Help me get my hubby his Christmas gift!

[Roadie]

What's the boneyard?

It's part of the paid membership on this site.

 

[Brittany0731]

Oh my God that is disgusting lol

 

[Brittany0731]

So through my fishing yesterday I have learned that aside from the complicated-ness is that it is super time consuming? He said 3 hours to brew as opposed to 1 for extract. Any opinions on that?

 

[Brittany0731]

And apparently he feels he needs to learn how to tweak his extracts and become good at that before delving in to whole grains. GUYS!!!! I'm back at square ONE!! HELP!!!

 

[bigmike99]

First few things that made a world of difference to me when I started were....a long metal spoon, a long clip on thermometer, and most importantly a propane burner. IMO getting off the stovetop is a no lose situation.

On another note this is great that you're doing this. He seems to already have a hell of a present by having a swmbo who's interested. Good luck

 

[Justdrumin]

And apparently he feels he needs to learn how to tweak his extracts and become good at that before delving in to whole grains. GUYS!!!! I'm back at square ONE!! HELP!!!

I would go with a stirplate for sure then. Here's a good one pemade for a great price.

http://www.homebrewing.org/The-Stirstarter-Yeast-Stir-Plate-_p_1306.html

The temp controller and brew belt will still be a great idea for his fermenters. A turkey fryer burner is a GREAT idea as bigmike99 said. I wish I could have one at my apartment.

Edit: O...and he'll also need a stir bar with at least a 2000ml erlenmyer flask, if not a 5000ml if he will be trying his hand at lagers. Which I'm sure he will. Which can be bought on Amazon for a reasonable price.

 

[shelly_belly]

So through my fishing yesterday I have learned that aside from the complicated-ness is that it is super time consuming? He said 3 hours to brew as opposed to 1 for extract. Any opinions on that?

Ha! My wife knows if I say 3 hours then it will actually be 6.

 

[bigmike99]

I got my burner at Home Depot. Timewise if there's one near you that might make sense. Think I paid $45-$50 for it. I'd also agree with him to get his skills down doing extract as well as picking up some other things along the way.

 

[Justdrumin]

Ha! My wife knows if I say 3 hours then it will actually be 6.

+1 on this. Mine def knows not to make any serious plans after any project or brew day that I have goin on, my endeavors most ALWAYS take much longer than expected. Most of the time I make multiple trips to HD, or I run out of ice, etc. Something always doesn't go exactly as planned.

 

[Darwin18]

And apparently he feels he needs to learn how to tweak his extracts and become good at that before delving in to whole grains. GUYS!!!! I'm back at square ONE!! HELP!!!

Tell him to man up. Ask if he can handle making oatmeal. If he can do that then he's ready for all-grain. It's ridiculously easier than he's making it out to be.

 

[Brittany0731]

Okay, so if I were to tell him to stfu and do whole grains how long does it take in actuality (because he, like most of you, can't give an accurate estimation worth a crap)? I only ask because we have 3 under 2 1/2, the youngest being 6 weeks, so you never know what can pop up during a brew. That being said, we usually do it at night when he won't be interrupted and six hours will get him to bed at 2 am lol. I suppose, though, that even if it is a looong process we should be able to carve out a few days a month that he can spend just brewing. Heck, Sundays are already designated to football. Maybe beer will get Thursdays...

 

[Ridire]

I do all grain, including cleanup in about 3.5 to 4 hours without a mash tun (BIAB). I am guessing with the tun it will be a little longer.

But doing extract, I never had a brew day under 2-2.5 hours.

EDIT: I have little ones too and start my brew days early. There are some points in the process where I leave things completely unattended for up to 60 minutes while I deal with kid stuff.

 

[Brittany0731]

What's the difference between all grain in a mash tun to biab?

 

[Ridire]

What's the difference between all grain in a mash tun to biab?

Brew in a Bag (BIAB) uses the same pot for mashing (soaking the grains in hot water for 60-90 minutes) and for boiling (another 60-90 minutes). With a mash tun, you mash in the cooler for 60-90 minutes and then drain the water into your boil kettle for boiling. I would imagine the difference in time is mostly with cleaning an additional vessel...but I've never used a tun, so maybe someone else can correct me.

 

[Brittany0731]

So if it is apparently considerably cheaper why wouldn't everyone biab?

 

[Brittany0731]

And less for your " swmbo" to clean ; )

 

[Hello]

BIAB is done all in one pot often. He may like that a lot.
But look, if he's not ready then don't push him. A stir plate also may be more than he wants because it sounds like he's just getting his footing now. I think BIAB is a great step to take though and maybe you can see what he thinks. It may come down to just asking what he has and what he wants. It can still be a sweet surprise if he gives you options.

 

[Ridire]

So if it is apparently considerably cheaper why wouldn't everyone biab?

There are some who do not think you can produce as good of a product doing BIAB. Some do not want to deal with a heavy bag of grains that are hot, sticky and dripping wet. For me, it limits the size of the batches I can make and it limits the styles of beers I can make because you can only put so much grain in the bag/pot but I doubt I'll ever make a beer where the grains will not fit into a 10 gallon cooler mash tun.

 

[Brittany0731]

Alright.. so....
Equipment to heat and cool brew
Bottle rinser
Refractometer??
Some kits


Sound sufficient?

 

[tagz]

If he's sticking with extract for now, I would focus on fermentation temp control and yeast. Those are two huge factors in making good beer. So here are a couple options:

1. Find a used chest freezer on craigslist. Buy a (pre-built or DIY) temperature controller. And pick up a reptile heater. With those items he will be able to control his temps very precisely, and he will use the equipment for years to come.

2. Buy a Cool Brewing fermentation bag. He will be able to control temperatures by placing frozen or warm two-liter bottles in the bag with the carboy. And, because this is the much cheaper route, you could also buy a stirplate and flask for yeast starters.

3. Buy a big Rubbermaid tub and an aquarium heater. Most of us start off using this sort of setup. It involves submerging the carboy in a water bath (in the tub) and adding frozen bottles or using the aquarium heater to bring up temps. The water bath also insulates the carboy temp from big temp swings. This is the cheapest route for temp control (and the least glamorous) so you could buy the yeast equipment and maybe some books as well.

4. Go all yeast. Buy a nice stir plate, a stir bar, a 2L flask, some DME (dried malt extract), yeast nutrient, some fun strains of yeast (we could recommend based on the beer he likes), some mason jars for reusing yeast from a previous batch, and the book Yeast by Chris White and Jamil Z. It would be all he needs to geek out on the yeast front and could help improve the quality of his beers. Plus it's a nice theme gift.

Personally, I like the last option best.

 

[Justdrumin]

A stir plate also may be more than he wants because it sounds like he's just getting his footing now.

I disagree with this. I made starters from the get go and IMHO, it is a great practice for any level brewer. Yeast health IMO is one of the most important steps in brewing. Which is why I have yet to go all grain. From my research, yeast health and temp control are more important than brewing all grain. You can go all grain, but if your yeast aren't happy...your still not going to have good brew. I do partial mash because I chose to spend my money on these two things instead and don't regret it. Just my .02 cents.

 

[beergolf]

I disagree with this. I made starters from the get go and IMHO, it is a great practice for any level brewer. Yeast health IMO is one of the most important steps in brewing. Which is why I have yet to go all grain. From my research, yeast health and temp control are more important than brewing all grain. You can go all grain, but if your yeast aren't happy...your still not going to have good brew. I do partial mash because I chose to spend my money on these two things instead and don't regret it. Just my .02 cents.

Good post. All. grain is not going to magically make better beer if good yeast health and fermentation temp control is not done.

I would put an extract beer that used a proper size starter and the fermentation temp was carefully controlled over an all grain brew that the brewer just pitched a vile or smack pack of yeast and let the fermentation temp get out of control any day.

 

[Hello]

I disagree with this. I made starters from the get go and IMHO, it is a great practice for any level brewer. Yeast health IMO is one of the most important steps in brewing. Which is why I have yet to go all grain. From my research, yeast health and temp control are more important than brewing all grain. You can go all grain, but if your yeast aren't happy...your still not going to have good brew. I do partial mash because I chose to spend my money on these two things instead and don't regret it. Just my .02 cents.

I understand but it sounds, based solely on what the OP is saying, that he may not be ready for that. I certainly did not say nor imply lack of importance. It was just a suggestion.

 

[Brittany0731]

No fighting, boys!! This is a happy place!! Okay, so I am doing temp control. If I buy the things he needs to kind if diy I'm liking at the stc1000@ $22, the new belt at $22 and the fridge at $30. What do I need for yeast? The flask ~$20, the plate ~$40....
He likes any beer with alcohol in it ; )
I know he wants to try a porter, possibly a lager but hasn't bc of the temp, but I'll have that base covered now.
He likes stouts but I think that is basically all he had brewed at this point. At least for the most part.
He likes scotch ales. Dirty bastard is his favorite beer.
He isn't an ipa's fan because they are hoppy and he doesn't like a lot of hops.

Aaaaand.... GO!!

 

[anmldr]

Skip the belt and fridge,pick up a chest freezer on craigslist.

 

[insanim8er]

So through my fishing yesterday I have learned that aside from the complicated-ness is that it is super time consuming? He said 3 hours to brew as opposed to 1 for extract. Any opinions on that?

And apparently he feels he needs to learn how to tweak his extracts and become good at that before delving in to whole grains. GUYS!!!! I'm back at square ONE!! HELP!!!

I haven't read through all the posts, but...

I made one extract and went full all grain from there. I am glad I did. And 3 hours for an all grain is FAST, so he's under shooting the time; however, most of the time is waiting... Waiting for the boil... Waiting forthe mash...waiting for the sparge... Then cleaning...

But if he's not ready to make the jump, get him things he can use regardless:

Kegs or kegging system stuff (Craig's list is always a good source)

Oxygen diffuser stone and regulator

Refractometer

Thermapen

Stir plate (but he seems like a diy guy if he made his immersion cooler)p so he could make one) if that's the case, get him the flask and stir bars.

Temp controller like the stc 1000 (it will do both heat and cool)

I personally would invest in getting him all grain gear. I'm sure he would learn it if he had the equipment:

Cooler, false bottom, grain mill... Etc.

 

[Justdrumin]

I understand but it sounds, based solely on what the OP is saying, that he may not be ready for that. I certainly did not say nor imply lack of importance. It was just a suggestion.

I most definitely wasn't trying to argue or anything. I just feel that any level brewer can benefit from making yeast starters and really should be making yeast starters. Granted a stirplate is not always necessary. Many people can get away with sloshing it around, but a stirplate makes things a HELL of a lot easier and the yeast end up being more plentiful in the end.

I would have to agree with anmldr about the fridge. Now that I think about it, if you have space for a 7 cuft or so chest freezer that would be GREAT! He can have more than one bucket/carboy in at once and later on when he starts kegging, which he will end up kegging at some point, he will have a chest freezer for his keezer build. Mine has commenced this Christmas

 

[Redbeard5289]

Brittany0731,

My wife (12+ years) supports my brewing hobby but has no clue as to what to get me or what I need. Usually I make her an xmas wishlist with weblinks of the homebrew things I want from specific vendors. This has helped out a lot in making sure I get what I need and will use (this came into effect after I received the same 3 Stooges framed art one christmas).
My wife (as well as my in-laws) have also in the past have given me Northern Brewer Gift Card of various dollar amounts. I know that some people find gift cards as a cop out for actually shopping for a gift but I see this as my wife supports my hobby and wants me to get things that I will use as oppose to things that will collect dust on a shelf.
One last suggestion that might help your situation is to lovingly hand him a hombrew supply catalog (Northern Brewer, William's Brewing, More Beer, etc). Snuggle up close to him as he looks at the catalog and ask little questions (What is that? What do you use that for? Can you use one? etc.). Make mental notes of what grabs his attention and then place the order online the next day...

Hope this helps... Good luck and Happy Brew-Holidays

Redbeard5289

 

[giraffeman]

OK its the day after. So what was the final gift/gifts?
and now you can let us know who you husband is,(his HBT Member name), so we know who this lucky guy is
Merry Christmas!

 

[Justdrumin]

OK its the day after. So what was the final gift/gifts?
and now you can let us know who you husband is,(his HBT Member name), so we know who this lucky guy is
Merry Christmas!

+1 I'd like to know what you got him as well. I hope it all went as well as you planned!