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Well I bought the first round of equipment this morning and am planning to brew my first batch this weekend. :rockin: It will be an Irish Red Ale (Norther Brewer extract kit). I have an 8 gallon plastic bucket to do the fermentation in (no secondary) and am wondering about the bottling bucket...

Thanks, and if I go with the dry yeast (so no starter is needed) then the shelf life I assume is fairly long?

I was thinking of buying a kit (and some other supplies) from Northern Brewer before their 10% off sale ends tomorrow. However, I don't have all of my gear together yet which will probably be another couple of weeks before that happens. If I get the liquid WYeast and refrigerate it how long...

Hm, I'll try KevinW, but I'm in an apartment that's usually 65-70 degrees F, so I'm not sure how plausible it is for me to find a space that's cooler. I have a deck but that's way too variable to trust my precious beer to.

Will do Arkador. If I can't get a secondary for awhile though it's fine to just use the one 8 gallon bucket for the entire 4 weeks or so until bottling?

Yes, that is definitely better than no beer at all! If I get the plastic bucket, can I still use the stick-on Fermometers on it or do those only work on glass carboys?

Thanks for the info! Good luck on your new setup.

Thanks that what I was thinking/hoping. The guy was telling me it's the same bucket he's been using for like 2 years because you don't have to worry about a blow-off tube or anything.

There is an 8 gallon food-grade plastic bucket at my LHBS that they sell as a primary fermenter. If I'm doing 5 gallon batches will that much head room have any negative effects? I plan on using this as my only fermenter for the first batch or two until I get enough money to expand and get a 5...

I'm in the same situation, living with my SO now (not sure what the abbreviation used in the sticky or the OP means?) and I plan on just keeping the fermenter in the guest bathroom shower since we don't usually have people over. The beer will probably all be stacked in my walk-in closet.

Sounds good. So just to clarify, the initial boil volume can vary (2, 3.5, or 5 gallons) because basically you're just making the wort and activating the diastase enzymes to convert your starches to fermentable sugars. Everything will end up in the right proportions once you top your primary...

Thanks ReverseApacheMaster, propane is indeed a bit expensive. I was going to do extract initially so I think the electric stove should be fine.

Wow...I saved the Dogfish Head 60 Minute clone to try as soon as I get my equipment (the Extract conversion). Might be a tad complicated for my very first brew, but I'll probably end up trying it anyway. Looks way too good!

If I end up doing the 2 gallon boils for the wort, what's the minimum size pot I would need to achieve a good rolling boil, 10 quarts? What would be ideal? Same question for if I do all 5 gallons at once (6 gallon pot?). Thanks!

I'm at Portland State right downtown, so I'm certainly in beer mecca haha. And thank you, now I finally know what the hell LHBS stands for!

Thanks! Already getting plenty of great info, love the site.

Great threads there FlyGuy, I've heard of people complaining about the non-stainless steel pots, have you ever had a problem? Also, I LOVE the T-siphon design. Just to clarify, the T section needs to be hanging BELOW the bottom of the top vessel (primary) but above the bottom vessel...

Thanks for the advice, I'll consider getting one of those propane burners and just do it on my porch (live in an apartment complex). Do you ever worry about working in the outdoor environment, is there a higher chance of infection vs. working indoors? *The biggest pot I have is 8qt so I...

I planned on using my electric stove for my brewing process, but after reading some of the problems people have I may have to find another way. My question is what volume of water are you bringing to a boil for a 5 gallon batch of beer? I have The Complete Joy of Home Brewing (3E) and the...

Great video, thanks for posting that. It's nice to see how the carbonation changes over the course of bottle conditioning.