First time brewer with some questions...

[dolphy]

So, after looking at the Mr. Beer kit online a realizing that I'd be better off getting a more complete kit, I took the plunge.

The kit includes:

• 6.5 gal ferm. bucket
• 6.5 gal bottling bucket w/ spigot
• 3 piece air lock
• bottle capper
• 144 bottle caps
• hydrometer
• hydrometer testing jar
• floating thermometer
• adhesive thermometer
• beer thief
• large muslin bag
• 4' food-grade siphon tube
• auto siphone racking cane
• bottle filler
• bottle brush
• 4oz iodophor sanitizer
• tube clamp

In addition, I purchase a ingredient kit:
Weizenbier Partial Mash

• 1.75 - Wheat Malt
• 3.3 lbs unhopped wheat malt extract
• 2lbs extra light dry malt extract
• 1oz hallertau hops
• Wyeast german wheat (liquid yeast)
• 3/4 cup dextrose

My first question is how big of a kettle should I get? I live in an apartment so I can't have a turkey fryer or something that runs propane. It's gotta be something that can fit on my stove top (gas). I was looking at a restaurant supply store and thought about getting a 24qt winware stock pot but wasn't sure if this would do the job. The dude at the homebrew shop said brew 3 gallons in the kettle and the add water to the fermentation bucket to bring up to 5 gallons (depending on kettle size).

My second question is that the hops come in a vacuum sealed bag as pellets. Do those just dissolve in the wort or do they need to be in a bag? I'm thinking they dissolve but I want to be sure.

The directions say to steep the grains in 2 qts of water at 152 degrees for 60 minutes and then rinse them with 4 qts of 170 degree water. What does the rinsing do and is using a colander OK for this step?

Lastly, is there anything else I'll need? I'm a bit nervous as this is my first brew and from what I understand, most people start with all extract kits. The dude at the homebrew shop advised me to start with partial mash/steeping specialty grains. From what I've seen, doesn't seem too hard. So I'll relax and have a microbrew until I get my homebrew in the pipeline.

Thanks!

 

[Erroneous]

For the pot, get a minimum of 5 gallons. You may want to get the turkey fryer and use the pot from that.

Hop pellets make a sludge. Some people put them in bags, some filter them with a collander.

Using a collander for mini mash is fine but it would be easier to use a large muslin bag and use the collander to drain it above the water

 

[JLW]

My first question is how big of a kettle should I get? I live in an apartment so I can't have a turkey fryer or something that runs propane. It's gotta be something that can fit on my stove top (gas). I was looking at a restaurant supply store and thought about getting a 24qt winware stock pot but wasn't sure if this would do the job. The dude at the homebrew shop said brew 3 gallons in the kettle and the add water to the fermentation bucket to bring up to 5 gallons (depending on kettle size).

My second question is that the hops come in a vacuum sealed bag as pellets. Do those just dissolve in the wort or do they need to be in a bag? I'm thinking they dissolve but I want to be sure.

The directions say to steep the grains in 2 qts of water at 152 degrees for 60 minutes and then rinse them with 4 qts of 170 degree water. What does the rinsing do and is using a colander OK for this step?

Lastly, is there anything else I'll need? I'm a bit nervous as this is my first brew and from what I understand, most people start with all extract kits. The dude at the homebrew shop advised me to start with partial mash/steeping specialty grains. From what I've seen, doesn't seem too hard. So I'll relax and have a microbrew until I get my homebrew in the pipeline.

Thanks!

• I would go with the 24 Quart pot. I wouldn't go smaller.
• Yes the pellets just dissolve. Youcan use your muslin bag if you want to keep the disolved hops out of the final wort.
• When I did extract and partial mashes this was the most difficult thing for me to do consistently. The rinsing of the grain extracts the last remaining sugars off of the grains. you can probably get some good tips on how to steep your grains and great ways to rinse from this site. Yes you can use a collander for the rinsing.
  
  If I were going to do a partial mash again I would invest in 2 or 5 gallon igloo cooler. 1) it would allow you to maintain constant temp over the 60 minutes steep. 2) Convert tap to a spigot. You would then be able to maintin your rinse temp and control a very slow rate of dripping onto the grains this ensuring a thourough rinse.
  
• I would get enough tubing to rig a blow off tube for your primary fermenter. Some beers and yeast strains can create explosive fermementation

 

[Calder]

My first question is how big of a kettle should I get? I live in an apartment so I can't have a turkey fryer or something that runs propane. It's gotta be something that can fit on my stove top (gas). I was looking at a restaurant supply store and thought about getting a 24qt winware stock pot but wasn't sure if this would do the job. The dude at the homebrew shop said brew 3 gallons in the kettle and the add water to the fermentation bucket to bring up to 5 gallons (depending on kettle size).

Too big, with too much water and you will have problems bringing it to a boil. I have a couple of 20 qt steel pots with thin bottoms, and have no problem boiling up to 4 gallons on my stove. I have a 22 qt steel pot with a clad bottom, and struggle boiling 3 gallons in it. Around 20 qts is a good size, think about boiling 3 gallons for your first brew (watch out for the boilover as the wort comes up to the boil for the first time). Do some research on FermCap (I'll not brew without it anymore).

Top up fermenter with cold water. If you can drink your tapo water, you can use it straight out the tap. If you have any concerns, you can buy a couple of gallons from the store.

My second question is that the hops come in a vacuum sealed bag as pellets. Do those just dissolve in the wort or do they need to be in a bag? I'm thinking they dissolve but I want to be sure.

They do not dissolve. You can strain them out, or let them go into the fermenter. Letting them go into the fermenter means you can get less beer in it. They settle out on the bottom. Store your hops in your freezer.

The directions say to steep the grains in 2 qts of water at 152 degrees for 60 minutes and then rinse them with 4 qts of 170 degree water. What does the rinsing do and is using a colander OK for this step?

Steeping the grains at 152 converts the starches to sugars. Do not use too much water or the enzymes will be diluted and will not convert the starches very well. Rinsing the grains, rinses the sugars out of the grains. I use paint bags from the hardware store for my grains. Two 5-gallon bags are about $3. Heat the water to 162 F, place the grain bag in the pot with the top around the edge of the pot. Pour in the grains, stir, place the lid on, and leave. Maybe stir occasionally. Using water at 162 F should result in about 152 bF when the grains are added. When finished, pull the bag out and let drain in the pot. Have a second smaller pot with 170 F water and place the bag in to that to rinse the grains.

Lastly, is there anything else I'll need? I'm a bit nervous as this is my first brew and from what I understand, most people start with all extract kits. The dude at the homebrew shop advised me to start with partial mash/steeping specialty grains. From what I've seen, doesn't seem too hard. So I'll relax and have a microbrew until I get my homebrew in the pipeline.

There are a lot of things you are going to need if you keep up with this hobby, but you should be able to get by with what you have right now.

Good Luck.

 

[dolphy]

• If I were going to do a partial mash again I would invest in 2 or 5 gallon igloo cooler. 1) it would allow you to maintain constant temp over the 60 minutes steep. 2) Convert tap to a spigot. You would then be able to maintin your rinse temp and control a very slow rate of dripping onto the grains this ensuring a thourough rinse.
  
• I would get enough tubing to rig a blow off tube for your primary fermenter. Some beers and yeast strains can create explosive fermementation

That's brings up another question, How do I maintain 152 degrees for steeping the grains? Is it simply constantly monitoring the temperature and adjusting the burner output as needed?

This beer is going to be a wheat beer (hopefully ). Will this increase the chances of 'explosive fermentation'?

 

[unionrdr]

It looks like the op thinks these are like hop flavor pellets,& literally dissolve completely. They don't,they're dried hop flowers ground up like grits & pressed into pellets. the 24qt (6G) kettle is fine. I use a 20qt (5G) stainless steel stock pot. works fine,even for steeping grains,or your partial mash. Bigger pots with full boils will take for ever to get to a boil on the average stove.

 

[dolphy]

It looks like the op thinks these are like hop flavor pellets,& literally dissolve completely. They don't,they're dried hop flowers ground up like grits & pressed into pellets.

So I'll put the pellets in a bag then? Only reason I ask is because I saw so videos where they just threw them into the boiling wort.

 

[unionrdr]

Just tossing them in,you'll get floaters in some bottles. They can clog the siphon as well. I just put'em in hop socks & avoid all that. I also had my wife use a cake cooling rack as a ghetto "false bottom" to keep the grains/bag from burning on the bottom of the pot. It lets boiling water circulate under the grain sack.

 

[JLW]

So I'll put the pellets in a bag then? Only reason I ask is because I saw so videos where they just threw them into the boiling wort.

Either is fine. I If you have the muslin bag I would throw them in the bag and boil. I don't becuse I find it to be a PITA to pull the hot bag put open it and add the next hop addition. But that's just me.

Maintaining the stead 152 mash temp was the hardest part for me. That's why I suggest you could get a 2 gallon igloo coolr for $10-$15 (I think) at Home Depot or Lowes put your asteeping water in it and drop the grain bag in the cooler with the water. It will probably not even drop a degree in the 60 minutes. Mash temp is very important in mouth feel and your original gravity. If you get a cooler to steep in then make sure you heat the cooler up with hot water (not boiling) before you begin steeping otherwise you will get a temp drop and you would need to add more hot water.

Basically, high mash temp (154-160) gives you more mouth feel and less alcohol. Lower mash temp (148-153) gives you a thinner beer and more alcohol.

 

[unionrdr]

I wouldn't try to add more hops to a hot hop sock full of swollen residue to start with. I have 1 grain sock,& 6 hop socks. No mess,burnt fingers,or hassle.

 

[JLW]

I wouldn't try to add more hops to a hot hop sock full of swollen residue to start with. I have 1 grain sock,& 6 hop socks. No mess,burnt fingers,or hassle.

Yeah, sometimes I don't think things through.

 

[unionrdr]

Did I just here a brain fart? While I'm thinking about it,I empty my grain/hop socks (hop socks mostly),turn'em inside out,& rinse off. I used to boil them to clean,but now I just rinse the grainy residue off,ring'em out,& put them in one of those plastic Chinese carry out containers with enough PBW to cover. Let'em sit 24hrs or so,& they look brand new! Rinse,ring,& hang to dry from the clamp on my desk lamp.
Some of you may've seen this in my gallery pics...

 

[VegasBrew]

A good beginner video

Part 1

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/user/mw1nther#p/u/4/eeMzpRh6Y0E[/ame]

Part 2

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/user/mw1nther#p/u/3/XF1I5clrBnw[/ame]

 

[mcaple1]

That's brings up another question, How do I maintain 152 degrees for steeping the grains? Is it simply constantly monitoring the temperature and adjusting the burner output as needed?

This beer is going to be a wheat beer (hopefully ). Will this increase the chances of 'explosive fermentation'?

Don't worry too much about the steeping temp...yes 152 is a good number, but remember, you are steeping, not mashing. When I did extract batches, I would bring the water to 155 then cut the heat and it would maintain for enough time to steep my grains for 15-30 minutes.

Make some beer, and my advice is 2 weeks after you make your first, make another, or you're gonna be poking around the fermenting beer every day...just take my advice and leave it the hell alone...those yeast know what they're doing...you don't...leave em the hell alone!!!

 

[Erroneous]

Don't worry too much about the steeping temp...yes 152 is a good number, but remember, you are steeping, not mashing. When I did extract batches, I would bring the water to 155 then cut the heat and it would maintain for enough time to steep my grains for 15-30 minutes.

+1. Exact temp on steeping grains isn't quite as important since you are using extract. If you are really worried, set your oven as low as it will go (mine can do 150 with the warm setting) and set your pot in there. Other than that, a tight fitting lid and a thick towel wrapped around the pot will be more than enough for steeping.

As for getting the hop sludge made by pellets out, I use something like this that I got from my restaurant supply store for around $12. If I were you, my flameout procedure would be to stick in a probe thermometer a few minutes before to sanitize, turn off the heat (and move it if you are on an electric range), cover the lid and do an ice bath. Sanitize your colander. Then take your sanitized bottling bucket, put the colander over it, and pour the wort into it. Place your plastic fermenting bucket underneath, open up the valve. This will aerate if quite well without standing there shaking for 15 minutes.

Be sure to get your hydro sample now since it is easy to get it from the valve, and make note of the temperature of the wort you sampled as well as the reading. Dump the remaining wort into the primary, put the lid on, and wait for the adhesive thermometer you attached to your bucket to come down to the temp you will ferment at. Once it is there, open up, pitch your yeast, close the lid, pop on the sanitized air lock. Fill airlock with water or vodka if you want that extra baby step to prevent infection in case water gets sucked in (like if your temp fluctuates). Move it to your fermenting area and wait.

Should you check on it the next morning and the airlock popped off, don't panic. Simply clean and sanitize it and put it back on. Save up for a 6+ gallon carboy and a blowoff tube. I haven't had it happen to me yet in a 6.5 ga bucket but it does happen.

 

[dolphy]

So I've got the weizenbier fermenting now. I was hoping to do this sooner but my wife gave birth the our first child on July 5th!! Everything went pretty smooth except I might have pitched the yeast a when the wort was a bit too hot. I pitched it at around 78 degrees...which I hope isn't a big deal. Chilling the wort was the most unpredictable part and I'm thinking about getting a coil chiller for the next batch. The OG was 1.050...so now I just wait for some bubbles right??

 

[Yooper]

So I've got the weizenbier fermenting now. I was hoping to do this sooner but my wife gave birth the our first child on July 5th!! Everything went pretty smooth except I might have pitched the yeast a when the wort was a bit too hot. I pitched it at around 78 degrees...which I hope isn't a big deal. Chilling the wort was the most unpredictable part and I'm thinking about getting a coil chiller for the next batch. The OG was 1.050...so now I just wait for some bubbles right??

Right! Try your best to keep it at 68-70 degrees, remembering that fermentation itself produces heat in the fermenter.

 

[dolphy]

So it's been fermenting for a week now. It started last Sunday, started bubbling by Monday morning and bubbled until Wednesday. It wasn't bubbling hard core, just kind of steady and it hasn't bubbled that I've noticed since Wednesday. I'm thinking I'll wait 1 more week until I take a gravity reading. What do you guys think??

 

[Bithead]

Yes wait.

 

[dolphy]

The gravity is holding steady at 1.012. Tastes great. Tomorrow I'm going to bottle. Would you guys think 2 weeks in bottles before drinking??

 

[unionrdr]

3 weeks is minimum @ room temp for conditioning. 4 weeks is even better.

 

[BeerCrafter2011]

I was about to buy a 30qt when my friend talked me into a larger kettle. I ended up with a 35qt at amazon for $74 (free shipping) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00107EARQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. It works great because I can boil 6 gallons of water on my kitchen stove (propane) or use my propane burner outside. Amazon has a 30qt for $60 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00267Q3JW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[dolphy]

3 weeks is minimum @ room temp for conditioning. 4 weeks is even better.

Cool. I was planning on throwing them in my freezer/fermentation chamber at 70 degrees. I'll let them sit for 3 weeks but honestly...it's gonna be hard to wait that long! I'm gonna brew up an Amber Ale this weekend to keep the pipeline full.

 

[petey_c]

It's all about the pipeline! If you get a second fermenter, you can brew more often. What did you and your wife have; boy, girl? Congrats, btw.

 

[dolphy]

Yea...I'm going to the LHBS to pick up another ingredient kit this weekend. I'm thinking about getting a carboy but don't want to buy a bunch of stuff and freak my wife out! LOL...she's actually really cool with it. We had a girl, BTW. Fatherhood has been great so far.

 

[petey_c]

dolphy, where do you live in the city? I grew up in Queens and now live on LI. I moved out when I joined the Navy, way back when.

 

[dolphy]

I live in Queens.

 

[petey_c]

I grew up in Woodhaven and spent a lot of time at my cousin's in Flushing and my girlfriend's (at the time) in Howard Beach...

 

[dolphy]

So I couldn't wait any more. The suspense was killing me. I chilled one down real quick and drank it. It needs more time in the bottle to carb up (bottled on Sunday), but tastes F'in AWESOME!! I truly cannot believe one can make beer at home that tastes this good! Next week, they'll taste even better I'm sure!

Now it's time to get the kegging happening. I don't have time for the bottling.