First timer - Long time looker

[tmetz]

Well, have been checking out the forum and reading as much as I can. I am looking into a northern brewer deluxe brewing kit, seems as its the best starter kit for me, looking to brew for friends and family. Also, my biggest question is do I go with there new big mouth bubbler carboy or stick to the standard glass carboy? I plan on making quite a few recipes from online then, trying to venture into making my own recipe. Interested in all beers, and brewing most.

I have a dual tap kegerator on my lanai that I would like to keep full most the time. If I buy the kit it comes with just one carboy. The more Id like to brew just buy more car boys? Total beginner very interested in getting into home brew for more than just me.

 

[rodwha]

Glass is nice until it breaks (there's a few threads about ER visits). For a carboy I'd prefer a Better Bottle. Also less weight.

The down side to plastic is it can be scratched, which is bad. So you have to be a little more careful.

Don't trust the handles for carboys as I've read more than a few times how they can break.

 

[SEndorf]

I prefer glass but many use plastic.
But as rodwha said, don't use the carboy neck handles.
I use a harness. Works fine.

 

[dkevinb]

I've been through the "What fermenter should I buy?" argument with myself many times. I've decided I want something lightweight, unbreakable, easy to move, easy to clean, and not too expensive. Every time the answer has come up "bucket". It works for me, and it would be very inexpensive to buy a second bucket to keep both of your taps running. The only down side I've found is that you can't watch your beer ferment. YMMV.

Welcome to the obsession.

 

[rodwha]

I, too, like the buckets for the same reasons.

I do need a Better Bottle for aging a barley wine.

 

[hunter_le five]

I accidentally read the thread title as "First timer - Long time hooker". Wishful thinking I guess. Anyway, welcome to the forum.

Choosing which style of fermentation vessel to use is an exercise in tradeoffs. They all have their own peculiar set of pros and cons. I myself have long used plastic buckets due to being cheap, easy to clean, and lightweight. But I recently switched to this. I used a SS conical fermenter for a while, but ultimately found it more trouble than it was worth.

Whatever you decide to use, it will work fine for your purposes, you will just have to adjust your methods slightly according to your vessel's design.

 

[rodwha]

Why was your conical more trouble than it was worth?

 

[hunter_le five]

Why was your conical more trouble than it was worth?

1) It was quite heavy when full.
2) It would not fit in my ferm chamber, so temp control was more difficult.
3) Cleaning was MUCH more time consuming compared to plastic buckets.
4) Ultimately I found that features such as bottom-dump, racking ports, the conical shape, etc did not really produce superior beer to my buckets.... at least on the scale I am operating at.

Mine was only a 7.5 gallon unit. If I was churning out 7.5bbl batches, I'm sure the conical would have made much more sense. But for my 5.5 gallon batches, I don't really see the need for anything other than a cheap HDPE bucket 95% of the time. YMMV.

 

[rodwha]

I'm fairly happy making 6 gal batches in my MoreBeer buckets.

I would like to see what's going on though...

 

[dkevinb]

I'm fairly happy making 6 gal batches in my MoreBeer buckets.

I would like to see what's going on though...

Yep. If the Speidel fermenters were transparent (and available) or the Big Mouth Bubblers were plastic and had handles they would be perfect. Until then I'll do my 5 gallon batches in buckets and do mini-batches of beer, cider and mead in glass gallon jugs for entertainment.

 

[placated]

Yep. If the Speidel fermenters were transparent (and available) or the Big Mouth Bubblers were plastic and had handles they would be perfect. Until then I'll do my 5 gallon batches in buckets and do mini-batches of beer, cider and mead in glass gallon jugs for entertainment.

So I just got my latest Northern Brewer catalog and lo and behold - plastic Big Mouth Bubblers. They don't have handles but they have a harness available. 6.5 gal rig with harness 50$. Not too shabby. Might have to snag one.


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[dkevinb]

So I just got my latest Northern Brewer catalog and lo and behold - plastic Big Mouth Bubblers. They don't have handles but they have a harness available. 6.5 gal rig with harness 50$. Not too shabby. Might have to snag one.


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Sweet. (adding to brewing budget).

 

[jekeane]

yeah I have to get another fermenter soon (4th) and I am going to try out the plastic Big Mouth Bubbler as well. Just waiting for one of NB's random buy x$ get x free sales. Got a $50 kit rye porter kit for free a month or so ago after spending $125 on some gas side equipment.

 

[gregfreemyer]

You guys that just use a bucket, how do you evaluate the clarity of the beer?

In a carboy I like to look at the beer and be sure it clear before I bottle. I've had beer that took a long time clarify.

Greg

 

[tmetz]

You guys that just use a bucket, how do you evaluate the clarity of the beer?

In a carboy I like to look at the beer and be sure it clear before I bottle. I've had beer that took a long time clarify.

Greg

Yeah that's what I wondered as a newbie and first few batches I would have no idea when the beer was clear and when it was ready to go. Did most of you guys start out with a brewing "kit" or just buy the bucket / carboy and pots on there own and bottle supplies separately?

Great information here guys, thanks alot!

 

[Setesh]

I went with Bubbler/Better Bottles. I now have 8 of them which I store on their sides on the tops of shelves when not in use. They are light weight, not very oxygen permeable, and with PBW, easy as pie to clean. I have two glass carboys that I use for long term aging/secondary and I use the Bubblers for everything else. The Bubblers are much thicker and heavier duty than the Better Bottles and don't 'suck back' when picked up like the BBs do, so I much prefer them over the BBs.

 

[Bobbybob]

I use a thief to take a sample I look at it then.

 

[rodwha]

I don't usually concern myself much with clarity, and if I do I use Irish moss.

But I also give my beers 4 weeks to ferment, 4 weeks to condition, and a full week in the fridge (this helps clear beer too) before I break into them (although I'm planning on cheating with my hoppy honey wheat that's conditioning now).

My beers aren't usually crystal clear, but clear enough for me.

 

[dkevinb]

You guys that just use a bucket, how do you evaluate the clarity of the beer?

In a carboy I like to look at the beer and be sure it clear before I bottle. I've had beer that took a long time clarify.

Greg

I usually leave it in the bucket for 2 weeks, check the FG (it's always ready by then), bottle, leave at room temp for 2 weeks, then refrigerate for a week. I'm not a fanatic about clarity, but it always seems to be clear by then. If you're more concerned you can use Irish Moss/Whirlfloc tablets, then cold crash.

 

[tmetz]

Okay well after much more reading, I am trying to get down exactly what I should order. I'm leaning away from the glass carboys that come in the deluxe brewing kit from nB. I think I will order two big mouth bubbler 6.5 plastic fermenter instead? Or would you go with the plastic bucket with or with out a spigot? I can then order the other products one by one? Just curious what you guys bought at first to get started.

Thanks again, great replies!

 

[rodwha]

Buckets with no carboys, a more basic kit.

 

[dkevinb]

I started with a Beer Machine, then a Mr. Beer. Don't copy me. Nowadays I use a bucket (no spigot) for fermenting and a bucket (with spigot) for bottling. I bottle into amber PET 1/2 liter bottles. You'll also need some other bits and pieces. The Northern Brewer Essential Brewing Starter Kit or the equivalent will definitely get you going. You don't need a secondary fermenter right now, maybe never. You can add the plastic Big Mouth Bubbler or something later once you decide what you want. It never hurts to have multiple fermenters, anyway. Oh, and you'll want a hydrometer Real Soon. Many will claim they're absolutely essential, but you can brew beer without them. They're fun to play with, if nothing else.

 

[tmetz]

Dkevinb,

Sounds great, I appreciate the information from a starters point of view. I'll go with the essential and opt for the big mouth bubbler down the road.

I have two other questions guys:

I was planning on brewing in my garage, what's the average room (garage) temp it should be for a good fermentation process? I live in south florida, today it was 91 out side. Or should I move my fermentation to a back bedroom where the house is 75-78 degrees all the time?

Also, for my second question, what kind of water should I be using? I think I read about it in a thread awhile ago but didn't cover well water. I'm on a well system with a RO drinking water filter should I use this water or try and get water from a purified source, obviously without chlorine additive.

Thanks guys

 

[hunter_le five]

I was planning on brewing in my garage, what's the average room (garage) temp it should be for a good fermentation process? I live in south florida, today it was 91 out side. Or should I move my fermentation to a back bedroom where the house is 75-78 degrees all the time?

Your garage will be WAY too hot. When fermented too warm, your beer will develop severe off-flavored that may ruin the final product.

In truth, 75-78 is a bit too warm for most beer styles as well. You will need to find some way to bring the temps down a bit.

I use a modified temperature controlled chest freezer, but there are certainly cheaper ways to do it. Some people have had success with putting their fermenter in an ice bath for the first part of fermentation, or fashioning a "swamp chiller", both of which are pretty cheap.


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[placated]

Okay well after much more reading, I am trying to get down exactly what I should order. I'm leaning away from the glass carboys that come in the deluxe brewing kit from nB. I think I will order two big mouth bubbler 6.5 plastic fermenter instead? Or would you go with the plastic bucket with or with out a spigot? I can then order the other products one by one? Just curious what you guys bought at first to get started.

Thanks again, great replies!

What I did was go with the "brewing basics kit" from Midwest. It gives you all the little piddly stuff you'll need like a capper and a hydrometer brushes bottling bucket etc. It's only 70$. Then if you want order yourself up a plastic Bigmouth. The Midwest kit comes with a bucket fermenter so if you added a Bigmouth right from the get go you'd have 2 fermentation vessels. Even if you replace the bucket later with another Bigmouth it's handy to have an extra bucket for mixing sanitizer etc. I brew with buckets and a glass 5 gal Bigmouth that I use as a secondary, but I'm keen to order me up a plastic 6.5 bigmouth for a primary. With the dual port lid - that looks super pimpfly.

My main regret when I dove into home brewing is not getting a bigger kettle. Get a 8 gal, you'll be much happier with it down the road than I am with my 5 gal.


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[gregfreemyer]

I was planning on brewing in my garage, what's the average room (garage) temp it should be for a good fermentation process? I live in south florida, today it was 91 out side. Or should I move my fermentation to a back bedroom where the house is 75-78 degrees all the time?

Brew day everything is hot so you could even brew outside. The warm temps may even save a little energy.

For fermenting, even 75 is high. You will need to carefully choose your yeasts/beers to find those that can ferment that warm. Saisons are known for liking it warm, so they should be a good choice. I suspect there are some threads here about warm temp fermenting.

Yep, here's one:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/high-temperature-yeast-138170/

There are others.

Here's the list of white lab yeasts with optimum temps:
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/listings

It looks like there are some Belgium's that work well at warmer temps, and some yeasts for high gravity beers. (High gravity == high alcohol)

Once you see a yeast you want to consider, you can see what beer styles it goes with here:
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/yeast-style-charts

Since you're just starting try some of the warmer temp yeasts and matching recipes. You can work on a fermentation chamber over time to broaden your choices of styles. For a fermentation chamber some people convert chest freezers, etc.

 

[estricklin]

I started with a True Brew brand kit, they have better lids and come with an auto siphon.

If you want to keep a couple handles going all the time, your going to need a LOT of fermenters, trust me on this one. Eventually you may want to do lagers, lambics, fruit beers, these things can take up more time, and space. For this buckets are the way to go, easy to clean, cheap, light, easiest to move. Sure you can't see your beers but a nice cold crash will clear it right up every time.

Welcome to brewing, and this forum!

 

[rodwha]

RO water lacks the minerals needed for the yeast. Using extract only may be fine (I'm not certain for sure). If your water tastes good it's likely OK, but to make a good dark beer a harder water profile may be ideal, and for a lighter beer a softer water is usually ideal.

I have hard water, and filter it with a simple Pur water filter. Since I do a partial mash I buy 1 gal of RO water for dark beers and 2 gals for lighter beers, though I might try 2 gals for amber types and 3 for pales/blondes/wheats/IPA's. But I've been happy so far...

 

[hunter_le five]

RO water is perfectly fine for extract brewing. Everything you need is in the extract already.


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[Yooper]

RO water is perfectly fine for extract brewing. Everything you need is in the extract already.


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That's what I was going to say! RO water is perfectly fine for brewing and I and many others recommend.

 

[rodwha]

How about with a partial mash of say 50/50 extract/mash?