Couple questions from a soon to be new brewer.

[ronjon902]

My brother and are going to get into brewing soon we are just getting together the necessary equipment. I posted on here a month or so back and was told one of the most important factors to brewing good beer is to have a way to control fermentation temps. This leads to my first question. What is the best way to do this on a budget? I would like to keep it as inexpensive as possible. The second question comes from all of the researching I have been doing. I plan to start with extract/partial mash for my first few brews. I have read several how to brews and watched plenty of YouTube videos and a lot of them recommend full volume boils. Is this something I can do with extract brewing or is this only done in all grain? Is it just a matter of having a big enough brew kettle to fit the full volume in or is there a reason to only boil what is recommended in the instructions then add water to the fermenter? Sorry for the long post but just want to get as much info as possible before my first new day.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[hou_me]

Probably the cheapest temp control is to set up a swamp cooler. You can do a full boil with extract provided your burner has enough horsepower and your kettle is big enough. Try to keep your first couple of batches simple by fermenting ales in your closet and doing partial boils with top up water. The fewer variables to screw up the better. Your first couple batches won't be award winners, but they will be delicious beer. Once you learn the process you can start adding more variables.

-ben

 

[astrolic]

Blanket or swamp cooler. I've used a blanket on my fermenter (cheap 24 year old living alone with the heat off) and have heard a swamp cooler will work to cool it down in the warmer months (yet to try this). Both inexpensive.

I've always done 2.5-3 gallon boils and just added water at the end as it states in my directions, with no problems. Maybe start out doing this, and then upgrade to a larger pot later on?

 

[JameyRM]

I just brewed my first ever batch so good luck! It's really fun, can't wait to bottle this and start my next batch already. I live in QLD, Australia where it gets really hot and humid. I didn't want to spend money on the power by putting it in a fridge with the thermostat so I ended up putting it in the bathtub with about 5-6 inches of cold water from the tap and soaking a towel in the water and wrapping it around the fermenter. Leave a bit of gap around a quarter of the lid to 'let it breathe' so to speak. But cover all of the fermenter but that quarter of the lid with the wet towel. Change bath water/towel ever 2-3 days (at your discretion). This is the advice I have been given by a few others that brew here in Aus. Seems to work well enough.

 

[C-Rider]

Use the swamp cooler until you decide you really want to be a home brewer. Then invest in a chest freezer, new or used, and a temp controler and place your fermenters there. Make sure you try your fermenter in the freezer to see if it fits. LOL

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Works great in Texas too.

 

[joshesmusica]

Since it's the winter months, if you have a place that sits around 63-65 ambient temp, you should be fine there. Just don't let sunlight hit it. I usually wrap mine with a towel to be sure. Then if you enjoy the process, if you can fin a cheap chest freezer and get a temp controller I think that is a really really good option. It's what my next upgrade will be.
As far as the full boil, I think often times this is recommended simply based on assumed equipment. If you have the capability to do the full boil, including the ability to chill it rapidly, it will be better. Just go with about 30% of your possible sugars in the full boil, and add the rest of the extract at flameout. (So if your partial mash ends of being 30% of your total possible sugars, add all the extract at the end)

 

[unionrdr]

I do extracts, E/SG & PB/PM biab in the same 5 gallon kettle I started with. Steeping grains with extract beers should not be confused with partial mash beers. The temps & water to grain ratios are different. Steeping grains have already been converted, so more water can be used. Partial mash is the same as all grain, except less grains are used & OG achieved with extract additions. Plus the same 1 1/4 to 1/ 1/2 quarts of water per pound of grain is used to mash the grains in order to convert starches to fermentable sugars.
Doing partial boils at first per instructions will help you develope a good brewing process before doing a bunch of different things.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

Controlling your fermentation temperatures is a huge step to making a more consistent beer, and therefore better beer.

For my first year of brewing, I fermented everything at room temp (in our basement, which stayed 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year depending on season). Some beers turned out better than others, some fermented faster, etc., but none of them made beers that were so bad that I wouldn't drink them.

When I started out brewing, I tried to start as cheaply as possible, so any special temperature control was out of the question - as long as you have a spot in your house that you can put the fermenter that is around the 60-70 degree range, you should be able to make pretty decent beer without any extra temperature control.

My advice is - start out simple and add extra equipment as you go and get a better feel for the process.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I've used swamp coolers in the past and if I had to depend on those to keep my beer cool, I think I'd rather quit the hobby. Temps swing too much, too much swapping out water jugs for ice jugs, too much of a pain.

I'd highly recommend building a dual-stage controller. $40 and you're in business.
Go on to Craigslist and find a chest freezer for $25-$50. Now you've got your chamber and a way to cool your beer.
Buy a seedling heating mat for $10 and now you have a way to heat up your beer if you need to.

 

[SavoryChef]

Get one of those stick on thermometers for your carboy/bucket so you know the exact temps. You can always put it in a big pool of water with frozen 2 liter bottles to cool it if it gets too hot. You don't want to ferment too cool either try and keep it between 65F and 70F for the first 4-5 days depending on the type of yeast.

 

[ronjon902]

Thanks for all the replays I will take all into consideration when I get started. Just waiting for the weather to get better here in Michigan and I will be helping my cousin put a new engine in his mustang and he is going to pay me in his old brewing supplies not sure what all he has but I'll take. The my brother and I are goi h together to buy a good stater kit. I have found several I'm interested just need to get the funds.

Cheers!