Getting back to brewing

[Brewing1976]

Good morning I’m getting back into brewing haven’t done it in about 6. Just got kit. Want make sure I’m doing it right. The brew day schedule so boil 60 minutes. So add 1oz hops first, then 40 minutes later add 3.3lb, them 10
Minutes late at hops then 5 min add fight then 5 minutes turn off. Hopefully I’m doing this right

 

[RPh_Guy]

View attachment 622991 Good morning I’m getting back into brewing haven’t done it in about 6. Just got kit. Want make sure I’m doing it right. The brew day schedule so boil 60 minutes. So add 1oz hops first, then 40 minutes later add 3.3lb, them 10
Minutes late at hops then 5 min add fight then 5 minutes turn off. Hopefully I’m doing this right

Yep!

Normally a recipe will be written something like this:

(Set a time for 60 minutes when the wort starts to boil)
1 oz Cascade @ 60 minutes
3.3lb LME @ 20 minutes
1 oz Citra @ 10 minutes
1 oz Falconer's Flight @ 5 minutes

 

[kh54s10]

That is right.

In the future you will find that most hop schedules just say how long they get boiled. So a 60, 15, 5 would mean you add hops with 60 minutes left (with a 60 minute boil - add the hops and start a timer) then at 15 minutes left add hops and 5 minutes left add hops.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 ^ and ^^

You may add the balance of the extract at or after flameout. No need to boil it for 20 minutes.

If the instructions mention to transfer the beer to a secondary vessel after xx days of fermentation, ignore that part. Leave it be, where it is, until ready to bottle.

Read around the extract brewing forum for pointers in brewing with extracts. Read the stickies.

If you use municipal tap water, it likely contains chlorine or chloramines. Use a 1/4 crushed Campden tablet or a pinch of K-Meta per [EDIT] 54 5 gallons of brewing water to remove it. Or use RO or distilled water.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Use a 1/4 crushed Campden tablet or a pinch of K-Meta per 54 gallons of brewing water

You mean 5 gallons?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Read around the extract brewing forum for pointers in brewing with extracts. Read the stickies.

Can you offer some specific links?

When I compare how I brew with extracts DME to online information, I find that it's too easy to get conflicting information. Single sources of well curated information (specific forum stickies or posts, current home brewing books, ...) go a long ways towards avoiding the problem of conflicting information.

 

[IslandLizard]

You mean 5 gallons?

Yeah, thanks! Must have had some toasted cheese bread on my fingers.

Fixed.

 

[IslandLizard]

Can you offer some specific links?

When I compare how I brew with extracts DME to online information, I find that it's too easy to get conflicting information. Single sources of well curated information (specific forum stickies or posts, current home brewing books, ...) go a long ways towards avoiding the problem of conflicting information.

No, sorry, I wish. I don't have any specific links I can post without doing the research first.

I was given a general pointer to that area. You're right, chances are there is much outdated, superseded, or conflicting information mixed in with good solid up-to-date basic extract brewing info and practices. We really need a good beginners guide to point to instead. There is something in the works, but far from completed.

In that light would it be acceptable to point to John Palmer's How to Brew, 4th Ed.? Or when in a pinch, the almost ancient, but still very valid 1st edition that's available online?

 

[kh54s10]

What I do when researching almost anything is to read a lot. When I see a lot of consensus on an idea/method I pretty much accept that. If I see conflicting things I weigh them. If only one or two support something and many don't I won't take that as worthwhile.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

In that light would it be acceptable to point to John Palmer's How to Brew, 4th Ed.? Or when in a pinch, the almost ancient, but still very valid 1st edition that's available online?

I like How to Brew, 4e: For $10-ish (e-book) or $20-ish (paper) for 4e, it can be a "buy once, cry read once" approach to getting started with that single source of well curated information.

Others take pride in learning to home brew for free ($0) using web searching and forum discussions. And they are often willing to "pay it forward" by helping answer questions that others have.

To me, home brewing knowledge has a "shelf life". Some knowledge seems to be timeless (for example: enzymes in mashing, basic water chemistry) and some is time-sensitive (for example: changes in yeast packaging, changes in how malt extracts (DME/LME) are made, changes in malting grains, ...).

 

[IslandLizard]

If only one or two support something and many don't I won't take that as worthwhile.

You may be dissing good cutting edge material there.

 

[Brewing1976]

+1 ^ and ^^

You may add the balance of the extract at or after flameout. No need to boil it for 20 minutes.

If the instructions mention to transfer the beer to a secondary vessel after xx days of fermentation, ignore that part. Leave it be, where it is, until ready to bottle.

Read around the extract brewing forum for pointers in brewing with extracts. Read the stickies.

If you use municipal tap water, it likely contains chlorine or chloramines. Use a 1/4 crushed Campden tablet or a pinch of K-Meta per [EDIT] 54 5 gallons of brewing water to remove it. Or use RO or distilled water.

+1 ^ and ^^

You may add the balance of the extract at or after flameout. No need to boil it for 20 minutes.

If the instructions mention to transfer the beer to a secondary vessel after xx days of fermentation, ignore that part. Leave it be, where it is, until ready to bottle.

Read around the extract brewing forum for pointers in brewing with extracts. Read the stickies.

If you use municipal tap water, it likely contains chlorine or chloramines. Use a 1/4 crushed Campden tablet or a pinch of K-Meta per [EDIT] 54 5 gallons of brewing water to remove it. Or use RO or distilled water.

I’ll be using well water

 

[IslandLizard]

I’ll be using well water

If it's good for drinking chances are it's good for brewing too.
But it may be a bit high in certain minerals and/or alkalinity, depending on your source.
In general, do not use water for brewing that's gone through a water softener, although some may be just fine.

For extract brewing using RO (from a machine in a supermarket or Walmart) or distilled water is recommended.
If you already have an RO system, by all means use the water from that, it's as good as it can get for brewing and drinking.

 

[nickatnite26]

When brewing with extracts, the water will have the biggest impact on how your beer tastes. I only brew with extracts due to time limitations ( one day I may convince SWMBO to free up some cash for an all in one system ). Since you don’t have to worry about mash efficiency, or any of the other stuff all grain brewers do, it makes the day much simpler.

I use RO water from a local place that does all sorts of black magic to the water and makes it come out tasting good at the end. The rule of thumb is “if the water tastes good, it will make good beer”, while i have found that is true in general, it will not apply to all styles of beer. To eliminate variables on brewing day, I only use RO water. No chlorine or other nasties in the water. If you are committed to using well water, get a chemical analysis of your water.

You may find the some styles of beer are not suitable to your water supply. I lived in one city with water that made great Hefeweizens, then moved and the new city water gave all my beer a funky after taste that could not be removed no matter what I tried. Finally started using RO water, and no more funky taste in my beers.

OH....sanitize everything!! You cannot be too OCD about it!!

 

[kh54s10]

You may be dissing good cutting edge material there.

Maybe. - About 1% of the time.