I've had better success online just because I think they have fresher ingredients than the kits at my lhbs. The kits I bought at my lhbs had a layer of dust on top of them, so I'm pretty sure they sat on the shelves for a while before I bought them. I think when you buy online they assemble the kit when you order, so you get fresh ingredients and fresh yeast.
Taking the plunge
- Thread starter Martlet
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I've had better success online just because I think they have fresher ingredients than the kits at my lhbs. The kits I bought at my lhbs had a layer of dust on top of them, so I'm pretty sure they sat on the shelves for a while before I bought them. I think when you buy online they assemble the kit when you order, so you get fresh ingredients and fresh yeast.
mikebiewer
Well-Known Member
I to spend a good portion of money over at Northern Brewer. Its quick and I've generally had good results.
Plus I think their site is one of the best designed and functioning sites out there. Wish lists, customer reviews, pictures, suggested products and so on. They have really stepped into the 20th century to get their site up to good standards.
Plus I think their site is one of the best designed and functioning sites out there. Wish lists, customer reviews, pictures, suggested products and so on. They have really stepped into the 20th century to get their site up to good standards.
wendelgee2
Well-Known Member
Seriously. You need to not listen to them. Did they give you any solid reasons for doing this? Because, here are the reasons NOT to do this. 1) In the middle of fermentation, you just removed the vast majority of the yeast. Now you have left behind a skeleton crew of yeast to finish the job. More than likely, your beer will now be underattenuated. 2) The most common off-flavors in beer (diacetyl, which tastes like the fake butter on movie popcorn; and acetaldehyde, which has a sharp green apple flavor) are caused by metabolic precursors to the fermentation process. These are compounds that are kicked out by the yeast during fermentation, that the yeast will only clean up after they have exhausted all available fermentable sugars. In short, if you leave the yeast on the beer long enough, they clean up after themselves and make your beer taste better. 3) One of the major differences between a veteran's beer and a novice's beer is the pitching rate. Novices routinely underpitch, resulting in stressed out yeast (from excessive replication) that kick out exceptional amounts of esters, fusels, phenols and all sorts of other compounds that make the beer not taste "clean." You very well may have pitched the correct amount to begin with, but now you've removed 85% of the yeast, so you are underpitched at this point. The resulting overstressed yeast will likely not ferment as cleanly, and will almost certainly crap out too soon, resulting in underattenuated beer. 4) The more you fiddle with your beer, the more you are exposing it to oxygen, which is the absolute #1 enemy to beer flavor.
KevinW
Well-Known Member
I have to agree with wendel on this one. It is really NOT a good idea to touch the primary for at least a week(2 is better) and secondaries are generally not necessary for most ales unless dry hopping, lagering or adding adjuncts.
The only time I use a secondary is when I need one of my two primaries for a new batch!
Open up those fermentors only when absolutely necessary! IMHO
The only time I use a secondary is when I need one of my two primaries for a new batch!
Open up those fermentors only when absolutely necessary! IMHO
wendelgee2
Well-Known Member
Bah...you don't need to dump it for goodness sake. You just need to work to improve your process on every single beer.
This place is a great resource, but nothing is better than howtobrew.com, and the podcasts on thebrewingnetwork.com
Let us know how the beer comes out. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we're pulling for ya!
billvon
Well-Known Member
Don't do that! Lots of people have used secondaries with no problems. I use them for fruit beers to get them to settle out a little more. Odds are your beer will be fine.
Back to DZ.com with you!
StAnthonyB
Well-Known Member
It's actually pretty tough to screw up homebrew.
As far as what do we do about kits?
The season of homebrewing is best done experimenting with different kits. Kits are more expensive but it's a great way to learn. I assemble my own kits now. Which really isn't all that tough if you stick with a particular genre of beer.
In my case, I like to brew English style ales; so, it's bitters, milds, browns, and porters, not to mention ipa's and old ales. (I really like Shipyard's old ales... there's a plug for a great Maine brewery!)
My usual trick to order a 55# sack of Pale Malt, and a handful of crystal malts, wheat malts, and colour malts in one pound packs. At the beginning of the season I like to order 1# packs of different hops I'll be using. I'll typically get about 4 session brews out of a 55# sack.
