Hello from So Cal!

[Sellick]

Hey everyone! Name's Ben and I'm looking forward to learning more about brewing from the vast amounts of knowledge on this forum!

I've been brewing for about a year now, my list of beers includes: a Hefe (turned out meh), an Amber (amazing), a Porter (currently fermenting), and two ciders (only a gallon each) one of which I tossed and the other was drinkable.

I've only done extract brewing to this point and feel like it'll continue to keep me busy for awhile. Lots of options to work with!

I'm really enjoying this new hobby!

 

[ChelisHubby]

Hello Ben! I am From Riverside. Welcome to the hobby.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Welcome aboard Ben! Glad to hear your Amber was amazing. Hope you enjoy it here, there is a ton of great stuff.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Welcome to the forums and the hobby from another Riversider!

 

[cannman]

Welcome Glendale!

Good stuff with your extract brews. Keep with them, learn what it takes to make your system an all grain system, and jump into that boat when you're ready. Too many a homebrewers jump into all grain with 20% of the right equipment and become discouraged. Take your time, learn, and enjoy!

 

[Sellick]

Thanks everyone!

Nice seeing some other SoCal residents here. Where do you guys go for ingredients/supplies/equipment? Any good spots in the LA area I should know about? I go to Eagle Rock Home Brewing Supply, it's nice and close to my location.

I thought about jumping into an all grain recipe for this Porter I just did, but realized I'd be stretching it when it comes to my equipment and knowledge of the process. No point on jumping ahead at the moment. I've got a ton of extract recipes, might as well get good with those first.

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from CO (but a GHS 89 alumni)

 

[CA_Mouse]

We have two LHBSes here in Riverside, More Beer and Brew Toys, so I don't have to venture outside of a 10 mile radius. But there are several really good ones all over the greater metro area.

 

[Sellick]

We have two LHBSes here in Riverside, More Beer and Brew Toys, so I don't have to venture outside of a 10 mile radius. But there are several really good ones all over the greater metro area.

Thanks for chiming in, but I can't say I'm familiar with LHBS... what's that stand for?

 

[Sellick]

Local Home Brew Shop??

 

[Chrisrapp0122]

I live in Redondo Beach, so I go to South Bay Brewing Supply at 1311 Post Ave
Torrance, CA 90501. It would definitely be a drive for you, but they're awesome!

 

[72hw]

Ben, welcome! In Pasadena here and along with my brewing partners Rich and Scott, we plan on starting a new group. Not nessecarily a Homebrew club like Crown of the Valley or the Yeastside Brewers, but a very early stage meetup type thing to discuss the hobby and help people troubleshoot their processes. Working on getting space at the Monrovia Hombrew Shop starting soon, shoot me a PM for more info. Nice thing about MHBS is they are tightly affiliated with Pacific Plate Brewing who have a tap room on the other side of the parking lot!

 

[CA_Mouse]

Thanks for chiming in, but I can't say I'm familiar with LHBS... what's that stand for?

Local Home Brew Shop??

You got it! Sometimes we all get so used to saying an acronym, that we forget not everyone has heard them!

 

[Sellick]

I live in Redondo Beach, so I go to South Bay Brewing Supply at 1311 Post Ave
Torrance, CA 90501. It would definitely be a drive for you, but they're awesome!

Haha thanks for chiming in, that is a ways, but maybe I'll check it out next time I'm in that area.

Ben, welcome! In Pasadena here and along with my brewing partners Rich and Scott, we plan on starting a new group. Not nessecarily a Homebrew club like Crown of the Valley or the Yeastside Brewers, but a very early stage meetup type thing to discuss the hobby and help people troubleshoot their processes. Working on getting space at the Monrovia Hombrew Shop starting soon, shoot me a PM for more info. Nice thing about MHBS is they are tightly affiliated with Pacific Plate Brewing who have a tap room on the other side of the parking lot!

I like the sound of this! PM'ing you

You got it! Sometimes we all get so used to saying an acronym, that we forget not everyone has heard them!

I've spent enough time on forums at this point that I completely understand there will be a bit of a learning curve!

 

[Sellick]

So I just purchased a vinator and bottle drying tree, since that's one of the more labor intensive parts of my brewing process at the moment. Excited to get those in time for bottling the porter I have fermenting.

I may be going in with a friend on a brew kettle, but for what he does, he's wanting something around the 16 gal range... is there a downside to using one that large when I'm only going to be using it for 5 gal batches?

 

[72hw]

I may be going in with a friend on a brew kettle, but for what he does, he's wanting something around the 16 gal range... is there a downside to using one that large when I'm only going to be using it for 5 gal batches?

Evaporative loss will most likely be the biggest concern - my friend Scott uses a 15 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches and his numbers, both into the kettle and efficiency, are notably different. This is not a bad thing, just something you will have to work out on a shared system.

If you go in on a 15 gallon kettle, maybe doing ~10 gallon boils to split into 2 smaller 5 gallon batches will be a good way for you to not only dial in the system but learn about the different yeast strains, dry hopping methods, etc.

Right now Scott and I have two 5 gallon batches of pale ale from the same boil fermenting with this exact end in mind. We want to see how his House Strain of yeast compares to US05.

 

[Sellick]

Evaporative loss will most likely be the biggest concern - my friend Scott uses a 15 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches and his numbers, both into the kettle and efficiency, are notably different. This is not a bad thing, just something you will have to work out on a shared system.

If you go in on a 15 gallon kettle, maybe doing ~10 gallon boils to split into 2 smaller 5 gallon batches will be a good way for you to not only dial in the system but learn about the different yeast strains, dry hopping methods, etc.

Right now Scott and I have two 5 gallon batches of pale ale from the same boil fermenting with this exact end in mind. We want to see how his House Strain of yeast compares to US05.

That's an adjustment I could make. Doing two 5 gal batches to experiment with yeast does sound like a fun idea.

Thanks!

 

[invictusbrew]

I live in Redondo Beach, so I go to South Bay Brewing Supply at 1311 Post Ave
Torrance, CA 90501. It would definitely be a drive for you, but they're awesome!

I'm in Torrance and will second this opinion. Very knowledgeable and polite staff and a pretty good selection as well. Also, there are a few local breweries not very far from here either, which is cool.