fermenter instead of the Ale Pail.

I disagree with this point. Buckets are easier to handle, easier to clean if you are careful not to scratch them and much safer. Sure it is cool to see the fermentation process but I still prefer buckets.

 

[63belair]

That is one of the beautiful parts of this hobby/obsession:

You can start out with the "bare bones" for equipment, and then slowly upgrade piece by piece as you go along. Some people will say differently on buckets vs carboys for fermenting, but lots of people still use the original equipment they bought, even as they upgrade to more elaborate set ups. I started with just the kit you listed, no fryer, doing partial boils on my stove top. As I moved on to full boils and upgraded to a turkey fryer and better bottle carboy, none of my equipment has become 'obsolete'.

You can definitely save a little by buying everything upfront all at once, but in reality the savings are not that much when you look at them from the perspective of a long hobby.

 

[TopherM]

IMO, you'd be much better off with a stainless steel pot instead of that aluminum pot. You can get a good stainless pot for around $80-90. Those aluminum turkey fryer pots are VERY thin, and conduct a ton of heat, meaning that the possibility of burning the extract and the heat loss during steeping are going to be difficult to control. If you do want to stick with the aluminum pot, then you may want to use a few blankets or some insulated wrap from the hardware store to wrap the pot in during steeping to maintain temp. Otherwise, you are going to have very unpredictable efficiency.

Go ahead and get a second grommetted lid and airlock for your bottling bucket. It'll cost about $5 extra, but give you the option to ferment two beers simultaneously and keep the pipeline full!

Also, if you keep the aluminum pot, remember that you need to do an initial boil with just water to prep the aluminum. Just water at 212F for about 60 minutes. Otherwise, it will bleed some aluminum into your first wort boil! You only have to condition it to a boil once, then it will be safe from then on.

Finally, the thermometers that come with turkey fryer sets typically only read frying temps (like 230-500F), so you'll probably need to get a normal steel stem thermometer with a lower temp range (anything that includes 140-220F).

Good luck!

 

[CanadIan]

Thanks for the advice.
We are not going into all grain, I have adapted the recipe to Extract + steeped specialty grains. I intend to stick with that method for a while.

Good to get the advice to do a boil before first use, and I will look for a good 12" stem thermometer locally.

 

[pm5k00]

When I first started I whirl-pooled my wort while its sat in an ice bath to cool it down, after I got it to about 90*F it transferred to fermenter (pail) and let it sit overnight and pitched yeast in the morning. You don't need a wort chiller, but it does speed things up. Also I prefer aluminum over stainless steel for all grain batches because of the better heat transfer I never have to worry about a scorched wort.

 

[Zixxer10R]

For the record, my #9 clone that i made with the partial boil extract method and special grains that i just crushed with the back of my muddler is turning in to quite the amazing beer.

Moral of the story: Dont worry about having the biggest and baddest equipment right now. You'll still make good beer (almost) no matter what!

 

[unionrdr]

I agree. I've got the basics,& make some pretty good stuff. The stuff I bought will take me through partial mash anyway.