Hello From Tinley Park

[tinleymike]

I am new to the board and to home brewing. I am from Tinley Park Illinois.

I stumbled onto the site about a week ago after receiving a Mr. Beer Kit as a present. Waiting for my first batch to ferment and have subsequently upgraded to a Brewers Best Kit. I have a ton of questions that I cannot wait to find the answers to.

 

[MoeIPA]

Welcome to the board! I'm in st. Charles. Cheers

 

[kennyg]

Hey guys, I'm in Streamwood. Just cooked my first batch. 5 gallon Irish red ale from Midwest, had some specialty grains, 1/2 gal gold malt extract, 1 oz cascade hops (60 min) with 2min finish of fuggles (both pellets). Its really fun like I thought it would be. Hard to read og though through beer. Any how cheers and happy brewing!

 

[mikescooling]

Welcome, good to have ya. Lots of brewers in Chicago. Don't wait to long before firing up the brewers best kit, brewing is a waiting game. The box tells ya to wait a week but it's really three.

 

[tinleymike]

Took you advice and cooked two batches today. I had a mr. Beer diablo kit that I used. I read somewhere to let it heat for 45 minutes for it to taste better.
After that I had to try out the brewers best kit I picked up. I went to the lhbs and picked up a brewers best IPA. It was really a lot easier than I thought it would be. My brother came over and "helped". The hardest part IMO was keeping the steeping water under 170 degrees. We even got the O.G. Proper.

 

[pferrell]

Is your brother Tim?

 

[histo320]

Welcome to HBT. From Manteno here. I just recently started brewing again.

Patience if very important in this hobby. The longer you wait the better the beer will be.

 

[pferrell]

And what lhbs do you go to? I'm from Crete. Closest I could figure is in Crown Point, but there's one in Homewood that I heard about. Not sure what they're selection is like. They might be more of a craft beer store that sells equipment.

 

[jdub1782]

Welcome from Aurora. My first kit was the Brewer's Best IPA -- let it go at least 3 weeks (4 would be better) and your patience will pay off. I followed the directions and the first few were drinkable, but after a few weeks it was very good. Needless to say I was hooked!

 

[tinleymike]

My brother is not Tim. Sorry

I picked the kit up today from Alsip nursery. Not sure i wouLd really qualify it as a lhbs but they did have what I am looking for.

When three - four weeks is mentioned is that before bottling or before consuming?

 

[pferrell]

You were strikingly similar to my cousin. Anyhow, welcome to the board. My first brew, an Irish Stout, has been in the fermenter for a week. I've been patiently emptying out some bottles in the meantime. I'll have to stop into Alsip garden one day to check out their selection.

 

[JollyIsTheRoger]

There is a brewstore in Beverly on Western between 100 and 101st, that isn't too far away, its called BevArt. I have to pimp it a little bit since I work there, haha. Welcome to the hobby, have fun.

 

[histo320]

And what lhbs do you go to? I'm from Crete. Closest I could figure is in Crown Point, but there's one in Homewood that I heard about. Not sure what they're selection is like. They might be more of a craft beer store that sells equipment.

Not quite a homebrew store but Alsip Nursery in Frankfort has pretty much everything you could possibly need for brewing. They have a decent hop selection but not the best. They could defintely improve their yeast selection as well. They have a great variety of malts and some dry malt extract but very little liquid extract.

It's not the best homebrew store but it will definitely help you out if you get in a bind.

I use Alsip to supplement my Northernbrewer orders. It saves some money on the shipping.

 

[tinleymike]

I've also been to the brew n grow in bollingbrook which was very nice the only negative was the distance from the house. They did have very knowledgable staff which is great for someone just entering the hobby.

 

[jdub1782]

I keg, so 4 weeks is before I transfer to the keg, then generally one additional week before consumption. ( I dry hop during the last 7 days in the primary)

Most of what I have read is that you want to bottle condition at least 3 weeks, so I would do 3 weeks, then bottle, and then another 3 weeks bottle conditioning before you drink.

You can always consume it sooner, just be aware that it will get better with time.