Some beginner questions

[BangladeshBrewer]

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out how to brew and I'm coming up with questions as I try to plan my first brew. So here goes with my questions.

1. What yeast will do best for a pale ale brew? I am thinking of using this crisp crushed best ale malt.

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/crisp-crushed-best-ale-malt-25kg.html
2. How much material can I brew in my 6.6 gallon (30 litre) pressure pot?

I don't want to over load the pot in ignorance of how much extra space I need for whatever reason.

3. How important is steralizing the pot, items I'm using, etc? and how can I do it?

4. Do I need to figure out some way to cool down the mix rapidly for this process?

Thanks for looking!

 

[doug293cz]

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out how to brew and I'm coming up with questions as I try to plan my first brew. So here goes with my questions.

1. What yeast will do best for a pale ale brew? I am thinking of using this crisp crushed best ale malt.

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/crisp-crushed-best-ale-malt-25kg.html
2. How much material can I brew in my 6.6 gallon (30 litre) pressure pot?

I don't want to over load the pot in ignorance of how much extra space I need for whatever reason.

3. How important is steralizing the pot, items I'm using, etc? and how can I do it?

4. Do I need to figure out some way to cool down the mix rapidly for this process?

Thanks for looking!

1. The more important question is: what yeasts can you get? If you have to have yeast shipped to you, you are better off using dry yeasts. A good dry ale yeast to start out with is Fermentis SafAle US-05.

2. On HBT, "gallons" are always assumed to be US gallons, unless you explicitly specify Imperial gallons. If you just say "gallons" for Imperial gallons, you will confuse people. 30 litres is 7.9 gallons. If you work in litres, you are probably better off just leaving everything in litres.

Assuming you are going to use the Brew in a Bag process, all of your water and grain need to fit into your pot, while leaving some room for stirring. I would leave a minimum of 3 L for stirring when you start out, so that means your water and grain can take up a maximum of 27 L. Grain takes up about 0.66 L per kg when mixed with water.

For your first batch, I would recommend 4.5 kg of malt, mashed in 24 L of water, as this will give you a mash volume of 27 L. If you drain the bag well, or squeeze it some, and boil off 3 L during your 1 hour boil, you should end up with about 18 L of 1.056 wort (if everything goes well - it seldom does on the first try, don't be discouraged.)

3. In brewing we talk about "sanitizing" which isn't quite as microbe free as medical grade sterilization. If you have no-rinse sanitizers available to you, these are your best choice. They all come with mixing and use directions. If you can't get these then you can sanitize using chlorine bleach solutions. Bleach solutions need to be rinsed well with clean, microbe free water, or you may end up with plasticy taste in your beer.

You do not need to sanitize equipment before the boiling step. After boiling, anything that touches the wort, or fermented beer, needs to be sanitized.

4. Cooling quickly is recommended, but not absolutely necessary. If you have ice readily available, the simplest way is to place the pot in a tub of ice water after boiling. You can reduce the amount of ice needed if you start with the tub filled with the coldest water you have available, and change the water out when it starts to get close to the wort temperature. Once the wort is close to the starting water temperature, then add ice to the water in the tub. If slow cooling, leave the pot vented until the wort temp is below about 65°C, and then cover completely. The venting is to let DMS, that is formed at higher wort temps, dissipate so you don't end up with cooked corn flavor in your beer.

Brew on

 

[doug293cz]

A good resource for beginning brewers is: How to Brew by John Palmer.

Brew on

 

[z-bob]

Sanitation is really not very important up until the boil. Just rinse the dust and dead insects out of the mash tun and the kettle and you'll be fine. (I'm serious) Boiling kills any bacteria and wild yeasts that might have gotten in up to that point, and the hops are somewhat antimicrobial.

The fermenter needs to be sanitized, and once the wort (unfermented beer) is cool you need to be careful with it.

Just about any yeast will work. (some better than others) What do you have available?

 

[BangladeshBrewer]

1. The more important question is: what yeasts can you get? If you have to have yeast shipped to you, you are better off using dry yeasts. A good dry ale yeast to start out with is Fermentis SafAle US-05.

2. On HBT, "gallons" are always assumed to be US gallons, unless you explicitly specify Imperial gallons. If you just say "gallons" for Imperial gallons, you will confuse people. 30 litres is 7.9 gallons. If you work in litres, you are probably better off just leaving everything in litres.

Assuming you are going to use the Brew in a Bag process, all of your water and grain need to fit into your pot, while leaving some room for stirring. I would leave a minimum of 3 L for stirring when you start out, so that means your water and grain can take up a maximum of 27 L. Grain takes up about 0.66 L per kg when mixed with water.

For your first batch, I would recommend 4.5 kg of malt, mashed in 24 L of water, as this will give you a mash volume of 27 L. If you drain the bag well, or squeeze it some, and boil off 3 L during your 1 hour boil, you should end up with about 18 L of 1.056 wort (if everything goes well - it seldom does on the first try, don't be discouraged.)

3. In brewing we talk about "sanitizing" which isn't quite as microbe free as medical grade sterilization. If you have no-rinse sanitizers available to you, these are your best choice. They all come with mixing and use directions. If you can't get these then you can sanitize using chlorine bleach solutions. Bleach solutions need to be rinsed well with clean, microbe free water, or you may end up with plasticy taste in your beer.

You do not need to sanitize equipment before the boiling step. After boiling, anything that touches the wort, or fermented beer, needs to be sanitized.

4. Cooling quickly is recommended, but not absolutely necessary. If you have ice readily available, the simplest way is to place the pot in a tub of ice water after boiling. You can reduce the amount of ice needed if you start with the tub filled with the coldest water you have available, and change the water out when it starts to get close to the wort temperature. Once the wort is close to the starting water temperature, then add ice to the water in the tub. If slow cooling, leave the pot vented until the wort temp is below about 65°C, and then cover completely. The venting is to let DMS, that is formed at higher wort temps, dissipate so you don't end up with cooked corn flavor in your beer.

Brew on

I'm glad I mentioned liters. I had forgotten that US gallons are different to Imperial gallons.


I can get virtually any yeast.


I have hydrogen peroxide. I may just use boiling water to sanitise the all-in-one pot before brewing and pour that boiling water out before starting.


Thanks for your mashing suggestion. I will go with "4.5 kg of malt, mashed in 24 L" on the first attempt. I will have 25kg of malt to play with. So a first time disaster is OK.

Sanitation is really not very important up until the boil. Just rinse the dust and dead insects out of the mash tun and the kettle and you'll be fine. (I'm serious) Boiling kills any bacteria and wild yeasts that might have gotten in up to that point, and the hops are somewhat antimicrobial.

The fermenter needs to be sanitized, and once the wort (unfermented beer) is cool you need to be careful with it.

Just about any yeast will work. (some better than others) What do you have available?

I am doing everything in the same pot.

 

[z-bob]

I'm glad I mentioned liters. I had forgotten that US gallons are different to Imperial gallons.


I can get virtually any yeast.


I have hydrogen peroxide. I may just use boiling water to sanitise the all-in-one pot before brewing and pour that boiling water out before starting.

Thanks for your mashing suggestion. I will go with "4.5 kg of malt, mashed in 24 L" on the first attempt. I will have 25kg of malt to play with. So a first time disaster is OK.

I am doing everything in the same pot.

Wash it out with soap and water, rinse well, and you're done. No need to use hydrogen peroxide. (I'm assuming you're going to boil the wort with the hops.) It will get sanitized during the boil.