First brew ever!

[EldestMalk]

For Christmas my father in law gave me a Brewer's Best brewing kit as well as a 5 gallon kettle. Today I began what I hope to be a long journey upon which I am rarely parched. I started off this journey by brewing an imperial blonde ale, and I sincerely hope it turns out alright. Any advice for me? Thanks!

 

[rodwha]

Take very precise notes.

Watch your temps very closely.

Give your beer longer than what's called for (I give mine 4/4/1 weeks).

Keep a small stash of extra stuff such as yeast, muslin bags, DME, hops, bottle caps, and an extra hydrometer and floating thermometer as they break easily.

 

[C-Rider]

If you haven't already started then, be sure everything after the boil has been sanitized w/something like StarSan and not just something like OxyClean. Same for when you bottle.
Also keep your fermenting temps in the low 60's if you can and let it go for 3 weeks befor you bottle and then 3 more weeks at 70 to condition. Yea I know it's hard to wait 6 weeks for that first taste of DELIGHT but there is the pay off.

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

Awesome! I bet it will come out fine. Though if it doesn't, don't let it discourage you! It's quite a fun and enjoyable hobby!!

 

[aStoutObserver]

Your best tool for successful beer brewing is the search function. When you have a simple question search for the answer. If you can't find it then ask. And read every free resource you can.

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[TANSTAAFB]

1) Welcome to your new obsession!
2) RDWHAHB
3) DON'T PANIC! It's really hard to screw up beer. I have done things that I was sure would ruin batches that came out fine. And the last beer in a batch is usually the best!
4) Pay VERY close attention to your sanitation practices...Star San is your friend, always keep a spray bottle around!
5) Read brewing books-there are a ton of awesome resources out there. I think Palmer's How to Brew is one of the best intro books and there is an older edition available for free online. Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing is a classic. Brewing Classic Styles, Brew Like a Monk, Yeast, Radical Brewing, Designing Great Beer, and Brewing Better Beer are all great.
6) Subscribe to Zymurgy (the Pub Discount will pay for the membership!) and Brew Your Own (BYO)-loads of great info
7) There are answers to most questions right here on HBT. Google any question with HBT in the search before posting a new one here, but if you can't find the answer you're looking for these folks will certainly help you out. READ THE STICKIES!!!
8) Brew-experience is the best teacher
9) Don't be afraid to jump into something you don't understand-I had no idea how to do a partial mash but Deathbrewer's thread walked me through it. Found it so easy I jumped into all grain after just a couple batches. This site taught me how to build my mash tun out of a cooler, make a stir plate out of a cigar box and computer parts, wash yeast, cut the top off my keggle, install my kettle valves, build my own diptube & whirlpool, move to a pump system, build a brew stand and sooooo much more!
10) Temperature control is the best early investment you can make that will significantly improve the quality of your beer.
What are your 10 suggestions fellow brewers?

 

[Colorowdy]

^ This.

 

[sumbrewindude]

1) There can never be enough sanitizer.
2) Get an accurate, waterproof digital thermometer. It will rule your immediate world.
3) Spend the 20 bucks on an autosiphon. Seriously.
4) Get a notebook, take notes. Lots of notes. Even the stuff you don't think that's important.
5) Spend way to much time on HBT and learn! Stickies, etc. Lots of great folks have really helped make the process effecient and streamlined. I've got a folder on my GDrive that's got nothing but docs full of links, recipies, calculators and spreadsheets.
6) Use the media that's out there - I love listening to all the podcasts (BrewNation) and watching videos (BrewingTV) out there, it helps me understand the process and discover new ways to do things that I'm struggling with.
7) You get that thermometer yet?
8) Never be afraid to make a mistake.
9) No matter how bad you think you screwed up, remember people where making beer in cave somewhere long before all the worries of sanitation/temp/you name it.
10) It's beer. Don't overthink it. Sometimes simple is the best.

 

[BiloxiBrew]

Congratulations. As a fairly new brewer myself (2 years) I will say that the best thing you have done so far is show up on this forum and ask questions. I find myself here fairly regularly. The folks here are just awesome. Thousands of years of experience and willing to freely share. They are the best. Now for my 10 to add to the list.
1. Don't rush the process. Patience is well rewarded.
2. Sanitize everything including the family pet if necessary.
3. Keep warm rinse water handy. Saves plenty of time during cleanup (rinsing wort from various tools)
4. Invest in a wort chiller, speeds cooling by a great deal and is easily built from local hardware store inventory.
5. Find a brewing partner if you are so inclined. Brewing beer is a great way to spend the day with a loved one (SWMBO) or a good friend especially while drinking beer. Not to mention the second set of hands are a great asset.
6. Recipes are just a starting point. Don't be afraid to venture out and create your own variations. You might be surprised by what comes out.
7. Plan ahead. Measure all your brew ingredients out beforehand for ease of transition from one stage to the next.
8. Prepare yourself to be addicted to not only your hobby but the product you produce.
9. Make sure you are fermenting at desired temps. I found out the hard way that fermenting too warm creates some "interesting" flavors.
10. Have Fun. If you find that this hobby stresses you out, quit. I do enjoy my beers, but I really have fun hanging out with other brewers and drinking the previous batch.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

2. Sanitize everything including the family pet if necessary.

I just got a mental image of a pissed off cat with Star San bubbles all over it glaring at the dog who is happy as hell because she is finally allowed in the kitchen during brew day!
Just brewed Bad Dog Brown in honor of my 13 year old Chocolate Lab, Guinness who appears to think malted barley is crack and can't understand why I'm always yelling at her to get out. Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[EldestMalk]

I really love this forum. I was getting a bit worried that I was not seeing much activity in the airlock and did a search on whether or not this was any sort of indication that the wort was no longer fermenting, and was reassured by a great deal of posts by others who had the same fear, and that the only purpose for an airlock was to be a valve to blow off excess CO2, and not as any sort of indicator as to whether or not the wort is fermenting into beer. Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions and great advice.

 

[theck]

Leave it in the bucket longer than you think you should.

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[EldestMalk]

I'm taking that advice and leaving it in longer that I want to, but when should I move it to the secondary fermentation bucket?

 

[Psycotte]

Unless you are dry hopping or adding other ingredients once fermentation completes there is no reason to secondary. I have made 35 gallons of beer since I started in Oct and they all stayed in primary for the entire time. All of them came out excellent. I haven't had a bad review from anyone who has enjoyed the final product with me yet.

 

[kombat]

Agreed, there is no reason to transfer your beer to secondary.

Years ago, conventional brewing "wisdom" was that if you leave your beer on the yeast too long (more than a couple of weeks), the yeast would start to die (autolysis) and release terrible off-flavours into your beer. So older books instructed brewers to transfer the beer to a "secondary" fermenter as soon as fermentation was complete. This became a rule of thumb, and thus was written into the instructions of every beer kit, and became dogmatic advice for merchants running homebrew shops.

Nowadays, however, we know that autolysis ISN'T actually a concern at the homebrewing level. It's a concern for larger breweries, where the pressure of hundreds of gallons of beer sitting on top of a yeast cake can accelerate yeast death, but those pressures don't exist on the homebrew scale. You can leave your beer on the yeast cake for several months without any risk of autolysis. Racking to secondary accomplishes nothing, but exposes your beer to risk of oxidization and infection.

However, those old books are still floating around out there, the kits haven't updated their instructions, and many brewing shop owners haven't bothered to keep up with evolving knowledge in brewing, so the myth that you must transfer your beer to secondary persists. But that's all it is - a myth.

There are a few circumstances where a compelling argument can be made to rack to secondary, but it's only for very specific conditions. Such as when you're dry hopping or adding fruit and want to re-use the yeast. But don't do it out of a fear of yeast death, or because you think stirring up your beer will somehow result in "clearer" beer. That argument makes no logical sense.

 

[theck]

I used to transfer to the carboy because that's how I was taught... And that was many years ago. When I got back into brewing my first couple batches I did the same. Then I read a couple things here and there, visited thus forum and realized that I no longer needed to do that. I stopped and don't taste or see any difference. Of course I'm only about 10 beers back.into brewing after taking the last 10 years off and by no means an expert.

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[EldestMalk]

So I left it alone for three weeks in primary, bottled it last night. Had a taste, and wow, this is going to be a great beer. Bottle conditioning for 2-3 weeks now. Currently at a 7.2% ABV if I measured correctly.

 

[brewbama]

This will be the longest 2-3 wks of your life. Be patient. Let it ride.

 

[bad67z]

It has already been stated in earlier threads there are 3-5 books all of us have and sware by, find your favorites. For me personally, this forum too years off of the learning curve for me. It's the best tool I have in my box. My last suggestion, get started on your next brew, you will be surprised how popular you will become if you have family and friends that enjoy craft beer. Cheers

 

[rodwha]

You'd be better served to give it 3-4 weeks conditioning since it's a heavier beer. I've moved to giving most of mine 4 weeks regardless.

 

[EldestMalk]

I started the next brew as soon as the bucket was clean. This one is going to be an IPA, if it comes out right. I have the distinct feeling that this batch will be a learning experience: instead of buying a kit, I bought ingredients. Trouble is, there doesn't seem to have been enough head space for the beer, so the airlock is now leaking beer. Should I try to fix this, or should I leave it the hell alone? It sure does smell good, whatever the answer.

 

[theck]

Leave it. Might be just krausen... If it clogs things up just remove the airlock and let it spew. Put it back when done. When it clogs it can blow the top off the bucket. I had it happen to a good few, started adding fermcap to prevent it.

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[sumbrewindude]

I started the next brew as soon as the bucket was clean. This one is going to be an IPA, if it comes out right. I have the distinct feeling that this batch will be a learning experience: instead of buying a kit, I bought ingredients. Trouble is, there doesn't seem to have been enough head space for the beer, so the airlock is now leaking beer. Should I try to fix this, or should I leave it the hell alone? It sure does smell good, whatever the answer.

If it's a 3 piece airlock, get yourself some 1/2" tubing and connect one side to the center post then put the other into a jar/tube/bottle with some sanitzer in it to make a blow off tube.

Once the action settles down, then you can clean up the airlock and put it back together.

 

[EldestMalk]

Took a chance before reading your post and cleaned it out, replaced the water I had in the airlock with some cheap vodka. I was pretty quick and liberal with the sanitizer. Risk of infection is probably pretty low. Still, lots of stuff I've been reading on the forums says that people prefer a blowoff tube for 3-4 days until fermentation slows down and then switch to an airlock. What's the consensus on that?

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Cheap insurance. But adding the blowoff to the airlock can still be risky...if the airlock would clog and blow out like a rocket trailing a disgusting krausen trail in its wake, painting your ceiling in hoppy **** stains, why would it be any different with a tube stuck on the post? I think it's safer to shove the tube in the lid or directly to the carboy cap and switch to a clean airlock after the storm has passed.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Took a chance before reading your post and cleaned it out, replaced the water I had in the airlock with some cheap vodka. I was pretty quick and liberal with the sanitizer. Risk of infection is probably pretty low. Still, lots of stuff I've been reading on the forums says that people prefer a blowoff tube for 3-4 days until fermentation slows down and then switch to an airlock. What's the consensus on that?

The big thing at play here is the amount of headspace in the carboy, and fermentation temps.

If you allow for enough headspace (distance between the wort level and the top), and you keep the ferm temps in the low/mid range of the yeast's preferred range you should have no issues at all with blow off.

On the extreme side, if you are trying to ferment 5.5gal of wort in a 6gal carboy at 80deg, in addition to crazy off flavors you will have the makings of a wort rocket, so a blow-off tube is recommended.

I know there's a few folks that recommend a lot of headspace in the fermenter - I think AHS has an 8gal bucket for 5.5gal batches which is what they like - and there's a few that like to keep that headspace to a minimum.

A blow-off tube is cheap insurance if you need it. I haven't had a need to on my beers yet (YET), but I also leave a healthy amount of HS on my carboys anyway.