Jumpin' in from Connecticut

[Sematary]

So, I've been at this for a few months now - started with "Mr Beer", which, despite it's absolute lack of actual brewing, I enjoy anyway. Go figure.
I'm not what you would call a "patient" person but I'm attempting to learn to be as far as the brewing goes. It's hard to sit on something that take 3 months to be available for deliciousness but they sell beer still. lol

 

[Pappers_]

Welcome to HBT and the hobby, S!

 

[MaxStout]

Welcome to HBT, from Minnesota!

Nothing wrong with starting out on Mr. Beer. Many brewers start out with those systems. You still learn a lot and you get beer! You don't necessarily need to wait 3 months for your beer. There are many styles that can go from brewing to glass in a month or so.

 

[Oginme]

Welcome from a former nutmeg state resident.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Welcome to the hobby and HBT from Long Island. Many knowledgable Brewers here ready to share are here. Patience is a number one ingredient along with cleanliness. Enjoy!

 

[eric19312]

Welcome -- also from Long Island. No problem starting out with Mr Beer but you should know with some practice and a fair amount of equipment it is possible to make very good beer from start to drinking in three weeks or less. That involves getting into kegging and I've seen people pushing it down to 10 days or so but for me 3 weeks is the sweet spot.

Bottling you should be able to have good beer in 7 weeks at the most. 3 weeks in fermentor---don't rack to secondary, just let it ride--then 3 weeks in bottles---then 1 week in fridge. If you are looking at recipes for very strong beers that claim to need long time to age out I'd suggest stepping back. Get started with 4-6% ABV American and British ales. APA, IPA, Amber Ale, British Pale, Mild, Bitter, Stout and Porters etc. These are generally easier recipes with quick turn around and modest temperature control requirements. Dry yeasts for these styles are widely available and very dependable. You will be making good beer you will enjoy sharing with your friends and they will likely be amazed at the results.

While you get some success with these early beers and if you feel like continuing there are many many ways to progress in the hobby. Maybe you want to design your own recipes. Maybe you will want to get into kegging. Maybe jump into all grain. No need to decide today what your path will be.

 

[ncbrewer]

+1 on eric's advice. Welcome.

 

[Sematary]

Thanks for the warm welcome. So, what is it about the 2nd fermentation (carboy)? It seems like it's pretty well frowned upon but many "instructions" say to use it. Presumably to get the beer of the yeast bed?

 

[Oginme]

Thanks for the warm welcome. So, what is it about the 2nd fermentation (carboy)? It seems like it's pretty well frowned upon but many "instructions" say to use it. Presumably to get the beer of the yeast bed?

Old wisdom long since discredited. Transferring your fermenting beer to secondary exposes it to additional possibility of oxidation which creates off-flavors and shortens shelf life of the resultant beer.

It will NOT cause the beer to clear any faster nor expose it to dead yeast autolysis if you are holding the beer at reasonable fermentation temperatures.

I've had my fermenting beer on the primary fermenter yeast bed for up to 5 weeks without issue. One of these recently took gold in competition with a score of 41 after being bottled for almost 3 years. I only use a secondary if I need to for additions of large amounts of fruit or other fermentation additions which will not fit in my primary fermenter.

 

[Sematary]

Old wisdom long since discredited. Transferring your fermenting beer to secondary exposes it to additional possibility of oxidation which creates off-flavors and shortens shelf life of the resultant beer.

It will NOT cause the beer to clear any faster nor expose it to dead yeast autolysis if you are holding the beer at reasonable fermentation temperatures.

I've had my fermenting beer on the primary fermenter yeast bed for up to 5 weeks without issue. One of these recently took gold in competition with a score of 41 after being bottled for almost 3 years. I only use a secondary if I need to for additions of large amounts of fruit or other fermentation additions which will not fit in my primary fermenter.

Sounds like a winner. In the future, I will avoid the carboy except in instances as noted above.
:rockin:

 

[jcav]

Welcome from Florida! I started with a Mr. Beer kit. That is what got my into this rabbit hole from the beginning. I quickly upgraded and got into extract with steeping grains, which by then I was hooked. After that I did partial mash and then got into all grain and the rest is history. Lots of good info here on this site, and good people too!

John