Brooklyn Brew Shop Everyday IPA Kit Tips

[kingogames]

My takeway from this thread is they have brew kits at Williams Sonoma??? I had no idea. I now have a reason to go to the mall...

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I'm just beginning to crack a few from this kit. My $0.02:

1) Advice to reduce the priming honey is spot-on. 3 tbsps of honey will give you champagne, not beer. 2 would seem to be about right.

2) Be patient and let this stuff bottle condition for at least 3 weeks at 70F. Even though it might be barely carbed at 1 week, it is very bitter and astringent. It mellows out nicely at three weeks. I am going to hang on to the others and crack them one per week to see how they develop.

 

[MTate37]

I am doing the Everyday IPA from the book, not the kit. So I bought ingredients from my lhbs. The book does not mention OG or FG. Would anyone let me know what hydrometer readings they obtained either from the boxed kit or from lbhs ingredients.

Looks like I had a hydrometer reading of 1.076 on the post-boil wort, cooled to just below 70F. But it was only about 3/4 gallon by then. I may have topped it off with a bit too much water (just above the "one gallon" lettering on the gallon glass carboy), and that hydrometer reading was 1.038.

Am I in the ball park here?

I'm in bed now, so I can't put this into Beersmith, but if you download the trial and enter the recipe it will tell you what your OG and FG should be.

 

[MedBrewer]

Hiya all again, I decided to go with the Smoked Wheat kit as my second brew. The Everyday IPA was very good for a first attempt IMO. Any one made the smoked wheat kit? I like smoked beers a lot... for that matter I love smoked foods and all the likes! The kit was ordered 2 days ago and should be here in miami on friday this week. BBS has great customer service, every time i send them an email they always respond quickly.
Living down in Miami,FL I have not had much luch finding a local homebrew store, seems nearest one is in lakeland ,FL (about 2 hour drive).
I want to start making SMASH beers also, any one make any ever?
Thanks for any comments and advice ahead- Ben

 

[PsyDanny]

I just started drinking my first batch of Everyday IPA and am generally happy with it. However, I would like a little more "hop to it".

Now I am about 2.5 weeks into primary fermentation on my second batch. I think I will check an initial FG tonight and am considering racking to a secondary for dry hopping.

Any ideas - particularly what style of hop and how much (likely using pellets)?

 

[Calichusetts]

I just started drinking my first batch of Everyday IPA and am generally happy with it. However, I would like a little more "hop to it".

Now I am about 2.5 weeks into primary fermentation on my second batch. I think I will check an initial FG tonight and am considering racking to a secondary for dry hopping.

Any ideas - particularly what style of hop and how much (likely using pellets)?

I did several BBS kits before branching out on my own, but I do recall a similar "complaint" as I am a hop head. What kit is it? Still the Everyday? Its been years but I think that kit was columbus and cascade. I would go with cascade for a dry hop to keep it simple. So many hops compliment cascade that you can really go nuts with it (citra, centennial, chinook, simcoe, etc)

Again, as a hop head, I usually dry hop around 1.25 oz per batch. An ounce should give you more than enough. In the future, if you are still sticking to the BBS kits. Find out what there late hop additions are (20 minutes or less) and toss in .25 ounces at flameout. Let it steep for a while and then continue like normal. You should get a really pronounced flavor/aroma from this, and along with dry hopping it should be rather aggressive

 

[MedBrewer]

Any one ever use secondary fermentation with these one gallon kits? I racked my smoked wheat yesterday to a secondary fermenter to try that out. Guess I'll let it sit another week or 2?

 

[tdhickey]

First Batch - IPA I used a small strainer, over boiled, under mashed (too dry), I over-carbed with 3 tbs of table sugar and immediately stored it in the cold garage, dry airlocked with loose connection and even managed to bottle some in a few screw top bottles. Basically I screwed up big time and the beer was terrible, even after 8 weeks, so I dumped it.

Second Batch - Bruxelles Blonde. I found this forum and took some advice, used a bigger strainer and controlled my mash temp a little better, used more water for the sparge, used 2 tbs of honey, controlled my fermentation temp much better, had a more active primary fermentation and a better airlock experience and much better bottling experience. So far this beer has been wonderful, better than a lot of commercial craft beers I have tasted. I think I'll have on after this post to be honest.

Third Batch - Smoked Wheat. Similar to the second, better quality mash and used 22oz bottles to make that process easier. This one is bottle conditioning for at least 2.5 more weeks.

Fourth/Fifth Batch - Smoked Wheat (I have 6 recipe kits for this one as they went on sale for $10 each), Enter the 2 gallon Mash Tun with a bigger brew pot and a second fermentor. This setup is awesome as I can brew two batches at once and separate into 2 fermenters to play around with a little bit. I got my first real active Krausen this time, that $hit was spurting out like a foaming animal and sparging was way easier, mashing out was a little tricky but I got the hang of it, just almost over flowed my mash tun. I am really excited for these batches.

I think with these kits, they are great, just the strainer method isn't really great unless you have a very large strainer that can produce a decent grain bed.

 

[Calichusetts]

Any one ever use secondary fermentation with these one gallon kits? I racked my smoked wheat yesterday to a secondary fermenter to try that out. Guess I'll let it sit another week or 2?

I do when I dry hop or add spices/oak. I usually only let it sit for a week due to the larger amount of headspace and possibility of oxidation

 

[MedBrewer]

For the first bbs kit I used everyday IPA and used a strainer that was just barely large enough. For second brew last week I went to bed bath and beyond and picked up a 3 piece strainer stainless steel,the largest of the 3 strainer in kit holds the mash with room to spare. It was $14 . Made the process much easier for me.

 

[MedBrewer]

I'll leave the smoked wheat in the secondary for a week then,it looks as if fermentation is very close to complete. Hardly any bubbles being produced in the jug.I racked to 2nd b/c I read that it helps the flavors of the beer...?

 

[Jints07]

Hello all! Did my first brew today with this kit. Everything seemed to go kind of smooth, though I did end up like a quart short on wort which was odd as I expected to be way over, but I just added water as per the instructions.

The question I have is that it has been about 4 hours and I am starting to worry that my yeast died

Here's a pic, am I in trouble?

(specifically the yeasty looking ring at the bottom)

 

[Jints07]

And I should add, absolutely nothing is going on in terms of movement in the carboy

 

[SLRSLY]

What were your pitching temps? It will probably take quite a bit before you see activity in the airlock. Closer to a day, sometimes longer.

Funny that this thread popped up. I bought these kits and the books for all of my groomsmen this year along with the Brooklyn beer book. I also purchased one for myself. I'm the only one who has used it

 

[Jints07]

What were your pitching temps? It will probably take quite a bit before you see activity in the airlock. Closer to a day, sometimes longer.

I pitched somewhere in the high 60s. I was very paranoid about that particular step after reading that it's possible to burn the yeast to death so I erred on the side of cooler. As to the activity, I'm mostly concerned about what looks like all the yeast on the bottom, is that normal?

Funny that this thread popped up. I bought these kits and the books for all of my groomsmen this year along with the Brooklyn beer book. I also purchased one for myself. I'm the only one who has used it

I got motivated to try it out after finally trying some higher quality craft brews after drinking some of the really poor commercial stuff (guess) most of my life. Maybe buy them a couple of 4 packs of 90 Min IPA!

How did yours turn out? Did you do the IPA?

 

[SLRSLY]

Your yeast isn't dead. Just give it some time. It will get interesting soon

To be honest I read the Brooklyn book before I even opened my kit. And I came across a recipe for their Apple Crisp Ale. So I went to my LHBS and grabbed the ingredients for that and ended up throwing away the grains that came with the kit. Scaling everything down (as a first time brewer with minimal equipment) was challenging. I remember dividing the yeast and hops on a paper plate. Haha.
It turned out great! I have brewed about 10 batches since and I always compare them to that first one gallon batch. The one where I really didn't even understand what I was doing.
A few months later and I'm making 5 gallon batches, built a kegerator, etc. Be careful, this hobby can grab a hold of you. I LOVE it!

 

[MedBrewer]

And I should add, absolutely nothing is going on in terms of movement in the carboy

By tomorrow it will be fermenting like crazy, dont worry it takes a while to start. All looks A-Ok in the carboy, you did a good job

 

[Jints07]

Your yeast isn't dead. Just give it some time. It will get interesting soon

You were dead on, I see activity now!

To be honest I read the Brooklyn book before I even opened my kit. And I came across a recipe for their Apple Crisp Ale. So I went to my LHBS and grabbed the ingredients for that and ended up throwing away the grains that came with the kit. Scaling everything down (as a first time brewer with minimal equipment) was challenging. I remember dividing the yeast and hops on a paper plate. Haha.
It turned out great! I have brewed about 10 batches since and I always compare them to that first one gallon batch. The one where I really didn't even understand what I was doing.
A few months later and I'm making 5 gallon batches, built a kegerator, etc. Be careful, this hobby can grab a hold of you. I LOVE it!

Wow, that sounds very cool and delicious! Congrats for getting that first batch great. I can see where this hobby is going to be very addictive, thank goodness it is affordable, haha.

 

[Jints07]

By tomorrow it will be fermenting like crazy, dont worry it takes a while to start. All looks A-Ok in the carboy, you did a good job

Thank you for the compliment and you you were right, it is bubbling nicely in to the blow off bowl and the yeast disk at the bottom is much smaller!

 

[MedBrewer]

Any one currently brewing bbs kits or recipes? I have Wgd light currently bottled and apple crisp ale cold crashing for a few days. Currently drinking the smoked wheat kit,it's great! Any suggestions about kits or recipes you've tried?

 

[hehawbrew]

I've only done their recipes at this point. I've done their everyday IPA, maple chocolate porter, red ale, simcoe IPA, currently bottle conditioning the WGD light that I added lime zest to, and will be botteling the rye IPA this weekend.

The simcoe IPA is the best IPA I've ever had and everyone who tried it was amazed.

Buying their book was the best 12$ I've spent in a long time.

 

[MedBrewer]

I agree! the BBS book has a ton a recipes. Do you follow the recipes and instructions to the letter? or do you modify your technique, equipment, and recipes? I'm still using the strainer method I learned with BBS to sparge.

 

[hehawbrew]

I stick to it for the most part. I usually brew a two or three gallon batch, so I usually round up my grain numbers when I buy it. A buddy gave me his old mash tun, so I'll be doing my first 5 gal batch this weekend.

Only thing ive modified is adding the zest of one lime at flameout to WGD lite to make my wife a miller chill type beer. It tasted awesome warm and flat, so it's gonna be even better cold and carbed!

Now I gotta figure out what's next. Any suggestions?

 

[MedBrewer]

I've had the everyday IPA, and the smoked wheat kits and both were great. The Wgd light is up next week for drinking and the apple crisp ale will be ready in a couple weeks also. I'm going to make the cranberry wheat around thanksgiving and the pumpkin beer around Halloween.

 

[MedBrewer]

Just tried one of the WGD light and it was amazing...only bottled 12 days ago. Seriously amazingly clear and tasty!

 

[hehawbrew]

I had my first WGD last night. I added lime zest at flame out to make it summer-ish. But yeah , I was impressed too! I don't like lite beer, but it was crisp and refreshing. Mine say in primary around 23 day, but, only after 13 days in bottle, it was well carbed.

I convinced a buddy of mine to brew, so on Monday we will be making the everyday IPA.

What's your next BBS adventure?

 

[MedBrewer]

I may make the Wgd light again but with mango added to secondary for a week or two. I'm also going to make the cranberry wheat.

 

[hehawbrew]

Mmmm. Mango.

Out of all the beers I made by them, the simcoe IPA has been the big hit. Even non IPA lovers like my mom and SWMBO loved it!

 

[MedBrewer]

Just bottled the apple crisp ale a little while ago,gave it a taste,quite a nice smooth flavor. I do believe the American ale yeast gives a smoother,more mellow flavor. I have made 1 batch the Wgd light with American ale yeast s04 and its so smooth. Maybe the apple crisp would be better with the s04?

 

[MedBrewer]

I'd like to remake the Wgd light less bitter. It's rang in as high as 40 ibu and as low as 35 ibu on different beer programs. I'd like it at about half the bitterness. Any recommendation as to how much hops and additions?