Brooklyn Brew Shop Everyday IPA Kit Tips

[Ply318ci]

It is a good beer all of my friends and their wives loved it as long as you followed the directions and sanitized right it will be fine. As for making another batch I just converted everything to one gallon recipes for any beer recipe I found on this site and ordered from online or visited my LHBS you end up with more grains then you need but you have a surplus so that after a few orders you have a good stock pile going and you only have to order a few things here and there eventually saving more money. I also bought a white home depot paint bucket and can now do two gallon batches or you can get another one gallon jug of apple juice from whole foods and get two
batches going experimenting with different hops. Trust me after tasting your beer one gallon is not enough and two isn't all that much work or space.

 

[BlakeL]

Did you buy the two gallon white buckets from home depot? Are they food safe?

 

[Ply318ci]

They are hdpe 2 on the bottom some people say they are not while others have been fermenting in them for years. I did one beer in them so for and have a summer wheat going in there right now and so far the only down side is you can't see what is going on inside them. Now after reading lots of threads about home depot buckets I came to my own personal conclusion that they are just fine but other people are extremely against them. So far no third arm or shrunken body parts so I will keep using them.

 

[BlakeL]

How do you attach the airlock? These would work great in my closet since they're not very tall. I have room for 2-3.

 

[kc1123]

I ordered two more 1 gallon glass jugs so I will always have something going in primary. Jumping into two gallons at a time is tempting.

 

[Ply318ci]

No airlock is needed the lids are not air tight as long as you leave a few inches for the Krausen you will be fine. Two gallons for me was a better move doesn't require much more equipment I use a 8qt pot and a 6qt pot for my boil and mash. And a 4qt for the Sparge.

 

[Calichusetts]

I ordered two more 1 gallon glass jugs so I will always have something going in primary. Jumping into two gallons at a time is tempting.

I have six right now...I often do a double brew day or two gallons, works out very nicely for a pipeline

 

[Ply318ci]

I Like that idea because it allows you to experiment with different hops and yeast. I just did two 1 gallon Belgian wit with two different hops to see the difference.

 

[jnalpak]

Completed my first IPA kit last night.

Of course I found this thread after, what I hope is not my mistake -

1. Tested my yeast (per palmer) and everything is working. Pitched it last night and shaked my 1gal to get everything working. 6hours later, all sediment was on the bottom and no bubbling. After reading this thread….I now realize this is normal….BUT THEN I DID #2
2. Realized my water level was a good inch below the gallon sign, i boiled water and waited to get the temp down to 30-40deg and then added it back over the gallon line.
3. I then shaked it up again. Making sure to STAR SAN - the cap, my hands, and the tubing.

 

[Ply318ci]

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. Congratulations on entering the hobby.

 

[BlakeL]

Completed my first IPA kit last night.

Of course I found this thread after, what I hope is not my mistake -

1. Tested my yeast (per palmer) and everything is working. Pitched it last night and shaked my 1gal to get everything working. 6hours later, all sediment was on the bottom and no bubbling. After reading this thread….I now realize this is normal….BUT THEN I DID #2
2. Realized my water level was a good inch below the gallon sign, i boiled water and waited to get the temp down to 30-40deg and then added it back over the gallon line.
3. I then shaked it up again. Making sure to STAR SAN - the cap, my hands, and the tubing.

Makes me feel better that someone else is also not seeing any airlock action after the first day.

I have six right now...I often do a double brew day or two gallons, works out very nicely for a pipeline

I went to Whole foods yesterday and picked up a 1 gallon jug of apple juice. Once we finish drinking it i'll order some more supplies so I can get a second batch going. I also like the idea of using a 2 gallon bucket so I might order one of those as well to capitalize on the flat rate shipping.

 

[kc1123]

How are your brews going?

I was very pleased with how the Everyday IPA (kit) turned out and I hope to brew it again, but I have a bunch of others lined up already. I have Coffee & Donut Stout (kit) fermenting now and I'm brewing Grapefruit Honey Ale (kit) today. My first recipe from the book will be the Jalapeno Saison Mild.

 

[BlakeL]

I'll be bottling my Everyday IPA next week. I am already planning a second batch using two 1g jugs.

Ingredients:
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5 lbs 9.6 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 %
9.6 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.6 %
6.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.7 %
6.4 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.7 %
0.30 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 80.0 min Hop 5 16.6 IBUs
0.86 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 45.2 IBUs
1.60 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 50.2 IBUs
0.6 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 8 -

Beer Profile:
Est Original Gravity: 1.083 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.0 %
Bitterness: 112.1 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 15.7 SRM

 

[BlakeL]

I am planning on cold crashing in the fridge starting tomorrow and bottling on Saturday. I'm just going to remove the air lock and cover with sanitized tin foil. Anyone have any other tips for cold crashing or bottling? Should I bottle it cold or wait till it is at room temp?

I am going to buy the cheap red capper and a auto siphon to make things easier but i'm not sure yet what i'll be using as a bottling bucket. I might just rack into a pot with the amount of sugar from this calculator and then bottle from there.

 

[dpeanut7]

For what its worth...the IPA kit was my first ever brew and I could not get a siphon going, maybe got 8 oz in before it stopped. I literally ended up pouring the beer into the bottles, turned out fantastic! I find you can hide imperfections and mistakes like that if its IPA and you drink them relatively young.

Main point is....consider an auto-siphon. I got a gravity fed siphon going on my second kit but the anxiety wasn't worth it.

++++1 COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

Further, this was also the first kit I bought. As others have said, ensure you let the primary sit long enough. I think I bottled according to the directions (after a week?) and all of my bottles would gush foam, leaving about 2/3 of a beer. Also, I would recommend getting priming sugar over honey, it costs like 40 cents.

My Brooklyn Everyday IPA was SUPER cloudy, but I think others suggestions about cold-crashing and such should help. My 1 week primary is also to blame for cloudy beer.

I love the 1 gallon fermenter they give you. I use it for yeast starters for 5 gallon batches, as well as "experiments." I'll make a 5 gallon batch, lets say a stout, then bottle 4 gallons, and rack 1 gallon to the 1 gallon carboy on top of coffee. Lets me know if I should try for a full batch!

 

[dpeanut7]

I am planning on cold crashing in the fridge starting tomorrow and bottling on Saturday. I'm just going to remove the air lock and cover with sanitized tin foil. Anyone have any other tips for cold crashing or bottling? Should I bottle it cold or wait till it is at room temp?

I am going to buy the cheap red capper and a auto siphon to make things easier but i'm not sure yet what i'll be using as a bottling bucket. I might just rack into a pot with the amount of sugar from this calculator and then bottle from there.

The pot with sugar method worked for me when I started. Its a small batch.

 

[Calichusetts]

I am planning on cold crashing in the fridge starting tomorrow and bottling on Saturday. I'm just going to remove the air lock and cover with sanitized tin foil. Anyone have any other tips for cold crashing or bottling? Should I bottle it cold or wait till it is at room temp?

I am going to buy the cheap red capper and a auto siphon to make things easier but i'm not sure yet what i'll be using as a bottling bucket. I might just rack into a pot with the amount of sugar from this calculator and then bottle from there.

Personally, I always move my carboy at least 24 hours before bottling if I have to, or else you can really stir up some sediment and trub. If you follow that, you will probably be taking it out Friday and placing it where you are going to rack from...just cover it with a towel.

I heat up my honey in a 10 quart skinny pot then rack my beer in, then bottle. I use swing tops so this takes like 20 minutes, good luck

 

[jnalpak]

I heat up my honey in a 10 quart skinny pot then rack my beer in, then bottle. I use swing tops so this takes like 20 minutes, good luck

Silly question but this IS beginner and we are talking BklynBrew...I have 12 grolsch style bottles ready for bottling this weekend (it will be 2 weeks). My question is how high do I fill bottles, to the top or right to the neck to leave room for carbonation?

 

[Calichusetts]

Leave an inch...if you put the siphon tube all the way to the bottom of the bottom and fill it to the top, when you pull it out, it should lower to about an inch.

 

[BlakeL]

Silly question but this IS beginner and we are talking BklynBrew...I have 12 grolsch style bottles ready for bottling this weekend (it will be 2 weeks). My question is how high do I fill bottles, to the top or right to the neck to leave room for carbonation?

Great question jnalpak since I would have probably asked this as well.

I have another question - After bottling should I store them in the same closet I used for fermenting?

 

[Calichusetts]

Great question jnalpak since I would have probably asked this as well.

I have another question - After bottling should I store them in the same closet I used for fermenting?

Depends...what temp is your closet? Anywhere above 65 degrees does the trick, 70 degrees for three weeks seems to be the standard for getting all your beer primed. If you use honey, wait another week.

Just make sure its warm, temps don't swing too much and you keep the beer out of the light. I keep my bottles in a case with the flaps covering them and a towel over it to make sure they never get any light. My house is usually around 65-68 degrees so I add another towel in the winter to make sure its warm enough

 

[BlakeL]

Looks like my closet will do the trick. It stays right around 70 degrees. I'll try to wait three weeks if I can.

 

[kc1123]

Yay! Brewed my Grapefruit Honey Ale on Sunday. I ended having to add extra water to lower the mash temperature, so I didn't fit it all in my gallon jug. That said, the initial fermentation brew the rubber stopper out the first day! I definitely like the screw cap stopper from the kit better.

I'm already thinking about summer beer floats.

Coffee & Donut Stout + vanilla ice cream

Grapefruit Honey Ale + blood orange sorbet

Jalapeno Saison Mild + ?

 

[mdoz]

I just discovered this thread yesterday — BlakeL, you and I seem to be on an almost identical timeline brewing with this kit! It's my first attempt at homebrew, as well.

Mine's been fermenting for a little over two weeks. I think I'm going to skip the cold crash and go straight to bottling tonight. Let me know how it goes for you.

 

[BlakeL]

I just discovered this thread yesterday — BlakeL, you and I seem to be on an almost identical timeline brewing with this kit! It's my first attempt at homebrew, as well.

Mine's been fermenting for a little over two weeks. I think I'm going to skip the cold crash and go straight to bottling tonight. Let me know how it goes for you.

Good luck with bottling. Let me know if you have any tips. I'll be going to the LHBS tomorrow to pick up what I need for bottling (Capper, Caps, more Sanitizer, Bottle Filler and another stopper/airlock for a second 1g carboy). I'll start the cold crashing tonight then set it out on the counter on Friday night to settle. Bottling should begin Saturday morning and they'll be going back to the closet for 2-3 weeks.

 

[Calichusetts]

Very exciting man!

Brings me back to think of my first brew with the BBS kit! The first one I cracked was easily the best I ever brewed with one of their kits. Probably just my perception now but I was so happy!

 

[BlakeL]

Cold Crashing!

 

[kc1123]

Yay! That color looks great.

 

[BlakeL]

Bottling supplies!

 

[kc1123]

Stoked for you. I am planning out my grain orders and brews for the next few months. Excited.