Is my LHBS leading mein the wrong direction?

[Pratzie]

I say this with caution because I have never "brewed" (I say loosely because technically these kits arn't brewing, just pitching) anything other than these kits, but of the three I have already made I very much enjoyed them. They are easy, cheaper than buying from the store, give me something to do, and produce a product that I find to be pretty tasty.

Well if its tasty, thats good. I just prefer more control over my stuff. This is more like an addiction then a hobby and my thoughts/opinion on home brew has evolved alot in the last year, especially since joining here.

if it works for ya, don't mess with it, especially if the end product is tasty. However I really think you shouldn't ask the LHBS store people for alot of advice, especially since uve joined this forum with all the resources and knowledge here.

Either way, happy brewing!

 

[Matt3189]

However I really think you shouldn't ask the LHBS store people for alot of advice, especially since uve joined this forum with all the resources and knowledge here.

From now on I think I will do all my question asking on here, (After searching to see if it has been answered already of course, like I perhaps should have done here). It seems everyone is willing to help even with the simple ridiculous questions I have.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[woozy]

Remember to a lot of LHBS'er or employees, it is only a job..not an obsession...so they are not always as necessarily passionate, or zealous learning new things, or trying new techniques, like we are....

...

So often it is not surprising that we know more or are at least in touch with more info than someone who does it for a living....

.

Well, that's the noobie's dilemma, isn't it? We know due to our passion that we may be onto something which the sales clerk in his antipathy and desire to get the pesky guy with the irritating questions out of his hair is reluctant is ignorant of and happily so. And yet, we can't assume that we actually know more than the clerk 'cause we're noobies and we *know* that we don't know squat.

 

[Homercidal]

You will find various advice on secondary and how long to primary. The simple fact is, there is no one timetable for every person and for every beer.

I can tell you that even a wheat beer for me isn't *done* in 3-5 days. 7-10, maybe.

I generally like to transfer to a keg in about 2-3 weeks, right from the primary, after it's complete, and have dropped mostly clear.

If I'm lazy, or my keg is not available right away, I don't feel bad about letting the bucket sit for another couple of weeks. The fact is, properly prepared beer, with the proper amount of healthy yeast, fermented at the proper temps, is perfectly safe to let your beer sit on for many weeks. Of course, it would be better to lower the temp as much as reasonable, since cooler temps preserves the beer better, but even at 70, several weeks is safe.

What you want to make sure is that your beer has fermented completely, and after that, you can use a secondary to help it clear, or just bottle carefully from the primary after letting it clear as much as you want. Some of this depends on how patient you can be. Remember that when bottling, you may need up to 3 weeks for the beer to carbonate. With kegs, 2 days to a week.

 

[BigFloyd]

It all seemed wrong as soon as I heard it, but I figured I would be stupid not to at least investigate seeing as I only have 3 batches under my belt.

Thanks for the help!

Good for you for recognizing that the advice they gave you at the store may not be on the mark. You're not the first one to encounter that issue.

It's not just the occasional ill-informed LHBS employee you have to watch out for, but it pays to double-check (by posting here) some of the printed kit instructions out there. A few of them that have been discussed here are really awful.

It seems everyone is willing to help even with the simple ridiculous questions I have.

Always. And don't worry if the question may seem ridiculous. Just be sure to ask it BEFORE you take the questionable action(s).