Im going to try my first gallon of beer

[Kenpachi Z]

Im just curious i have been making mead for a bit now and I've also tried my hand at wine so im going to give beer a shot i have gallon carboys , and airlocks is there anything else i need to brew beer other than the ingredients ?

 

[RM-MN]

Mead and wine do not have the proteins of beer so they don't have a big krausen. Your gallon carboys would only be big enough for about 3/4 gallon of beer as you need to leave room for the krausen to form.

You might be able to get 3 gallon plastic pails at your grocery store that have held frosting. The would be big enough to make a full gallon or even more, yet not be too big. Make a hole in the lid for an airlock or simply tape a piece of plastic over the hole with one side not taped to let the excess CO2 out without allowing fruit flies in.

 

[robert.balsinger]

I make ales with Omega British Ale VIII. It is a slow starting high flocculating yeast and has a krausen of 1 in at high point. I think the flavors are perfect fit with Fuggle. If that fits your tastes, great but there are some yeasts that would fill your 1 gallon with just blow off.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

im going to give beer a shot i have gallon carboys ... anything else i need to brew beer

For your first attempt, here are some ideas for how to get a six pack (plus a bottle or two on occasion) without having worry about filtering trub, blow-off tubes, ...

• at the end of the boil, verify that there is one gal of wort in the fermenter (top up to 1 gal if necessary)
• once the wort has cooled, let the kettle sit for a while so most of the trub falls to the bottom of the kettle. No need for filtering.
• pour about 90 to 100 oz of wort into the carboy. This should leave almost all the trub behind. It also leaves space in the fermenter for krauzen. No need for a blow-off tube.

 

[hotbeer]

Use a blow off tube instead of an airlock. At least for the first few days till after the krausen. I use to use just a 3/8" ID hose, but now use a 7/8" ID hose. I cut a bigger hole in my stopper, but you might just try to find a tube that's external diameter fits snuggly in your carboy neck.

Be patient. Don't believe it's ready in two weeks like most instructions say. The fermentation may have stopped, but it needs a few more weeks to clean up. Unless you prefer to do all complicated stuff to get clearer beer.

 

[Kenpachi Z]

For your first attempt, here are some ideas for how to get a six pack (plus a bottle or two on occasion) without having worry about filtering trub, blow-off tubes, ...

• at the end of the boil, verify that there is one gal of wort in the fermenter (top up to 1 gal if necessary)
• once the wort has cooled, let the kettle sit for a while so most of the trub falls to the bottom of the kettle. No need for filtering.
• pour about 90 to 100 oz of wort into the carboy. This should leave almost all the trub behind. It also leaves space in the fermenter for krauzen. No need for a blow-off tube.

Cool ill give it a shot thanks for the info

 

[Kenpachi Z]

Use a blow off tube instead of an airlock. At least for the first few days till after the krausen. I use to use just a 3/8" ID hose, but now use a 7/8" ID hose. I cut a bigger hole in my stopper, but you might just try to find a tube that's external diameter fits snuggly in your carboy neck.

Be patient. Don't believe it's ready in two weeks like most instructions say. The fermentation may have stopped, but it needs a few more weeks to clean up. Unless you prefer to do all complicated stuff to get clearer beer.

Cool that's something i did not know .....that's why i ask instead of just trusting what i read

 

[Kenpachi Z]

Mead and wine do not have the proteins of beer so they don't have a big krausen. Your gallon carboys would only be big enough for about 3/4 gallon of beer as you need to leave room for the krausen to form.

You might be able to get 3 gallon plastic pails at your grocery store that have held frosting. The would be big enough to make a full gallon or even more, yet not be too big. Make a hole in the lid for an airlock or simply tape a piece of plastic over the hole with one side not taped to let the excess CO2 out without allowing fruit flies in.

cool i have a fermenting bucket already but thanks for the info

 

[hotbeer]

Just some clarification on why I say blow off tube and not an airlock....

Most airlocks that you'd get for a gallon size carboy/jug are for fairly small ID tubing. I've had ferments get so active, that I'd be worried about a airlock being blown out or even the whole carboy exploding if it didn't blow out the airlock or stopper.

Usually the second or third day things have slowed down drastically and then I'll change to an airlock. But sometimes I just leave the blow off tube on there if I'm not pressed for space with several batches going on.

The mess of krausen spewing out through a tube is less an issue as the other end of the tube goes into a bottle that should have enough extra volume to handle anything that does.

But with my 7/8" ID blow off tube going straight up for several inches, the krausen just falls back in and nothing is wasted.

However it helps to also use 5 liter jars or jugs. I just finished a ferment using this......

Bormioli Rocco 5L Swing Top Fido Glass Jar $9.99

So I got to put all 128 ounces of wort in it.