Intro...My name is Justin, I'm an artillery officer in the Marine Corps Reserve and I'm an insurance broker for my civilian job. Fortunately, my wife is pretty pumped about the beer brewing process and helped me out with my first batch.
I had a birthday this past week and got a brewing kit for my birthday. My parents starting making wine some time during the last year and I picked up some corks for them when I was out near the supply store and I commented how the beer brewing kits looked interesting and they ran with the idea for a gift. Well, I started a hefeweizen from a LME store recipe using Hellertauer hops and White Labs WLP380 yeast. Hops were pellets and the store employee said I didn't need to strain the wort when pouring it into the fermenting bucket. Never heard anything about aerating the wort until I started reading here. Oh well, I shook it up a bit to mix it after pitching the yeast, but nothing crazy.
I've been reading a bit on the forum about primarying for 4+ weeks. Sounds good, but I'm impatient to try a homebrew, so I'm looking for something I can brew, bottle, and drink sooner than 6+ weeks from now. Are there good tasting recipes available that can be ready within a couple weeks?
I haven't read much on the forum other than about the longer than 4-7 days in the primary for fermentation, but I have some other questions about the process. When leaving the wort in the primary that long, do I need to check gravity readings at 4 weeks if I want to bottle it then or can it be assumed the fermentation process has gone its course? How do you keep the temperature consistent for fermentation? I don't have a spare fridge or freezer yet, and right now, the bucket is in a closet where it's about 68-70 degrees. I have a room in the house that's not heated, but it's much closer to 58-60 degrees during the day, haven't checked it at night, and then there's the unheated garage. No basement either.
I bought a 5 gallon glass carboy because I originally read that the beer should be secondaried. Should I return it if I don't need to secondary most beers, at least in the beginning stages with simple to brew beers in favor of a 6.5 gallon so I can ferment in that or should I just stick with the buckets?
Thanks for putting up with my questions as I'm sure they've been asked before and I'll dig around the forum some more for answers, but that's for the help.
I had a birthday this past week and got a brewing kit for my birthday. My parents starting making wine some time during the last year and I picked up some corks for them when I was out near the supply store and I commented how the beer brewing kits looked interesting and they ran with the idea for a gift. Well, I started a hefeweizen from a LME store recipe using Hellertauer hops and White Labs WLP380 yeast. Hops were pellets and the store employee said I didn't need to strain the wort when pouring it into the fermenting bucket. Never heard anything about aerating the wort until I started reading here. Oh well, I shook it up a bit to mix it after pitching the yeast, but nothing crazy.
I've been reading a bit on the forum about primarying for 4+ weeks. Sounds good, but I'm impatient to try a homebrew, so I'm looking for something I can brew, bottle, and drink sooner than 6+ weeks from now. Are there good tasting recipes available that can be ready within a couple weeks?
I haven't read much on the forum other than about the longer than 4-7 days in the primary for fermentation, but I have some other questions about the process. When leaving the wort in the primary that long, do I need to check gravity readings at 4 weeks if I want to bottle it then or can it be assumed the fermentation process has gone its course? How do you keep the temperature consistent for fermentation? I don't have a spare fridge or freezer yet, and right now, the bucket is in a closet where it's about 68-70 degrees. I have a room in the house that's not heated, but it's much closer to 58-60 degrees during the day, haven't checked it at night, and then there's the unheated garage. No basement either.
I bought a 5 gallon glass carboy because I originally read that the beer should be secondaried. Should I return it if I don't need to secondary most beers, at least in the beginning stages with simple to brew beers in favor of a 6.5 gallon so I can ferment in that or should I just stick with the buckets?
Thanks for putting up with my questions as I'm sure they've been asked before and I'll dig around the forum some more for answers, but that's for the help.