Hey All, New Brewer

[CaptainLan]

Hey there,
My name is Ian and this past Christmas my girlfriend bought me a kit to get my new found hobby going!!!
Little bit about myself, I'm 24 currently working in PA as an athletic trainer. As for the equipment I'm working with, I have a 5 gallon glass carboy and a 5 gallon bucket with spigot... I have a Belgian ale doing it's thing right now and it's about on day 6. Any helpful tips ideas for other brews, etc I'd love to hear them! I'm an IPA guy so any great IPA recipes you might know of send em my way!
Thanks!
Ian

 

[NervousDad]

Welcome! As for tips. Sanitation is key along temp control during fermentation and overall yeast health/ pitching rates. But during the winter months you can focus just on the sanitation and your beer will turn out just fine. As you get a few more batches you can start focusing on the rest.


Recipes, northern brewer makes a great kit dead ringer. if you like IPAs you'll enjoy that one.
John Palmer has a great book how to brew. That will take you pretty far in this hobby.

 

[fartinmartin]

CaptainLan listen to NervousDad !
Enjoy your new hobby

 

[Glynn]

if your making 5 gal + batch's you will need a bigger fermenter 6 gal+. ideally 6.5 to 7 gal, when you have your first blow off you will wish you did

 

[Chadwick]

Welcome!

I have to second the post from Glynn. I would start reading up on blow-offs and get one soon. Some yeast varieties are more vigorous than others. Some yeasts will give you a nice steady smooth fermentation, others will ferment so vigorously and violently that you would think they were developed by Chuck Norris. If you don't have a blow-off set up for those yeasts, you'll seriously regret it. They will blow the airlock off your primary and spew half fermented wort everywhere. It's much better to be informed about this kind of thing and be prepaired rather than learn about it the hard way. A few common yeast strains with a reputation for this includes Nottingham, and S-04. There are more, but these are two I have personal experience with.

Good luck and I look forward to reading your posts!

 

[CaptainLan]

I had heard that some yeast can be really intense haha so good tip about the blow off. This one right now isn't too bad... Thankfully so there's no wort covering my floor. So far so good! Will post some pics

 

[AlCophile]

Captain:
Read all you can. Palmer's book is very good, as he offers methods of increasing complexity.
Pay attention to vendors' offers. I have 2 six gallon Vintage Shop PET carboys, much safer and tougher than glass. I missed a BOGO sale at LabelPeelers a few mos. ago. Missed by one day. Coulda got 2 'boys for price of one. Start learning about kegs: Corny, Sanke, many more. They offer many advantages. If you do the research now, you will know what to buy should a sale present itself. Read about carbon dioxide; besides artificial carbonation, you will never have to be concerned about headspace oxidation.

 

[CaptainLan]

Do local suppliers do this? Or are you talking about the larger vendors? A bogo carboy sale is awesome

 

[gone_fishing]

Capt, what part of PA are you in? I learned about blow off on my first brew when I mistakenly used my 5 gall carboy for primary ferm. Rushed to the LBS to get a blow off tube. I took a section of siphon hose and put it (after full sanitization) 1/4" into the opening for the air lock on the bucket lid. I then put the other end into a gallon container with 1/2 gallon of sanitizer. The first 3 days it bubbles like heck. The stout I have in primary right now was so nuts I had to constantly check and relieve the pressure before the lid blew.

I can personally vouch for Northern Brewers West Coast IPA. It was a HUGE hit here but I love the big west coast IIPAs. I'll be brewing up NB's 115 IPA next week.

 

[CaptainLan]

Fishing, I'm in western PA about 15 minutes from the ohio border. I am also using my glass carboy as my primary and fingers crossed so far nothing catastrophic explosions as far as the yeast goes. That being said, I'm glad people are so helpful here, because I imagine that can be quite a mess!

 

[CaptainLan]

West coast IPAs are right up my alley for flavors!

 

[Cider123]

My first brewing set-up came with two 6.5 gallon buckets and no carboy. I fermented in one then transferred to other as a bottling bucket. I still use a 6.5 gallon bucket as my primary fermenter. I own a carboy but have not used it in two years. Carboys are a pita to clean and glass ones are downright scary.

True that you can't watch your fermentation in a plastic bucket but this loses its novelty after a while. After 3 weeks in the bucket I now rack to a keg (no secondary fermenter 'cause that's just another pita), then wash out the bucket with a sponge and some oxyclean. Much easier.

 

[CaptainLan]

Is there any benefit to using a glass carboy vs a bucket aside from being able to watch your beer ferment? As cool as it is, I'm sure like you said it'll get to a point where I'll feel ambivalent about it

 

[NervousDad]

Glass is easier to clean and scratch resistant , but read this thread and it might change you mind. People have been seriously injured from glass carboys.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium-376523/

 

[CaptainLan]

Jeez.. Gotta wear chain mail with those things around

 

[MindenMan]

I agree with Cider23, See through carboys are a novelty in the beginning, but after a while watching the bubbles forming is just boring, to me anyway. I use 6.5 g buckets to ferment most things 5 gallons or so. I have 5 gallon buckets for smaller grain bills,and a couple of 1 gallon glass jugs too. I'm lazy, I don't want to bother w/siphons, so all my buckets have spigots.

 

[CaptainLan]

Minden,
I feel what you're saying. I'll definitely get a 6.5 gallon bucket and snag a spigot. That seems to be the way to go, and will save me headaches I'm sure! Thanks to all for the great advice... Much appreciated so by all means keep it coming!

 

[snowblind5150]

I, too, mostly ferment in opaque containers. I try not to use spigots on my fermenters, but they're definitely needed on the bottling bucket.

Sounds like you're off to a great start, though!

 

[CaptainLan]

Just took my first taste test, and voila we have what appears to be the beginnings of a nice hoppy finish! Looking good!!!

 

[gone_fishing]

Sorry, I can no longer help nor support you in any way because I must assume you are a Penguins fan.

 

[CaptainLan]

Ha! I actually moved here 6 months ago from Boston. Diehard Bruins fan here!

 

[gone_fishing]

That's marginally better. Gotta question your judgement for moving there though. I am out there a bit for work and like the area.

 

[CaptainLan]

Yep. Work related move.