bear with me please... (beginner equipment)

[boogiesnap]

hi everyone. 1st post.

first time brewer here, and i have a broad question.

can i brew great beer with my equipment, or am i handicapped?

i have a good quality brewpot(all-clad 7 gallon or so)
a strong stove
a 6.5 plastic fermentor
a 5 gallon carboy
plus the other accessorial essentials, racking cane, tubing, airlocks, c-brite.

i realize this is quite bare bones looking at some of the home brew equipment out there, but is there something(s) essential i am missing?

i have 2 batches going now, ballantine XXX ale in the secondary, and barringtons brown ale in the primary. i'm sure i'll have more to talk about once they are ready.

thanks for any thoughts.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

no reason why you couldn't make a great beer with that equip.

 

[scottland]

Yes, you can brew great beer with that equipment, nothing else is needed. Just keep brewing and work on your technique.

 

[boogiesnap]

thanks guys,

so i don't need like a wort chiller, aerator, yadda, yadda?

 

[Grizzlybrew]

I wouldn't worry too much about the quality of beers you can produce with this set-up with a few side notes/exceptions.

Make sure your stove is strong enough to achieve a rolling boil. A mild simmer will not work.

You don't mention any chilling equipment which leads to me to assume you're using an ice bath or frozen/sanitized bottles. Whatever your setup, make sure you can cool your batch within 20-30 min.

Lastly, (but actually first in terms of quality) make sure you have someway to manage the temperature during fermentation even if it's just a heat blanket wrapped around the carboy/bucket.

 

[boogiesnap]

hmmm, i didn't realize it needed to cool to pitch temps in that short of time(i know shorter is better, but still). i just gently stirred it letting the heat disperse.

also didn't realize specific fermentation temps were critical. figured a window of not too hot/cold would suffice. i'm probably somewhere around 68*.

thank you, some things to consider for the future.

 

[RM-MN]

hmmm, i didn't realize it needed to cool to pitch temps in that short of time(i know shorter is better, but still). i just gently stirred it letting the heat disperse.

also didn't realize specific fermentation temps were critical. figured a window of not too hot/cold would suffice. i'm probably somewhere around 68*.

thank you, some things to consider for the future.

You don't have to chill in that short of time. I never have and my beer is still good. Just be aware that bacteria are in the air and they would really like to get a taste of that sweet wort. The danger time is while your wort is between 140 degrees and when you pitch your yeast. Once you pitch the yeast they multiply very quickly and will keep the bacteria from doing much. Just don't leave it set without a cover for hours.

The fermentation temperatures are more critical than most brewers know but in general you want to look at the yeast variety and find the optimal temperature range for that yeast and then try to keep the temperature toward the bottom of that preferred range. If the temperature is a little high it will still make beer but it may take a little longer for the yeast to clean up the esters they produced.

 

[flyfisherwes]

hmmm, i didn't realize it needed to cool to pitch temps in that short of time(i know shorter is better, but still). i just gently stirred it letting the heat disperse.

also didn't realize specific fermentation temps were critical. figured a window of not too hot/cold would suffice. i'm probably somewhere around 68*.

thank you, some things to consider for the future.

Something to keep in mind that I didn't figure out until after a few brews is that you want the temperature of the fermentation to be about 68. During peak fermentation, its temp will be close to 10 degrees F above the ambient temp around the fermenter. To make a long story short, you want to control your fermentation temperature to be around 68* by either putting it in a 60F ish environment or by sticking it in a tub filled with water and a couple frozen water bottles. This seems to be very important.

 

[unionrdr]

My temps don't go more than 2 or 3 degrees above the base temp during initial fermentation. Even when a blow off rig is going nuts. 64F is a good temp for most ale yeasts. Too low,& when initial fermentation is over,it could drop below the yeasts' minimum temp & stall out.
And the ice bath getting the temps down to between 65-70F in 20 minutes or less is to lessen or eliminate chill haze when it's time to fridge your beers. That's a couple days less clearing time,& more co2 absorption/conditioning time.

 

[BrewerinBR]

No mention of a hydrometer, a fairly important tool. It is the best way to meassure fermentation progress. I used an ice bath to chill wort for over a year before I built my chiller.

 

[boogiesnap]

thanks again gentlemen...looks like i wandered into the right place.

when i get home i'll try and get an ambient temp read in the basement. we keep the house @ 64*, which i thought would be too cold, so i put it in the back room with the boiler, a few degrees warmer. but it makes sense fermenting beer is hotter than ambient, so i'll move them if need be.

i got some good airlock activity in both the ballantine when it was in the primary and now brown ale.

the ballantine had been in the primary for 7 days and has been in the secondary since saturday. it is already quite clear...except for the dissolved dry hop pellets on top.

gotta figure out something with those. shoulda bagged methinks.

 

[unionrdr]

I bag my hops so I don't get all that mess when dry hopping.

 

[boogiesnap]

No mention of a hydrometer, a fairly important tool. It is the best way to meassure fermentation progress. I used an ice bath to chill wort for over a year before I built my chiller.

got one, but haven't really used it. i figure as a wort, it is what is. i'll check as i get closer to bottling. i do need a turkey baster though to get the sample out, i think.

 

[boogiesnap]

I bag my hops so I don't get all that mess when dry hopping.

any thoughts now that i didn't?

i could filter into the bottling container or just rack very carefully, correct?

 

[unionrdr]

You can put a hop sock over the end of your racking cane or auto siphon to keep from sucking of the grainy hop particles.

 

[msu09]

Quote:
Originally Posted by unionrdr
I bag my hops so I don't get all that mess when dry hopping.
any thoughts now that i didn't?

i could filter into the bottling container or just rack very carefully, correct?

A tip that I've used is as follows:

1. Move the secondary to it's final resting place (if it's not already there) at least a few hours before bottling/kegging. This will help things fall down to the bottom.

2. Transfer from the secondary to a bottling bucket. You may have to put something around your wand/autosiphon (like a hop bag) to prevent it from clogging.

3. Bottle them from the bottling bucket.

 

[mmonacel]

Some of the top things that directly affect beer quality:

1. Full boil - the 7 gallon pot will make it really close for boilovers when doing a full boil. Check out some FermCap S to keep the foam down. If you're boiling on the stove, it's a must. You'll thank me later... Don't wait to have to clean up your first sticky mess to get it. If you don't have a brew store handy, it's the same thing as baby gas drops (simethecone) but a bit more concentrated. Any drug store has it.
2. Proper pitching rate - use the pitching rate calculator on mrmalty.com. Overpitching is typically not a problem unless you go WAY overboard, but underpitching can throw a bunch of off-flavors. Stack the deck in the yeast's favor.
3. Fermentation temps - really critical to not throwing off flavors. For most ale strains 62 - 69 is great. Try to keep steady and within that range. Even low 70's can start to spell trouble with off flavors. The first three days or so are the most critical here. Check out swamp coolers if you don't have an easy way to manage temps.
4. Sanitation - really this should be #1 but it's somewhat assumed. Keep everything touching the wort after the boil clean and sanitized. Star San is a top pick for a sanitizer as is Iodophor.
5. Aeration - unless you're making really big beers, shaking the hell out of the fermenter or using a drill with a paint mixer until nice and frothy is great. Cheap, easy, and effective.
6. Use fresh / quality ingredients - as with anything food related, good fresh and quality ingredients make a difference.
7. Use a quality recipe - when you're first starting out, you don't have your process down yet. I'd personally recommend starting out with recipes / kits that have very good reviews so you can rule that out. Once you have your process down and consistently creating quality beer, then get into recipe formulation. Otherwise if it didn't turn out good, you're not sure if it's your process or the recipe.

Chilling quickly results in a nice cold break (better clarity) but primarily it's the reduced risk of infection quickly getting out of the "danger zone" of temps that bacteria / bugs like. Chill it as fast as you can, but don't lose sleep over it. Keep a chiller on your short list of next purchases though.

Basically, brewing is a very forgiving process. Keep it clean, do full boils when / if you can, and keep your yeast happy (pitch enough and keep temps in check) and you're miles ahead of the vast majority of beginners and you'll be rewarded with good beer off the get-go. There's a million other things / processes / gadgets to make the day easier or the beer slightly better, but the above are the biggest bang for the buck items.

Good luck and enjoy - you've found the right spot for research and advice!