Brew Day! Give me your best brew tip!
- Thread starter osoling
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
adiochiro3
Well-Known Member
Extract, all grain, partial mash, or BIAB? I think most everything is covered in publications.
Generally I would suggest bringing your wort to as vigorous boil as possible (without boiling over) and leave the the lid off to boil off compounds you don't want in your beer. That was one thing I picked up on later in the game.
Generally I would suggest bringing your wort to as vigorous boil as possible (without boiling over) and leave the the lid off to boil off compounds you don't want in your beer. That was one thing I picked up on later in the game.
flars
Well-Known Member
Sanitize your hands.
PRE66_6TART
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 478
- Reaction score
- 166
Take good notes. Write down every detail you can think of no matter how trivial. It will come in handy later.
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
I actually do sanitize my hands, but that is a great tip! I just upgraded to Beersmith pro, so notes are much better this time around. I'm pretty new, so I'm not sure what to write, but I'll do what you said. This is great! Keep it coming!
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Hoppity
Just brew it!
Line up all additions to the boil ahead of time. I've forgotten Irish Moss and yeast nutrient too many times.
Plan ahead. So you don't miss any steps.
Keep sanitary especially after the boil. (which does not have to be vigorous as previously stated)
Temperature control of the fermentation. Aim for the lower half of the optimal range of the yeast you are using.
Patience. Let the beer finish. Kit instructions are notoriously too quick. Go by gravity readings not time.
Enjoy the process and the product.
Keep sanitary especially after the boil. (which does not have to be vigorous as previously stated)
Temperature control of the fermentation. Aim for the lower half of the optimal range of the yeast you are using.
Patience. Let the beer finish. Kit instructions are notoriously too quick. Go by gravity readings not time.
Enjoy the process and the product.
Black Island Brewer
An Ode to Beer
3 tips: temp control, temp control, temp control. Those who don't might say it ain't that important, those who dial it in to 1 degree F with a fermentation chamber will never go back!
Wear shoes! Slipping on wet floors, falling stainless steel, dripping hot wort...none of these are good for your feet!
Using a propane burner? Make sure you have a lighter that works!
Using a stove? Don't leave the pot unattended!
Brewing outside? Check the weather report!
Eating a big meal before brewing helps! I always get caught up in the brewday and forget to eat.
Keep an eye on your pets!
Keep your recipe paper dry!
Lay out all of your tools in advance...thermometer, hydrometer, funnel, etc...don't want to wait until brewday to find out you lost something!
Take pictures to share with us!
Sorry it's more than one tip I get carried away
Using a propane burner? Make sure you have a lighter that works!
Using a stove? Don't leave the pot unattended!
Brewing outside? Check the weather report!
Eating a big meal before brewing helps! I always get caught up in the brewday and forget to eat.
Keep an eye on your pets!
Keep your recipe paper dry!
Lay out all of your tools in advance...thermometer, hydrometer, funnel, etc...don't want to wait until brewday to find out you lost something!
Take pictures to share with us!
Sorry it's more than one tip I get carried away
If you drink while you brew, try to wait until everything is in the boil kettle. I've had a few instances brewing with friends and solo brewing that I've started at the beginning of my brew day and I either forgot items, timing was off i.e additions, or took sub par notes. Also if you're using White Labs vials open them prior to setting it out to get room temp. I learned that mistake once. 
You can get your water/wort to boil much faster by leaving the lid on the pot, but keep the lid off once the boil stars.
SC_Ryan
Well-Known Member
Have fun... but not too much fun...
Sanitation (clean well with oxy or pbw and rinse, sanitize with starsan - don't rinse.) You cannot make good beer with poor sanitation.
Once you have that under control, Temp. control and yeast health. It is hard to make good beer without good yeast starter (for liquid yeast) and good temp. control (65ish for most ales - beer temp, not room temp.)
Start with good, tried and true recipes/kits and resist the urge to "change them" until you have brewed them at least once.
Rebrew the same beer multiple times - that is, ultimately, how you really learn to brew well. Change one variable at a time if you want to tweak a recipe.
Be organized. Have everything ready to roll. recipe, ingredients, clean equipment, etc.
Clean everything really well immediately after you are done using it - makes a huge difference in sanitation in the long run.
Don't get (too) drunk when brewing. Pretty much every stupid mistake I have ever made brewing beer came after 3 beers.
Once you have that under control, Temp. control and yeast health. It is hard to make good beer without good yeast starter (for liquid yeast) and good temp. control (65ish for most ales - beer temp, not room temp.)
Start with good, tried and true recipes/kits and resist the urge to "change them" until you have brewed them at least once.
Rebrew the same beer multiple times - that is, ultimately, how you really learn to brew well. Change one variable at a time if you want to tweak a recipe.
Be organized. Have everything ready to roll. recipe, ingredients, clean equipment, etc.
Clean everything really well immediately after you are done using it - makes a huge difference in sanitation in the long run.
Don't get (too) drunk when brewing. Pretty much every stupid mistake I have ever made brewing beer came after 3 beers.
PasbitinusBluinusRibbinus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2012
- Messages
- 284
- Reaction score
- 37
Also if you're using White Labs vials open them prior to setting it out to get room temp. I learned that mistake once.
I've got to ask you to explain this one... why do they need to be opened?
dhoge
Well-Known Member
Turn the heat down before you add hops. Helps prevent a boil over. Brewing outside with a burner, have the hose ready, if you boil over shut the heat off and spray everything down immediately, then re-light burner. I have heard second hand that it turns into a sticky mess.
If you take a whitelabs vial out, let it warm, shake it up to mix yeast, and then open - it will spray all over the place like a can of pop that you shook up.
Twist them open a bit (don't take lid off) and close back up. Shake and mix, let sit, crack it open again and reseal, etc. repeat, repeat, repeat..... this will let the pressure off so that when you go to pitch your yeast, you won't have it foaming out the top of the vial all over the place. Treat it like a two liter bottle of pop that got shook up too much - vent, seal, vent, seal, vent, seal - until the pressure is ok.
Also if you're using White Labs vials open them prior to setting it out to get room temp. I learned that mistake once.
When you take a White Labs vial out of the refrigerator it will start building pressure inside as it warms up. If you let it totally warm and open quickly you will be likely to get a face full of yeast.
When you first take it out of the fridge, crack it and release the pressure carefully, then crack and slowly release pressure every 10 minutes or so. This way there won't be a large pressure buildup.
YNOT2K
Well-Known Member
My advise is to remember you are a homebrewer and it takes beer to make beer.
1. Healthy yeast
2. Good water (no chlorine)
3. Pay attention to mash Ph (5.2 - 5.5)
4. Pitch yeast as soon as you can into oxygenated wort (lag time once you've cooled wort is high infection risk - once yeast starts making alchohol, infection risk declines a bunch)
5. Mind your fermentation temps - cooler is better than warmer
6. Be patient - most of my early flaws went away once I started giving my beer more time to condition.
2. Good water (no chlorine)
3. Pay attention to mash Ph (5.2 - 5.5)
4. Pitch yeast as soon as you can into oxygenated wort (lag time once you've cooled wort is high infection risk - once yeast starts making alchohol, infection risk declines a bunch)
5. Mind your fermentation temps - cooler is better than warmer
6. Be patient - most of my early flaws went away once I started giving my beer more time to condition.
walloon
New Member
Calibrate your thermometers regularly. I got lazy and skipped this for a while. The dial thermometer I use for mash was off by about 9 degrees which I didn't discover until three batches. Ugh.
BreezyBrew
IPA is my spirit animal
Use high quality malts. Don't get too drunk and forget stuff, like taking gravity samples. Or pitching the yeast .
.
Puddlethumper
Well-Known Member
After the boil be sure to adequately cool the wort before pitching the yeast. Better to cool it to below fermentation temp and let it rise than too warm and let it cool. Yeast should be within 10-15F of wort temp. The closer they are to the same temperature the better.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
bajaedition
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2013
- Messages
- 1,187
- Reaction score
- 307
wear an apron or you will end up dedicating what you are wearing as brew clothes.
Spookgolds
Well-Known Member
My advise is to remember you are a homebrewer and it takes beer to make beer.
This is true, however a piece of advice directed at myself-
Don't drink too much too soon. The drunker I am, the sloppier I get and things get forgotten. Except the fun.
