Beginner to beer brewing at home [initial questions]

[tim_s]

Hi Everyone,

I just want to thank everyone answering my hundreds of questions and I feel like I got an amazing package for amazing money.

Thank you.

 

[tim_s]

I see you're using torontobrewing - also check out Ontariobeerkegs.com, I'm in AB and they are still my supplier of choice.

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion and you are the second person to recommend Ontario Beer Kegs. I will check them out.

 

[fimpster]

I think the gear and recipe kit you chose are going to be a great starting point. As Gavin has explained, learn the fundamentals first, but then don't be afraid to move quickly to all-grain, if you decide that's what you want to do. I brewed for 14 years with some portion of extract before moving to all-grain and looking back I wish I would have made the move sooner. I still recommend to friends that they start with extract for at least a few batches (or forever if that's what you like) to understand all the processes of brewing.

Also, since sanitation is the number one factor in making good beer I wanted to add... early in the thread there was a question of using iodine for sanitization. YES it can be used and YES it is a no-rinse sanitizer when diluted properly. I used Io-Star for years without any problems. The biggest drawbacks are that it will stain plastic parts (which is just cosmetic) and it has a longer contact time requirement for proper sanitization. I still have half a bottle of it that I use occasionally, although I now prefer Sani-Clean for kegs and fermenters, and Star-San for everything else.

Hint: fill up a spray bottle of Star-San solution and the stuff will last you forever.

 

[tim_s]

I think the gear and recipe kit you chose are going to be a great starting point. As Gavin has explained, learn the fundamentals first, but then don't be afraid to move quickly to all-grain, if you decide that's what you want to do. I brewed for 14 years with some portion of extract before moving to all-grain and looking back I wish I would have made the move sooner. I still recommend to friends that they start with extract for at least a few batches (or forever if that's what you like) to understand all the processes of brewing.

Also, since sanitation is the number one factor in making good beer I wanted to add... early in the thread there was a question of using iodine for sanitization. YES it can be used and YES it is a no-rinse sanitizer when diluted properly. I used Io-Star for years without any problems. The biggest drawbacks are that it will stain plastic parts (which is just cosmetic) and it has a longer contact time requirement for proper sanitization. I still have half a bottle of it that I use occasionally, although I now prefer Sani-Clean for kegs and fermenters, and Star-San for everything else.

Hint: fill up a spray bottle of Star-San solution and the stuff will last you forever.

Hi,

Awesome post!

I am (or will be as it is being delivered) very happy with the kit I purchased, I will be getting a few more bits and bobs like a bottling wand etc. but to the point of getting the brew into a fermenter - this seems well rounded and slightly above the minimum starting point.

I also upgrade the plastic carboy to a glass carboy.

The kit comes with Star San and I also ordered an extra bottle of Star San on top of that. The Iodine comments came from an article I read that a gentleman was using Iodine, which at the time was exciting because I can get my hands on large amounts of Iodine for cheap.

 

[tim_s]

Hi Everyone,

So today I decided to test everything I.e. can my stove get the brew kettle to a boil and whether my wort chiller tubing can be used. So I discovered that neither my stove can bring the brew kettle (8 Gallon kettle with 5 gallons of water) to a boil nor can the wort chiller be plugged into a water source from where I am heating the liquid.

So, I am thinking of boiling the ingredients in my garage will I can run a hose to the wort chiller and run a propane powered stove of some type.

Anyone have any recommendations?

 

[tim_s]

I was thinking of getting one of these: http://www.rona.ca/en/propane-gas-burner-01715018

 

[EcuPirate07]

I was thinking of getting one of these: http://www.rona.ca/en/propane-gas-burner-01715018

I have this one. Works well for me. Which ever you get make sure it will fit your pot or vise versa. I made the mistake of getting a round stand first and my keggle was too big for it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYQ4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[ElJefeBrews]

I have this one. Works well for me. Which ever you get make sure it will fit your pot or vise versa. I made the mistake of getting a round stand first and my keggle was too big for it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYQ4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I have the same one and I second that it works just fine. Now just find a cheap gas tank and you're golden

 

[tim_s]

Hi Everyone,

Ok - final questions.

1. The brewers best instructions mention to steep grains with 2.5 gallons with a mention that - it is the minimum suggestion. The box is intended to make 5 gallons, which I understand I can do from the beginning. Since I have an 8 Gallon brew pot, can I just fill it up to 5.5 gallons to skip the need to top up in the later stages?

2. The instructions don't seem to talk about the need to aerate during the transfer from the pot to fermenter. I am using a syphon for transfer and I am assuming my strategy will be to transfer the liquid with the output hose medium always breaking the surface of the already transfer liquids?

3. My Brewsers best instructions in caps no less, mention "do not rehydrate the yeast" - yet the yeast instructions ask for the yeast to be rehydrated????

 

[1977Brewer]

1. If you can boil at full volume, go for it. Kit instructions seem to assume a 5 gallon kettle maximum.

2. Absolutely aerate by some means. Either by pouring or siphoning at height, or shaking your fermenter. It will only help.

3. The yeast packet is by far the smarter of the 2 pieces of literature here.

 

[tim_s]

1. If you can boil at full volume, go for it. Kit instructions seem to assume a 5 gallon kettle maximum.

I was looking to go 0.5 Gallons above the full volume to avoid the later top up process.

2. Absolutely aerate by some means. Either by pouring or siphoning at height, or shaking your fermenter. It will only help.

I was going to keep the output high on the syphon and then shake the fermenter 5 minutes before yeast and then 5 mins after yeast.

3. The yeast packet is by far the smarter of the 2 pieces of literature here.

Agreed! I have Chloramine in my water to save effort - can I just use distilled water in a sanitized glass for the yeast?

 

[tim_s]

4. Oh! and for my water - I was going to be lame and filter it through my Brita filter. I know it will take awhile but I am a patient guy and I think the outcome will be so much better. - anyone can any recommendations?

5. Sanitizing the Carboy with StarSan in the videos I have watched shows bubbles and foam but they do not show any post process. Do I just wait for the bubbles to dissipate?

 

[1977Brewer]

4. Oh! and for my water - I was going to be lame and filter it through my Brita filter. I know it will take awhile but I am a patient guy and I think the outcome will be so much better. - anyone can any recommendations?

5. Sanitizing the Carboy with StarSan in the videos I have watched shows bubbles and foam but they do not show any post process. Do I just wait for the bubbles to dissipate?

If chloramine is your issue, I'm not sure a Brita will remove it. I use campden tablets to treat for chloramine. Short of that, if your water tastes good it will make good beer.

Don't fear the foam. StarSan is a contact sanitizer, it's only effective if the surface is still wet. Pour right on top of the foam.

 

[tim_s]

If chloramine is your issue, I'm not sure a Brita will remove it. I use campden tablets to treat for chloramine. Short of that, if your water tastes good it will make good beer.

The Brita is not for the Chloramine - it is to improve the taste of the water.

Don't fear the foam. StarSan is a contact sanitizer, it's only effective if the surface is still wet. Pour right on top of the foam.

Thank you

 

[tim_s]

6. I add the Campden right in the beginning correct?

 

[tim_s]

Hi,

My campden tabs came in a green bag without instructions - do I add them in the water first thing to remove chloramine? My understanding is that they need to be added before the boiling process.

 

[1977Brewer]

Yeah, add them pre boil. 1 tab treats 20 gallons, I just use half per 5 gallons.

 

[lhommedieu]

Add campden tablets to your total water supply before you do anything else if you have chloromine in your water supply. If you issue is simply chlorine, campden tablets or boiling the water will remove it as well.

You should get a water profile of your drinking water. My water is considered rather soft and so there is not a lot of adjustment needed. When I brew British ales, for example, I typically add a Tbsp. of gypsum for every 10 gallons of water to accent the hop flavor in my beer, even though I tend towards the low end of the profile for hops. For brewing pilsners and other lagers my water is not quite as soft as I want it, so I cut it with distilled water, or use bottled water. I manipulate the mash to get the flavor that I want, and don't worry about adding minerals.

Gallon jugs of spring water are an alternative to filtering with a Brita water filter system. Poland Spring, for example, is a rather soft water and you can add minerals, if you wish, to make it suitable for different beer styles.

Probably the best solution, and one that I'm going to start using this fall, is to buy a RO system. I figure that it will probably pay for itself in about six batches.

 

[fimpster]

As for steeping the grain in the full volume of water, you may want to steep in, say 4 gallons or so and then "sparge" your steeping grains with 1.5 gallons, or the remainder, of your water before boiling. When I was brewing with extract, I started doing this "sparge" step with my steeping grains and noticed a much better flavor and utilization of them. This will still work for a partial boil too; just steep in half of your boil volume, then "sparge" with the other half.

Sparging is really a process in all-grain brewing, but for your purposes it really just means rinsing your grains with some additional water to get all of the good liquid and flavor and other contributions out of the grain and into your boil pot. It's a simple step, with big benefits. Good luck!

 

[Ballen0701]

I just brewed my first brew yesterday from a kit and it is sitting in primary fermentation now and has already started releasing CO2. so I think I have don't something right so far. Am I right?

Now on my statement and question: my brew is for an English Brown Ale
I downloaded an app to put recipe info in now after I put the info in the OG is right where it says anticipated should be. Now if I am correct IBU's is the bitterness of a beer. So why does this App tell me my Anticipated IBU's should be around 47.83, when the kit says IBUs should be around 21-25?

 

[ElJefeBrews]

I just brewed my first brew yesterday from a kit and it is sitting in primary fermentation now and has already started releasing CO2. so I think I have don't something right so far. Am I right?

Now on my statement and question: my brew is for an English Brown Ale
I downloaded an app to put recipe info in now after I put the info in the OG is right where it says anticipated should be. Now if I am correct IBU's is the bitterness of a beer. So why does this App tell me my Anticipated IBU's should be around 47.83, when the kit says IBUs should be around 21-25?

Make sure you temperature control!!!! IBUs could be off if you typed it in incorrectly. That's the only thing I can really think of

 

[Ballen0701]

I try to keep the area I have my brew in around 70 considering the kit said. Between 64-72. It's a little hard considering where I live the idiots still have the heat on so my place staying around mid 80's but so u think 70 is a good temp?

 

[Kharnynb]

get a big concrete mixing bucket or storage container that's water tight, put the carboy/bucket in and fill with water, then add frozen water bottles during the day to keep the temp down.

Ibu's are calculated by the alpha of the hops, the software might have higher listed alpha than the hops actually have(they vary per year and per batch.)

 

[ElJefeBrews]

get a big concrete mixing bucket or storage container that's water tight, put the carboy/bucket in and fill with water, then add frozen water bottles during the day to keep the temp down.

This. Or any bucket that can hold it and cover it in a shirt that you keep wet. Get a fermometer strip on your carboy/bucket and you wanna keep the temp on that in the low 60s with most ale yeasts. If the room temp is around 70 then the temp of fermenting beer is likely in the mid to high 70s since fermentation creates heat, and that's too hot. Another option is to brew Belgian styles. I usually don't temp control Belgian yeasts and let them do their own thing and they turn out great.

 

[VegasBrew1]

1 gallon batches were not for me. I could barely wait to have my first 5 gallons available. Then it took time to brew the pipeline. Now, I don't buy beer. I buy ingredients.

You are a self proclaimed beer lover. If you're not shy about putting in some time and work, you're gonna love the hobby. I went all grain from batch 1, don't regret it. Not great beer to start, but extremely drinkable. As someone stated, craigslist and DIY forums are your friend.

 

[Ballen0701]

ok so I have went by y'alls advice and have put my fermenting bucket in basically an ice bath cover in cold towels and the brew itself is running about 65. does that seem reasonable? well 65-66

 

[tim_s]

Hi,

Sorry - I am confused with your statement.

I brew my English Red Ale and within 24 / hours I saw Co2 bubbling - are we saying this is wrong?

 

[tim_s]

This is an interesting post because I just measured my office in the morning and it was 75F, meaning it probably gets in the 80Fs when I am there. I noticed at the 24hr mark the Co2 bubbles were constant and now they have relaxed a lot.

 

[Kharnynb]

most ale yeast will be working best(least off-flavours) around 60-66F, but it depends on yeast and beer style.

bubbles will usually start around 12-70 hours depending on starter size, temp and many other factors. first few days are usually active, then it slows down.

a good stage to start your first gravity measure to check if the beer is ready is one week after it stops bubbling, then 2 days after that.

 

[tim_s]

most ale yeast will be working best(least off-flavours) around 60-66F, but it depends on yeast and beer style.

bubbles will usually start around 12-70 hours depending on starter size, temp and many other factors. first few days are usually active, then it slows down.

a good stage to start your first gravity measure to check if the beer is ready is one week after it stops bubbling, then 2 days after that.

It is a Ale yeast, I am using DANSTAR Saccharomyces cerevisiae de-hydrated.