First brew lessons/thoughts

[scrapes]

Its been racked, its conditioning, some thoughts on things I learned.
1. You guys are adamant about no need to secondary
2. Need a 3 piece airlock, easier to clean
3. Vodka in the airlock
4. Cold crash worked pretty good
5. Star san is a great product
6. Bottle trees are nice to have
7. Bottle rinser (sulfiter), great way to sanitize bottles
8. Swirl the priming sugar just a wee bit
9. Auto siphon, beats sucking on the tube
10. This is a great forum
11. Sucks not having brew in the pipeline
12. My yield was lower then I hoped, 4.25 gallons

thoughts would be appreciated

 

[unionrdr]

Strain all going into the fermenter,using a large fine mesh strainer if you can. I pour through it in a circular motion so it aerates better. You'll get less trub at racking time,meaning more beer in bottles.

 

[TopherM]

2. Need a 3 piece airlock, easier to clean
3. Vodka in the airlock

If you have the space, get yourself an extra home depot bucket and keep it filled at all times with 3-4 gallons of starsan water. Most of the time, you don't really need to "clean" airlocks, you can just soak them in starsan between uses unless you get a blowoff or something and need to clean visable chunks. Also, you can use starsan water in the airlock instead of vodka, the idea is just for that liquid to be sanitary in case anything flies in there.

A standing bucket of starsan is viable for a good 4-6 weeks, and I sanatize stuff in there over and over again. I even siphon it into kegs/fermenting buckets once they are clean, then siphon it back into the bucket. Saves time and starsan.

Just a tip!

 

[unionrdr]

The thing I don't like about starsan in airlocks is while it's bubbling,the starsan foams up. It then goes out the lil holes in the airlock cap & needs refilling more often than cheap vodka.

 

[darrenbrews]

Never heard of vodka in the airlock but it sounds like a good way to get rid of some cheap vodka.

 

[ScotBrew]

Don't fear the foam!

 

[unionrdr]

Never heard of vodka in the airlock but it sounds like a good way to get rid of some cheap vodka.

The beauty of cheap vodka in airlocks is the fact that any nasties that settle into it die of alcohol poisoning. so if you get some suckback,they'll be too dead to infect your beer. And won't need to be topped up in the usual 3 week primary.

 

[scrapes]

I mixed up the minimum amount of Star San, still had 2 gallons and a spray bottle full, used it liberally through the whole brew process. I can't see keeping it around for another brew process its so inexpensive and goes a long way.

While popping the lid on the fermenter I forced some water from the airlock into the bucket. I learned two things there, pull off the airlock before messing around or throw some vodka in there, just in case.

 

[ScotBrew]

It's a good idea to remove the airlock if you're ever moving the fermenter around etc. But a little bit of starsan/sanitizer in your beer won't do anyone, or the beer for that matter, any harm.