New brewer from NY, LI. Starting Batches,gear,advancing and waiting

[JPBrewLI]

Hi everyone, I just started brewing in NY Long island. Told my self
for years it probably wasn't worth the effort. Went to a local
brewery tour that did both beer and cider. I asked the brewer a
couple questions about a oak style brew he said got its flavor from
a local distilleries mash(i want to try this too) It didn't initially
prompt me to get started but over the next few days i regretted not
asking a few more questions.

Fast forward a month later and i'm placing my first amazon order.
2- 1 gallon jugs/locks
mini syphon/racking cane
bottle filler/capper/one step sanatizer
some other small items.

I guess i rushed my first batch getting a 10lb bag munich 10l malt
and 3lb bag of dark malt DME w-34 lager yeast and fuggle hops at a
local farm supply store. Used a tea ball for hops which didn't
appear to get much wort penetration.

Realizing i also wanted to make cider and even longer wait for lager
style yeast i needed more fermenters.

Found a actual local brew supply and bought 2 more 1 gallon jugs and
some various grain / hops / yeast and a large brew bag(thinking i maybe need a 300 micron mesh style basket instead?).
Promptly filled those up over a week and about to buy more, Not sure
how many i need.

So i'm about 2-3 weeks into my new addiction and looking for the
next steps. Sometimes i get carried away but cooking hobby's stick more and i've still been making pizza from sour dough starter(using same yeast) for 8 years.
I Bought a 7 gallon chapman univessel i thought i could
double as a kettle for glass top (not really) so i bought 10 gallon
pot with a triclad bottom.

I'm thinking from here i can get some corny kegs and co2 tank to
easily ferment or store experiments and larger batches while also
being able to bottle some. Then maybe invest in a cooler tap.

My current brews in the 10-14 day fermenting range and i'm getting
anxious to sample and start bottling and continue brewing.
Here's the part where i get lazy ask for general input and dump my
quick recipe log.

*added brew cab pic

1 Gallon
--------------------
1.5lb munich grain malt
2 cups dark malt powder
6 gr fuggle - 60 min

2.8gr w-34 lager yeast

start og 1.068

start- 1/8/18
---------------

cider- 1\10\18
.9 gallon cider
1/2 cup brown sugar
1tbs dex

3g s04
start og 1.052
clove,cinamon,allspice
------------------------
1/12/18
1lb pills
8 oz crystal
2 oz dark
6oz munich
3g s4
4 fuggle -60
5 crystal -20
1.052
-----------

--------------
2lb pils
4oz crystal
4g fug 60
6g og 20

3g s4
1.058
1/13/18
-----

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Welcome from Farmingville.
Curious what "local farm store" has brewing stuff. Never heard of it. Arbor in Islip is a great homebrew store. I'd go straight to kegging if your thinking about it. So much better on every level. I would have started with 5 gallon batches as all recipes come in 5 gallon format plus its the same brew day with more beer. There are "starter beer kits with ferm buckets spoon airlock ETC that make getting started easy and come out a bit cheaper

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Heres a kegerater in Shirley. I would offer $150. Beverage Air is a good name

https://longisland.craigslist.org/hsh/d/kegerator-beverage/6462667335.html

 

[JPBrewLI]

The 'farm store' is agway. They don't seem to stock much in grain but had selection of the basics to get people started.
fridge with some selection of hops and yeast. It's right down the road. The brew supply in wading river is very close as well.
I don't want to do any 5 gallon batches till i have some more experience also i don't drink that much.
My beer drinking habit is ideally having a fridge with 6-10 different styles and picking 1 or 2 different ones per day. Altho recently i have been doing some more 'tasting' recently

I wasn't stocking up on bottles either so only 30 ish 12oz glass and 15 24oz plastic to start.

Buying a kegerator now is jumping too far ahead, considering its winter and my enclosed garage is usually around 40F that may be a good enough fridge for now.
I'm using multiple rooms of my house as i can get temps from 68 to 54 depending on the room and the spot.
In the summer i'll probably have to ferment in the basement.
I found 5gal corny kegs for $40 shipped on ebay, not sure if anyone has a better source?

Also sampled some of the 1/12/18 brew. down to around 1.016. 4.73 avb
Pretty good,very smooth, light body (thought would of been more with how dark it was), mild flavor from the crystal hops i think.
Put the sample into the freezer and forgot about it till it started to freeze.
Not sure how much longer i should wait before bottling this?

 

[Rob2010SS]

In answer to how much longer you should wait, you want to make sure the yeast are done. Looking it up online, that yeast has an apparent attenuation of 83%. Based on your OG of 1.068, you should finish around 1.012. This isn't guaranteed, its just to give you an idea. Your best bet is to wait 3 days and take another reading. If you're still at 1.016, id say you're done and its safe to bottle.

 

[JPBrewLI]

In answer to how much longer you should wait, you want to make sure the yeast are done. Looking it up online, that yeast has an apparent attenuation of 83%. Based on your OG of 1.068, you should finish around 1.012. This isn't guaranteed, its just to give you an idea. Your best bet is to wait 3 days and take another reading. If you're still at 1.016, id say you're done and its safe to bottle.

Thanks for the input, i know the notes i put are sloppy but the 1/12/18 brew had a start OG of 1.052. the highest gravity one i used w-34 lager yeast all the rest got s-04.

I find the effort involved in making 1 gallon batches is pretty minimal and now i have a wort chiller it will be even quicker.

Does anyone have any recommendations on starting base grains, malted/roasted, hops and yeast selections that would allow me to sample the widest variety of flavors without getting into buying everything and end seeing subtle variances?

Was it wrong to use munich 10L as a base grain? is it more of a adjunct?

I chose Pilsner as my base for the other 2 beers and based on my first sampling im guess that's where the overall light smooth flavor came from. I will probably get some american 2 row next and 2 others to try. I like full body beers but not overly hopped. Ideally i'm in the <50 IBU range.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Most recipes are 2 row and Marris Otter base grains. You can do a wide variety of beers with those...as for hops and specialty grains look up some recipes and by what you need. Your recipes will most likely use less than a pound of specialty grain and around an OZ of hops...not worth stocking up on those for such small batches IMO

 

[JPBrewLI]

Most recipes are 2 row and Marris Otter base grains. You can do a wide variety of beers with those...as for hops and specialty grains look up some recipes and by what you need. Your recipes will most likely use less than a pound of specialty grain and around an OZ of hops...not worth stocking up on those for such small batches IMO

I'm a bit of a chef and hardly follow any recipes to a T, Yes i can and will get ideas by looking at other recipes.
But i'm trying to build my base knowledge, Ideally id like to just go to the most unique flavor ingredients taste before and after fermentation and learn from there. I see a lot of grains and hops are described as 'in betweens' or very subtle flavor differences. i'm looking to work with more primary flavors first if that makes sense.

 

[JohnSand]

HI JP, Welcome.
Brew and Beyond in Calverton has homebrew meetings the third Thursday of every month. It's a good time, and good place to get feedback on your beer. I suggest reading John Palmer's How to Brew, and Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles. You might try two row or pilsner as your base. Combine that with a wide variety of crystal, as well as other specialty grain like Munich, Vienna etc.
Keep us posted.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I'm a bit of a chef and hardly follow any recipes to a T, Yes i can and will get ideas by looking at other recipes.
But i'm trying to build my base knowledge, Ideally id like to just go to the most unique flavor ingredients taste before and after fermentation and learn from there. I see a lot of grains and hops are described as 'in betweens' or very subtle flavor differences. i'm looking to work with more primary flavors first if that makes sense.

If you really want to get to know flavors you could do SMASH beers. (s)ingle (m)alt (a)nd (s)ingle(h)ops. One Grain one hops. To get to know the flavors...It could take awhile...endless combinations. I don't like them and like a mix better to give the beer some depth but it will help you understand flavors and then move on from there

 

[tneary]

Anybody know of a homebrew shop on the Island that carries Crisp Maris Otter? All I seem to come across is Muntons.

 

[MHBT]

Anybody know of a homebrew shop on the Island that carries Crisp Maris Otter? All I seem to come across is Muntons.

Maybe homebrew and hand grenades in Baldwin

 

[tneary]

Thanks... I had checked their website the other day but they advertised Munton as did Arbor on their website. I know Karps carries Muntons too.

BTW....I love using MO in a SMASH

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Anybody know of a homebrew shop on the Island that carries Crisp Maris Otter? All I seem to come across is Muntons.

I've used the Muntons. whats the difference between that and Crisp?

 

[tneary]

I've used Muntons too. But I always seem to get better extraction from Crisp. The beers I've brewed with it have had a better taste too than when I used Muntons. Muntons is OK, I just prefer Crisp if I can get it.

Also, Crisp is floor malted where Munton used pneumatic process.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby, JP.

 

[TGFV]

If you are looking at getting more carboys, U-Brew shops often rotate or sell off old ones that don't look as nice so customers don't worry.

Picked up 6 6gal better bottles for 25$CAD awhile back. May be worth it to ask around.

 

[NSMikeD]

welcome JP. Huntington home brewer here. I make 2.5 gallon batches for torpedo kegs to be tapped in my dit mini fridge/kegerator. 20 pints seems to be a good batch size for me as I like to brew about every 2 weeks and with a 4 weeks window from brew to tapping

I started with 1 gallon batches and will likely go make some ciders and specialty brews with them (assuming I get over my adversity to bottling).


fiwiw I use BeerSmith to play with recipes. I will usually follow a recipe the first time then start tweaking it.

 

[JPBrewLI]

Thanks for the replies! I bottled my first batch (the lager?) Tasted meh, a little boozy.
Hopefully it gets better, got 8 bottles. Forgot to take a gravity reading as i planned to prime bottles individually but figured it would be simpler to run it into sugar water solution and then bottle. Also think i should invest in a small bottling bucket.
Tried doing the first run solo and after bottling 6 i could see its not very fun.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for the replies! I bottled my first batch (the lager?) Tasted meh, a little boozy.
Hopefully it gets better, got 8 bottles. Forgot to take a gravity reading as i planned to prime bottles individually but figured it would be simpler to run it into sugar water solution and then bottle. Also think i should invest in a small bottling bucket.
Tried doing the first run solo and after bottling 6 i could see its not very fun.

There's a few reasons for your beer to taste boozy. One is that it is boozy. High gravity brews have more alcohol and yours may not be that high but higher than commercial beers you are used to drinking.

Another common cause is fermenting the beer too warm. That can allow the yeast to get to vigorous and produce alcohol other than ethanol. Maintaining the temperature of the fermenting beer near the lower end of the yeast's preferred range for the first few days will avoid that.

Third reason is that your beer is simply young. It may need more time to mature. We often tell people to give the beer 3 weeks at room temperature in the bottle before sampling for this reason.

 

[JPBrewLI]

There's a few reasons for your beer to taste boozy. One is that it is boozy. High gravity brews have more alcohol and yours may not be that high but higher than commercial beers you are used to drinking.

Another common cause is fermenting the beer too warm. That can allow the yeast to get to vigorous and produce alcohol other than ethanol. Maintaining the temperature of the fermenting beer near the lower end of the yeast's preferred range for the first few days will avoid that.

Third reason is that your beer is simply young. It may need more time to mature. We often tell people to give the beer 3 weeks at room temperature in the bottle before sampling for this reason.

Yes, made several mistakes with my rush to brew the first gallon.
-shouldn't have started with a lager yeast
- started temp at 68 for a day or 2 before moving it to 58 for the next couple weeks
- used munich 10L as a base grain
- used tea strainer for hops that got little water penetration

 

[jcav]

Just want to welcome you to the forum! I grew up in Garden City Long Island when I was a kid. Moved to Florida when I started High School. Welcome to the obsession!

John

 

[InTheBasement]

I always go to Arbor Wine in Islip, on Rt 111. Yes, I realize it does not say "beer" in the name but they have more beer brewing supplies than wine supplies. They may have what you desire, and if not, they may very well get it for you. I have always been happy with them, and they seem to go out of their way to make satisfied customers.

 

[JPBrewLI]

I always go to Arbor Wine in Islip, on Rt 111. Yes, I realize it does not say "beer" in the name but they have more beer brewing supplies than wine supplies. They may have what you desire, and if not, they may very well get it for you. I have always been happy with them, and they seem to go out of their way to make satisfied customers.

If i'm in the area i will check them out. Brew and beyond in calverton is a 10 minute drive and they've had everything so far. Even some basic stuff was cheaper than i found on amazon and there's enough different grains / hops/ yeast in stock there to keep me experimenting for a long time

 

[JPBrewLI]

On to the 5th brew yesterday. Finished off the first s04 yeast packet.
Tested out my wort chiller,using real wort this time . Fits in my smaller pot perfectly and had the batch cooled to 60F in 5-10 minutes.
Right or wrong i made a little starter for the 2gs of yeast, 2oz 70F water 1tsp dex and mixed at start of mash.
It was bubbling pretty good when i pitched it and ended up shaking after to aerate. It sits at 67F now and fermentation at full force after about 20hr. I really like the smell and watching the activity at this phase

I've got 2lbs of vienna and a few oz left of the roasted malt maybe ill add some toasted oatmeal and chocolate.(just had my last sam chocolate bock last night)
Can't hold back from adding flavors, really like spiced beer too so that's coming soon too.
Up to 5-1 gallon jugs now and going to start getting into a weekly cycle.

1/29/18
2lb 2 row
4 oz crystal
1oz dark
154F -60min

2.5g fuggle -60
2.5g huen melon -15
8g huen -0

2g - s04
SG 1.058

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I always go to Arbor Wine in Islip, on Rt 111... They may have what you desire, and if not, they may very well get it for you. I have always been happy with them, and they seem to go out of their way to make satisfied customers.

It's a great shop, the owners are great about customer service. I have asked for a few things that weren't in stock because they aren't fast sellers, ( like oak smoked wheat ) and they always offer to get the item in for me.

 

[JPBrewLI]

I feel a bit spoiled, stopped into Agway on the way home which is 3 minutes down the road and saw they restocked a bit since last time i was there... picked up 1lb 60l which is what i was missing for making a recipe that is close to the sam adams choclate bock.
Also a valve for a new bottling bucket that i over cut the hole for.
I was still able to use the bucket and found it much less frustrating than the solo siphon / bottling wand.

My setup is putting the bottling bucket on top of a 6 gallon bucket and attaching the bottling wand directly to the spigot
I will probably cut a couple inches off the wand to make it even more comfortable to use.

I bought this capper
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018KR49U6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

First thing i did was try to use a innis and gunn bottle with a shorter flange(?) at the top and was not fun...
Realizing what was going on i used a normal bottle and it works OK, but feels kind of flimsy and still after 20 bottles don't really like the feel
and have had several bottles go sideways on the down stroke.
Should i just get a bench style or a metal version?


I have 3 batches bottled up now and 1 more week before i can try the first

 

[JohnSand]

I have a similar capper (I think) that I like. My first one was smaller and black, and started to feel wobbly after a bunch of batches. Yours might just be breaking in.

 

[MaxStout]

Welcome to the obsession, from Minnesota!

My first capper was a red, wing-type (Red Baron?). It worked well, but could not cap some types of stubbies. I bought a bench capper, the Agata. Love it. If you don't already have one, consider a Vinator for sanitizing bottles. Beats trying to dunk them in a bucket of Starsan.

 

[JPBrewLI]

Thanks, yes i bought a vinator as that was my same thought before i needed to bottle.
I will continue using this capper and see how it goes, will probably get a bench one eventually.

Also finding too many people want to try my beer so it looks like i will need to buy a 5 gallon pot so i can do some 2-3 gallon batches
this way i can also try different yeasts with the same wort.

 

[JPBrewLI]

Made my chocolate ale in the new pot and was way off with my expected boil off. First time i try to use a recipe calc to estimate OG and ended up with 1.3 gallons instead of 1. I just dumped the rest into a sanitized growler and put some sanitized foil on top as my 'air lock'

It's interesting that there was much more krausen production going on in the growler, which is good because i overfilled the 1 gallon carboy a bit.

Also I tried my first beer, tasted way better than i was expecting!

1.5lb munich grain malt
2 cups dark malt powder
6 gr fuggle - 60 min

2.8gr w-34 lager yeast

og 1.068
3 weeks primary
2 weeks bottle

Not sure what to call it, I really like the saranac black forest that you can only get in a seasonal sampler.
I had intentions of making it a schwarzbier but i rushed a bit to make my first beer with what i had. Someone said maybe a octoberfest

Tasting: Slightly malty, medium body, smooth, berry / caramel taste. Got a black berry nose to it from the glass. Light carbonation, no head
Dark red color, cloudy but most of the yeast built up a thin layer of film at the bottom of the bottle and not really noticeable sediment once in the glass. Later i added some water to the bottle and tasted what was left to see if it there was any sweetness from the bottling sugar but just tasted yeast. I will condition these for 1 more week then put them in the garage/fridge and see if i can save one a few months.
I only have 7 so it's going to be hard.
(I'm very new to describing beer taste)

I was told to try 'Baba black lager' as it was a similar style but i think what i made tasted a lot closer to black forest. I will probably make this again, maybe see if i can find out exactly what grain is in this breiss dark dme and change a few things.

 

[JPBrewLI]

I sampled from batches 2& 3 this week as well, both good but lacked a solid flavor.
Maybe i don't care for the pilsner malt, maybe it just doesn't work well with the other grains i added or maybe it just needs to age more.

I bottled up batch 4 today as well, this was the first one i added hops directly to the kettle and there was a definite flavor from the hops.
Tasted kind of like a pale ale.

Attached a couple pictures, my bottling rig, sample extractor (bbq needle) works pretty good , also my quick labeling system.

 

[JPBrewLI]

Drinking another from batch #2
1/12/18
1lb pills
8 oz crystal
2 oz dark
6oz munich
3g s4
4 fuggle -60
5 crystal -20
1.052

Tastes better than a week ago, I've been buying a bunch porters to try lately and this batch definitely has a similar taste
I have a good idea of what i want to do for my porter beer now

Bottled up my second cider or apple wine since this one was made from regular apple juice, spices and ec-1118.
Got to FG .995 in 12 days and tastes pretty good. Still waiting on my other batch made from apple cider and s04.