First batch soon

[TheCatman]

I just ordered my starter kit from Midwest and my brew kettle last night. They're expected to arrive next week sometime, so hopefully my first ever brew day will be next Saturday Or maybe, FedEx will be super awesome and get everything here this week I also am getting hooked up with a huge amount of empty bottle. Some of my buddies who are still up in college have about two trash cans full that I'll be using.

Anyways, does anyone have any advice for my first attempt? I'll be doing a 5 gallon batch using a porter extract kit.

 

[atom]

I also am getting hooked up with a huge amount of empty bottle. Some of my buddies who are still up in college have about two trash cans full that I'll be using.

are you sure they are pop top and not twist off bottles?

 

[TheCatman]

are you sure they are pop top and not twist off bottles?

He didn't say, but I'm sure with that many to choose from I can get at least a case or two of pop tops lol

 

[atom]

depends what they're drinkin... most macros (BMC) use twist off and most micro/craft breweries (including sam adams) use pop top.

 

[TheCatman]

From when I was still up there with them, most of the BMCs they drank were canned, so I'm thinking most of the bottles will be from mircos, hopefully. I guess I'll find out lol

 

[whis121surfing]

Make a yeast starter and it will help clear up any mistakes, oopses, you make on brew day. Never underestimate the power of a great pitch. While you are waiting for your kit and ingredients read How To Brew by John Palmer. The first edition is online for free as well at howtobrew.com. As you will hear a lot, RDWHAHB. Relax, Don't Worry, Have A HomeBrew!

 

[unionrdr]

Welcome to HBT,catman. The 1st thing any new brewer really needs is patience. We give the yeast some good,sweet wort to party in. Let them do the rest,they've become quite adept at it. And get some PBW & starsan. Use the PBW in solution for cleaning,starsan for sanitizing. Get a 5 gallon bucket & fill it about 2/3 of the way up with water & 3TBSP of PBW. Stir well & you can soak about a dozen bottles at a time to get them clean. Then use a bottle brush & dobie to scrub'em real quick. Rinse & set upside down in a dish rack to drip dry. Or better yet,get a bottle tree & vinator,they make bottling day way easier.

 

[TheCatman]

Make a yeast starter and it will help clear up any mistakes, oopses, you make on brew day. Never underestimate the power of a great pitch. While you are waiting for your kit and ingredients read How To Brew by John Palmer. The first edition is online for free as well at howtobrew.com. As you will hear a lot, RDWHAHB. Relax, Don't Worry, Have A HomeBrew!

The kit is coming with a White Labs vial. Would you still recommend making a starter? And thanks for the link for the book. Reading it now

 

[TheCatman]

Welcome to HBT,catman. The 1st thing any new brewer really needs is patience. We give the yeast some good,sweet wort to party in. Let them do the rest,they've become quite adept at it. And get some PBW & starsan. Use the PBW in solution for cleaning,starsan for sanitizing. Get a 5 gallon bucket & fill it about 2/3 of the way up with water & 3TBSP of PBW. Stir well & you can soak about a dozen bottles at a time to get them clean. Then use a bottle brush & dobie to scrub'em real quick. Rinse & set upside down in a dish rack to drip dry. Or better yet,get a bottle tree & vinator,they make bottling day way easier.

Thanks

 

[unionrdr]

No problem,that'd why we're all here. I read the back of the PBW jar,& you know you can even get cooked on/baked on crud oof pans & such with the listed stronger solution of that stuff? Momma's gunna love that one.

 

[whis121surfing]

You don't have to make a yeast starter with WL ale yeasts but it does help pitch plenty of good yeast. You'll learn that yeast and time will be your best friend as long as you are nice and sanitary. StarSan is the best way to go in my opinion. You don't have to rinse out the foam or worry about your clothes or floors, etc.

You should also go to northernbrewer.com and watch BrewingTV from episode 1. All For Brew and Brew For All! :rockin:

 

[unionrdr]

What it really comes down to is the gravity of the wort,& how much the proper pitch of yeast is. 1 packet may not be enough.

 

[kh54s10]

In order of importance:

Good sanitation
Temperature control, both in brewing and fermentation.
Proper yeast pitch rates.
Patience, don't rush things. Most kits give time frames that are very short.

Happy Brewing!

 

[markmc40]

John Palmer changed a few things you should know since the online "How to Brew" either in the 3rd edition book or later on his radio show. His ratios of DME/water for the yeast starter are completely wrong online, it was a typo. I use the metric 10/1 ratio. 1000ml water/100g DME for instance equals roughly 1.040. He's also changed his opinion on secondaries since.

The best thing I've found to supplement the books is the "search" function here at HBT. There is a lot of knowledge contained in this site by the wise ones that have brewing a lot longer than me.

Congrats and welcome!

 

[ACbrewer]

In order of importance:

Good sanitation
Temperature control, both in brewing and fermentation.
Proper yeast pitch rates.
Patience, don't rush things. Most kits give time frames that are very short.

Happy Brewing!

Adding to this - before you brew, read over your instructions. If there are say 10 steps for teh brew day, and you do step 1, and then read about and do step 2, it will take more time. Often step 1 is like "boil water" and step 2 is "sanatize fermentor" or soemthing like that. While the water is boiling, or the wort, etc, do other steps - either prep for the next or clean after the last. That way the brewday is a little shorter.

Oh yeah, sanitation of your gear is very important

Let us know how you do.

 

[TheCatman]

My starter kit from Midwest is going to arrive today Now I just need my kettle to get here and then I can get my first ever batch started!