A few beginner questions

[off7spring]

Hi,

I'm new to home brewing...I just started with a brooklyn brew shop IPA kit this past weekend.

I've been trying to learn more about the brewing process and I just had a few basic questions:

1) Is there any advantage to bagging the mash and letting it steep vs straining jt afterward? Bagging just seems much cleaner.

2) The kit I got had me use a blowoff tube for the first 3 days then switch to the airlock. Is that always necessary or can the airlock be used from the start?

3) The instructions that came with my kit say to keep the honey and water mix in a separate bowl and siphon some up before bottling each bottle during bottling. Are there any drawbacks to siphoning the beer from the fermenter right into the mixture (in a bucket) and then filling from there so it's more evenly mixed with the sugar solution?

4) I was reading some about tabs you can add during the boil for increased clarity. Is that usually a good rule of thumb for every batch, or does it really depend on the type of beer?

Thanks for taking the time to read this...I look forward to any responses, as well as exploring this forum as I get more into home brewing!

 

[yewtah-brewha]

ive been brewing for 13 months over 100 gallons, I dont understand some of your terminology! bagging????? what is this? I'd like to help!

 

[BigFloyd]

1) Is there any advantage to bagging the mash and letting it steep vs straining jt afterward? Bagging just seems much cleaner.

Are you talking about steeping grains (like crystal/caramel) or actual mashing of base grains? For steeping, a muslin bag works well.

2) The kit I got had me use a blowoff tube for the first 3 days then switch to the airlock. Is that always necessary or can the airlock be used from the start?

It depends on the amount of headspace in your fermenter and the kind of beer you are making.

3) The instructions that came with my kit say to keep the honey and water mix in a separate bowl and siphon some up before bottling each bottle during bottling. Are there any drawbacks to siphoning the beer from the fermenter right into the mixture (in a bucket) and then filling from there so it's more evenly mixed with the sugar solution?

How big is this batch? I'd suggest that you forget about trying to prime with honey and simply use sugar dissolved in boiled water and added to the bottling bucket prior to the beer.

4) I was reading some about tabs you can add during the boil for increased clarity. Is that usually a good rule of thumb for every batch, or does it really depend on the type of beer?

I add 1/2 a crushed Whirlfloc tab with 10 minutes left in the boil every batch.

 

[off7spring]

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry about that...I'm still trying to get all the terms down

Basically, my kit had me pour the grains directly into the pot and make them like oatmeal and then strain them afterward. When I was watching some youtube videos, I saw one where the guy put the grains in a muslin bag and dropped the bag into the water and let it steep. (Here's the video: the part is at 1:49)

 

[off7spring]

Thanks for the response Floyd!

To answer your questions:

1) If I follow this correctly, I was talking about the base grains.

3) The batch is 1 gallon.

 

[loucurr]

Nice video but there are some things missing...notice the difference in the volume of wort in the fermentation carboy to the one that he siphoned into the bottling bucket...one had plenty of room the other did not. The reason is that he racked the beer from the primary (6.5 gal) carboy to a (5 gal) carboy. He did not discuss that step although not necessary.

If you have a bottling bucket you won't need to auto siphon for bottling.

 

[Hamaki]

Hi,

I'm new to home brewing...I just started with a brooklyn brew shop IPA kit this past weekend.

I've been trying to learn more about the brewing process and I just had a few basic questions:


1) Is there any advantage to bagging the mash and letting it steep vs straining jt afterward? Bagging just seems much cleaner.

If this is an all grain kit bear in mind that base malts need to be mashed, similar to steeping but not exactly the same, in order to convert starch to sugar. Most, if not all specialty malts can be steeped but you lose some of the sugars steeping rather than mashing. Good new is you can brew in a bag (BIAB). I've never done it but there are a lot of threads here to fill in the details.

If this is an extract kit with specialty grains and instructions say to steep, do that. Mashing them will change the character of the beer.

2) The kit I got had me use a blowoff tube for the first 3 days then switch to the airlock. Is that always necessary or can the airlock be used from the start?

I use a blowoff exclusively, don't own an airlock. There may be disadvantages to this practice but I haven't read about them or discovered them on my own. The lower the OG and the more headspace in your fermentation vessel the less likely you'll need a blowoff. There've been several times where I've been surprised & thankful that I had a blowoff.

3) The instructions that came with my kit say to keep the honey and water mix in a separate bowl and siphon some up before bottling each bottle during bottling. Are there any drawbacks to siphoning the beer from the fermenter right into the mixture (in a bucket) and then filling from there so it's more evenly mixed with the sugar solution?

You've got it! Whether you use honey, sugar, or another priming agent to carbonate I'd recommend mixing it with your entire batch rather than trying to dose each bottle. More uniform results that way. Like everything else that touches your wort or beer after the boil, make sure whatever you use for a bottling bucket is cleaned & sanitized.

4) I was reading some about tabs you can add during the boil for increased clarity. Is that usually a good rule of thumb for every batch, or does it really depend on the type of beer?

Whether you use whirlflock tabs or other fining agents is your choice. It generally produces a clearer beer. Hefeweizen (and maybe some other styles I'm not familiar with) is typically cloudy so you might not want to use it there. I use Irish moss but have forgotten to add it on occasion. I didn't really miss it but I'm not that picky about clarity anyway.

Thanks for taking the time to read this...I look forward to any responses, as well as exploring this forum as I get more into home brewing!

I'm still pretty new myself, only been brewing a year and a half or so. See my comments interspersed with your questions, above.

Welcome to the obsession!

 

[loucurr]

To answer the blow off tube. I use one for every primary fermentation, just in case, and then switch to an air lock when I transfer to the secondary.

 

[lebucheron]

Muslin bag for the win. I Mash my grains in a nice big bag, then once they're ready, pull it out and let the wort drip out into the kettle I mashed them in. Search BIAB for a more thorough explanation.

 

[off7spring]

Thanks for the quick responses everyone... You've really helped me understand a lot more. I will definitely have to research BIAB it sounds interesting.

As for secondary fermentation, is that always recommended? If so, how do you know when it's time to start? Is 3-6 days into primary fermentation a good rule of thumb?

 

[loucurr]

Secondary is a topic of great discussion. Some don't do it and others do it religiously. The argument will probably last for eternity. I always transfer to a secondary as a Practice but know many people who don't. I usually transfer after two weeks and then keg or bottle a week after that.

 

[Hamaki]

I have one 6 1/2 gal carboy that I use for the entire fermentation...usually. I'll transfer to secondary, 5 gal carboy, if I have another brew before I've bottled. I wait until bubbles have dropped down to 2 or 3 a minute before I transfer to secondary. I don't transfer if all signs of fermentation have ceased - I want some co2 to displace oxygen in the headspace of the secondary. I've left beer in primary for 6 weeks or more with no ill effects. More routine is about 3 weeks.

Aside from yeast dropping out and no co2 being produced, check specific gravity before bottling. Should be close to what the recipe says. Sometimes fermentation gets stuck, leaving a lot of sugar still in solution and the agitation, temperature change, introduction of new sugar, etc. jump starts things again. That's a recipe for bottle bombs.