Flurry of newbie questions

[Jloewe]

Ok, newbie. Done a batch of cider still fermenting and doing an amber pumpkin Sunday. That is the total of my experience lol. The goal is to get to be an amazing brewer and go pro (drunken idea but I like it!) I love to cook and I’ve had tons of fun doing the cider and researching already.

my questions are.

1) depending on fermentation and bottling time, if I decide to do secondary on my Amber ale... I may brew another batch almost right away, even as soon as Labor. Should I try and start creating recipes or should I stick to kits until I can prove myself there?

2) I have friends that have unused kits they want to get rid of. Is anything salvageable from those? Could be over 5 years old.

3). What are the “must do” styles. Seems so many styles and so little time. Possibly looking for batch 2 to be a Christmas thing. Heavy stout? Crisp amber? Sweet brown ale? Idk I have so many ideas I need guidance.

4) when creating recipes or trying new stuff (I’ll be extract for a while as I live in a small apartment) are 1 gallon recipes and kits a bad idea or a good idea? Is it easy to scale down or am I better off going for broke and creating full 5 gallon batches. The idea of a smaller batch is more practice less waste.

 

[Maxkling]

Secondaries are a highly debatable subject, I don't do them and they offer more risk for infection and oxidation. I'd take anything you can get equipment wise, if you have or end up with glass carboys, get rid of them, it may save your life. Brew what you like or what you think you will like, your still allowed to buy beer, so try different styles of beer before you brew. I have never and will never do one gallon batches, too much effort involved for just 1 gallon, at the same time I'm not the kind of guy that will do crazy off the wall stuff or experiment, my time now is way to precious.

Also abandon bottles and shell out the money to keg, it may keep you into the hobby. Most people that I find quit, bottling is a top reason.

 

[Jloewe]

What’s wrong with glass carboys? Considering I inherited 3 of them. I’d love to upgrade but that’s for another day with another paycheck.

 

[Maxkling]

They break and shatter and slice you up. Many people around here have been to the emergency room and lost batches because of it. There is just IMO no place for them anymore. Plastic is cheap and works great.

 

[Jloewe]

Understood. However not as cheap as free. Someday I plan to go stainless but I think I’ll make due with what I have now and have to be careful.

 

[Jloewe]

As far as a keg goes def plan on it. I just don’t have room right now and unless I want to experience divorce I’ll be bottling for a bit lol. Yes I want a keg and then force carb per diem in bottles as I plan to give a lot out. I’ll be making much more than I can responsibly drink.

 

[Ayzala]

I agree on the secondary, not necessary unless you are doing a big beer that needs time to bulk age.

I wouldn't run away from glass if you are careful. I've been brewing for over 10 years with the same 3 carboys no trips to the ER.

If the kits are 5 years old I would definitely check out all the contents. If there are specialty grains, yeast or hops, toss them and get fresh, but even then I would question the extracts themselves. Kits are cheap, start with a fresh one or you may think you did something wrong.

There are many brewers here that do only 1 gallon batches. It's worth trying, I do many test batches at gallon size.

As for styles, try what you like to drink. Once you get into the hobby, try the bigger, flavored, hopped, fruited or anything else beers. But that said, I would start with the ales unless you have a fridge to lager in.

Most important, have fun!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

4) when creating recipes or trying new stuff (I’ll be extract for a while as I live in a small apartment) are 1 gallon recipes and kits a bad idea or a good idea? Is it easy to scale down or am I better off going for broke and creating full 5 gallon batches. The idea of a smaller batch is more practice less waste.

1-Gallon Brewers UNITE! will cover much of the "it's a good idea" side of the question. The year 2020 starts at about page 173 - so start there (or go back to 2019) and don't be afraid to ask additional questions.

 

[NGD]

1. Kits are a nice way to hone your technique with decent results. When you start designing your own recipes try something easy like a SMaSH. One of my favorite recipes still is an extract smash with a 20 and flameout mosaic hop addition. Then start adding more complexity with additional steeping grains, mini mashes etc. Personally I don’t secondary anymore as I have a more difficult time with oxidation if I do. Only exemption is if I’m adding fruit.

2. Check the kits. Worst case scenario you get more practice in with free ingredients and waste a little time for mediocre beer. (Unless mold, ten throw out)
D
3. Must do styles are anything you want to drink. Plan a little ahead of time and you’ll likely be happy with the results. For a Christmas time brew..porters, wee heavy and stouts are usually great. Especially if you live in a colder climate. Give those a little time to bottle age.

4. Do what you can consume. 1-2 gallon batches are a little quicker (not by much) but ingredients are less costly. I do gallon batches for experimental batches. Bigger batches once I have a handle on a recipe. I don’t drink daily so 5 gallons can last me awhile unless family comes over. One thing to keep in mind, small batches do better with smaller fermentors. 1-3 gallon kegs are almost the same price as 5 gallon kegs. That said, drinking 8 bottles of a bad beer is better than 40 bottles. Bad beer does make for a decent chicken marinade base though.

Good luck and have fun

 

[Jloewe]

Good advice thanks. Yeah I’m like you not every day and in small amounts. Giving a lot out to friends and family. The idea is practice practice practice. Seems I’m not short in volunteers.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

In between 1 gal and 5 gal batches, there are batch sizes that make 12-packs and 24-packs. For many people, 24-packs seem be strike a good balance between "not having enough beer" when it's a good batch and "it's hard to dump a big batch".

 

[Jtvann]

On the glass carboy issue, I agree with the safety concerns. I've always felt like if it could go wrong, one day it eventually will.

That said, they're good fermenters. You can make great beer, and free is free. If you use them, just be careful. Wear gloves, long pants, shoes etc. Carry them with carboy haulers or use a milk crate. Dont abuse them. Dont pressurize them.

Stick with extract kitsch until you feel like you know what you're doing. You can alter or make up your own kits. You'll see trends in amounts of extract. You'll know not to ever use 5lbs of crystal malt. If you dont know what that means yet, it's fine. Just stick to kits.

I started with 5 gallon batches. At some point I went down to 1 gallon. I just enjoyed the process of brewing and was learning a lot. Brewing 1 gallon let me brew more often to learn more.

I started bottling then went into kegging. Bottling can be fun. Sometimes I still do it. Don't spend a ton of money on equipment until you know you want to stay in the hobby. When you get to that point, you'll gradually add more and more complexity over time.

 

[Maxkling]

As stated above if you choose to use a glass carboy, use a hauler, never use a carboy handle.

 

[Sammy86]

1) depending on fermentation and bottling time, if I decide to do secondary on my Amber ale... I may brew another batch almost right away, even as soon as Labor. Should I try and start creating recipes or should I stick to kits until I can prove myself there?

Don't secondary. Not needed unless you're adding an adjunct like fruit, vanilla,

2) I have friends that have unused kits they want to get rid of. Is anything salvageable from those? Could be over 5 years old.

Possible if the bags are vaccumed sealed, which they probably aren't so I wouldn't try

3). What are the “must do” styles. Seems so many styles and so little time. Possibly looking for batch 2 to be a Christmas thing. Heavy stout? Crisp amber? Sweet brown ale? Idk I have so many ideas I need guidance.

Ever style is a must do style at least IMO. However, if you're looking to develop recipes that will one day lead to sales at the commercial level those are simple:

1. NEIPA
2. Hoppy Pale Ales
3. IPAS/DIPAS

NOT necessarily in that order but from every interview I've ever heard from a brewer/owners those are the money makers.

4) when creating recipes or trying new stuff (I’ll be extract for a while as I live in a small apartment) are 1 gallon recipes and kits a bad idea or a good idea? Is it easy to scale down or am I better off going for broke and creating full 5 gallon batches. The idea of a smaller batch is more practice less waste.

Experimentation and finding the right combination of water, grain yeast and hops to create that ever elusive perfect beer would lead me to believe that many smaller batches are better than one big batch at a time. However, depending on your drinking/giving away beer habits 5 gallons may be the way to go. Personally, I brew 12 gallon batches now and split into two 6 gallons and use two different yeasts to get two different beers. If you're more to gain experience to one day brew commercially I would keep at those 1 gallon brew kits until you perfect your process than bump up and do it all again.

 

[Stormcrow]

Good advice above. Here's another tip that may help. If you have time, listen to brewing podcasts. A lot of education available there. My personal favorites are Basic Brewing Radio and Brewing with Beersmith. Dr. Homebrew is a lot of fun too. There are more brewing podcasts than you might think. I do a lot of truck driving though, so I've got the time.

 

[apache_brew]

my questions are.

1) depending on fermentation and bottling time, if I decide to do secondary on my Amber ale... I may brew another batch almost right away, even as soon as Labor. Should I try and start creating recipes or should I stick to kits until I can prove myself there?

2) I have friends that have unused kits they want to get rid of. Is anything salvageable from those? Could be over 5 years old.

3). What are the “must do” styles. Seems so many styles and so little time. Possibly looking for batch 2 to be a Christmas thing. Heavy stout? Crisp amber? Sweet brown ale? Idk I have so many ideas I need guidance.

4) when creating recipes or trying new stuff (I’ll be extract for a while as I live in a small apartment) are 1 gallon recipes and kits a bad idea or a good idea? Is it easy to scale down or am I better off going for broke and creating full 5 gallon batches. The idea of a smaller batch is more practice less waste.

1) I've never secondaried a batch. My pro brewer buddy got me started fermenting in sankey kegs, cold crashing, using biofine, and kegging with used cornies (brite beer from batch 1) without ever touching bottles. As far as recipes go, starter kits arent a bad way to start. look up ones with good reviews. Brewer's Friend has thousands of recipes. Search them based on views, reviews, and reputability to get ideas. How to Brew and Brewing Classic Styles are great books for fundamentals on process and recipes, can't go wrong.

2) Don't bother

3) Brew what you like. I like american pale ales and German lagers, hence that's what I brew lol. One of my favorites was a Sierra Nevada Celebration Clone...

American Pale Ale​

IPAs/DIPAs​

Oktoberfest/Munich Helles/Pilsner/Doppelbock...​

Fill in your own blanks​

4) I've only done 5 gallon batches with the starter equipment I had until I moved to 10 gallon batches. I'm less interested in experimenting with odd ball stuff and my friends have started bringing more growlers over to have me fill them so 10-12 gallon batches are good for me. Plus, my brew days are carefully selected so that I have SWMBO's approval to carve out an 8 hr weekend brewday (I do all cleaning and sanitizing of all equipment during brewday. Which reminds me, stay away from threaded fittings on cold side equipment, they are evil...)

 

[rwinzing]

The only thing I will add is we tend to focus on the hot side of brewing. To make great beer fermentation temps are the key to the kingdom. Make sure you keep your fermenting beer at a stable and appropriate temp through the initial fermentation stages. If you do that more times than not your beer turns out well. If you don't you will be asking question on strange flavors. Yeast is a living thing that can be very temperamental.

 

[Jloewe]

The only thing I will add is we tend to focus on the hot side of brewing. To make great beer fermentation temps are the key to the kingdom. Make sure you keep your fermenting beer at a stable and appropriate temp through the initial fermentation stages. If you do that more times than not your beer turns out well. If you don't you will be asking question on strange flavors. Yeast is a living thing that can be very temperamental.

Thanks! I actually purposely chose kviek for that specific reason. I have little to no temp control especially in the summer. Winter is a little easier since we basically keep it the same temp.

 

[ncbrewer]

Glass carboys - take a look at this thread: Broken Glass Carboy Horror Stories Compendium

As far as styles to brew, the suggestions above look good. But when beginning, I would suggest you avoid doubles, imperials, sours, fruit, and wild fermentations. Probably best to avoid lagers for a while. Also, dry hopping, but there will be lots of disagreement on this one.

 

[Tommydee]

I still use glass carboys, and convinced they are as good as unitanks if properly managed. . Read the horror threads, important to earn the respect, and never pressurize. I use a milk crate or carrier at ALL times, and always handle with gloves. I always clean immediately after racking the beer. If you go plastic, look to the lowest extractibles (fermonsters?),and low gas permeability it does matter. If you like to drink while you brew, thenDONT use glass. But besides safety, glass carboys are superior in many ways.