Just bought my kit :D

[jourelemode]

hey guys, i just bought my first starter kit just now and 24 22oz bottles. I'm so excited to brew this one.

Ive been brewing with a mrbeer keg and now i'm gonna finally be able to brew larger batches and better kits. Here's what I got, what do you guys think?

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERY_WITH_BELGIAN_DOUBLE_P2300C73.cfm

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/22_OZ_BOTTLES-CASE_OF_12_Act_P413C49.cfm

 

[snevey]

Welcome to the obsession! I also started with a Mr. Beer kit. Then I bought another Mr. Beer fermenter so I could have 2 batches going at the same time. I learned a lot from that kit and then moved on. It was a lot of work for about 20 beers per "keg".

Your kit looks pretty standard. Do you have a big enough brew kettle to do full boils, or are you taking the "Mr. Beer way" and doing partial boils? When I went to all-grain, I purchased a turkey fryer and am using the aluminum brew kettle that came with it, even with it only being 7.5 gallons, I can carefully boil 6.5 gallons without a boilover. This is the beast I have: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BXHL0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It gets the full wort boiling in about 15 minutes. You've come to the right place when you want answers (or at least a bunch of opinions ).

 

[jourelemode]

oh yeah, i have a big enough boiler...I have exactly that i use it to deep fry turkeys on thanksgiving man i'm excited!

 

[snevey]

You may want to consider purchasing a separate brew kettle, and not sharing one kettle between a brew pot and a turkey frying pot. There is no way you'll clean the oil out of the kettle after you've fried a turkey in that pot. It will impart a flavor to your beer, and also you'll have the oil haze on top of your beer due to the grease in the beer. This could cause gastrointestinal discomfort and flatulence; something home brews cause anyway due to the yeast in the beer (at least for some people).

Sam's club sells kettles on their website that seem to be very affordable... that is if you're a member.

 

[jourelemode]

oh right, looks like i'll have to buy one then...shucks, another 60+ bucks bye bye

 

[snevey]

Or, if you like the size of the pot you have now, perhaps you could buy the exact same setup again and have a spare burner, OR sell the burner to recoup some of the cost of buying another pot???

 

[Indyking]

You may want to consider purchasing a separate brew kettle, and not sharing one kettle between a brew pot and a turkey frying pot. There is no way you'll clean the oil out of the kettle after you've fried a turkey in that pot. It will impart a flavor to your beer, and also you'll have the oil haze on top of your beer due to the grease in the beer. This could cause gastrointestinal discomfort and flatulence; something home brews cause anyway due to the yeast in the beer (at least for some people).

Sam's club sells kettles on their website that seem to be very affordable... that is if you're a member.

I believe this wrong, sorry. You can boil water mixed with a small amount of a mild detergent in your kettle for a couple of minutes, pour it out, scrub the interior well, and rinse it very well with clean water. That will take care of the oil residues without leaving any detergent residue.

Aluminum is very easy to clean and get rid of residues. I'm sure there are many people who brew using previous turkey fryers with no problemo!

 

[BlackBearForge]

Nice! You are also shy a few bottles ounce wise so don't get caught short on bottling day (the kit will make two cases of 12 ounce bottles give or take a few). Don't worry, between now and when it's ready you'll have plenty of time to empty (i.e. drink!) and clean more than a few six packs to have some extra bottles laying around, especially since you won't be able to brew just one beer! It's addictive!

 

[snevey]

Nice! You are also shy a few bottles ounce wise so don't get caught short on bottling day (the kit will make two cases of 12 ounce bottles give or take a few). Don't worry, between now and when it's ready you'll have plenty of time to empty (i.e. drink!) and clean more than a few six packs to have some extra bottles laying around, especially since you won't be able to brew just one beer! It's addictive!

What he said... I see you did buy 24 22-oz bottles. You will probably need between a six pack and a 12 pack of empty micro/craft brewery bottles to finish bottling your beer.

 

[snevey]

I believe this wrong, sorry. You can boil water mixed with a small amount of a mild detergent in your kettle for a couple of minutes, pour it out, scrub the interior well, and rinse it very well with clean water. That will take care of the oil residues without leaving any detergent residue.

Aluminum is very easy to clean and get rid of residues. I'm sure there are many people who brew using previous turkey fryers with no problemo!

Come on man, seriously?? You would share a brew kettle and greasy turkey frying kettle? Allow me to re-word my post:

"If you care ANYTHING about the finished quality of your beer, both taste and appearance, I would buy a separate kettle to brew in and a separate kettle to fry turkeys in. Sure, you could try to clean ALL the grease out of your kettle, but you will never get it all. I wouldn't risk it...

 

[Indyking]

Come on man, seriously?? You would share a brew kettle and greasy turkey frying kettle? Allow me to re-word my post:

"If you care ANYTHING about the finished quality of your beer, both taste and appearance, I would buy a separate kettle to brew in and a separate kettle to fry turkeys in. Sure, you could try to clean ALL the grease out of your kettle, but you will never get it all. I wouldn't risk it...

What I meant was that people can get a bargain buying used turkey fryers , clean them up very well (which is quite possible), and dedicate them for brewing. Having said that, I don't think it is a good idea to keep using a turkey fryer alternating between brewing and frying meat because it would be a lot of work to keep it always clean for brewing and soon or later it would result in off-tastes.

 

[bullinachinashop]

I think the residual oil would just protect you from alzheimer's disease. A carmalized lard infusion in a smoked roggenbier sounds great! Yummy.

Bull

 

[snevey]

What I meant was that people can get a bargain buying used turkey fryers , clean them up very well (which is quite possible), and dedicate them for brewing. Having said that, I don't think it is a good idea to keep using a turkey fryer alternating between brewing and frying meat because it would be a lot of work to keep it always clean for brewing and soon or later it would result in off-tastes.

Now we're on the same page!!!

 

[Tomerwt]

Hi, this is not really on topic, but the description below the picture of the kit you purchased http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERY_WITH_BELGIAN_DOUBLE_P2300C73.cfm says the following: Beer is not like wine. It is best when fresh, then deteriorates after 2 to 4 months. One of the great things about home brewing is knowing how fresh the beer is you are drinking.
But after looking around on this forum for a few weeks I've learnt the complete opposite, the longer you keep it the better it gets.. Whats the deal with this? Is it just a mistake on the website or are there some types of beer that should be drank young?

 

[Indyking]

Hi, this is not really on topic, but the description below the picture of the kit you purchased http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERY_WITH_BELGIAN_DOUBLE_P2300C73.cfm says the following: Beer is not like wine. It is best when fresh, then deteriorates after 2 to 4 months. One of the great things about home brewing is knowing how fresh the beer is you are drinking.
But after looking around on this forum for a few weeks I've learnt the complete opposite, the longer you keep it the better it gets.. Whats the deal with this? Is it just a mistake on the website or are there some types of beer that should be drank young?

John Palmer says that up to 1 year is OK. Everything after that depends on how well you prevented oxygenation during your brewing. Fact is, it appears that most ales peak flavor after 2 months in the bottle. Not sure about lagers...