More to it than I thought.

[Murphys_Law]

Why do I see this ending with Altrez owning his own full scale craft brew pub...and have never used the equipment?!

 

[Altrez]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Milwaukee Instruments MA871-BOX Digital Brix Sugar Refractometer and some sample bottles. I am going to keep a sample on hand of each brew I make as a reference.

Going to buy beer smith to start with as I don't have the time to code my own program.

Getting there!

-Altrez

 

[Rhaop]

This dude reminds me a little bit of "take some advice" except he had brewed already LOL Good luck and show pics of your first brews!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I'm gonna sit back and have a home brew while I'm waiting...

 

[Pantherjon]

I'm gonna sit back and have a home brew while I'm waiting...

WHOA!! Upsidedownville goin on there!!..LOL

 

[FatDragon]

I'm gonna sit back and have a home brew while I'm waiting...

At first I thought your picture was upside down, then I realized since I'm on the other side of the world in China it's only natural for a photograph taken in New York to look upside down to me.

 

[Stillraining]

Entertaining thread to be sure....

I have to tip my hat to the OP for one thing at least. He has not lost his cool or really gotten quip or snarky with any of his replays.
Good on you sir for that.

I'm following with interest from the shadows.

Carry on.

 

[Singletrack]

For me this is a hobby and I am enjoying it very much. I am following my own plan. I do not tell anyone else how... -Altrez

Don't give in to the beer pressure. Brew when you are ready to brew. ...but don't forget the pictures!



Good luck!

 

[Altrez]

Update:

I ordered another Mr. Beer kit this morning that should be here on Friday. That brings my total now to 3 kits. I have just about locked down my first brew list and here is how it looks right now.

1. Mr.Beer Oktoberfest - 2 Gallon's
2. Mr. Beer North American style beer - 2 Gallon's
3. Mr. Beer North American style beer Extra - 2 Gallon's
4. The Plinian Legacy From NB - 1 Gallon
5. Zombie Dirt from NB - 1 Gallon

That is 8 gallon's of beer!

I am going to run the water leak test soon on all 3 LBK's to make sure they are ready to go.

Just a few more odds an ends are still on order and should be here in less than 2 weeks.

I am going to Keg half of each brew and bottle the other half. That should give me a good comparison of each beer and also allow me to age a few to see how it effects flavor over time.

-Altrez

 

[jonny24]

Should we start a betting pool on when beer actually gets brewed? Or on the mentioned possible outcomes of this venture?

 

[PADave]

Update:

I ordered another Mr. Beer kit this morning that should be here on Friday. That brings my total now to 3 kits. I have just about locked down my first brew list and here is how it looks right now.

1. Mr.Beer Oktoberfest - 2 Gallon's
2. Mr. Beer North American style beer - 2 Gallon's
3. Mr. Beer North American style beer Extra - 2 Gallon's
4. The Plinian Legacy From NB - 1 Gallon
5. Zombie Dirt from NB - 1 Gallon

That is 8 gallon's of beer!

I am going to run the water leak test soon on all 3 LBK's to make sure they are ready to go.

Just a few more odds an ends are still on order and should be here in less than 2 weeks.

I am going to Keg half of each brew and bottle the other half. That should give me a good comparison of each beer and also allow me to age a few to see how it effects flavor over time.

-Altrez

Just curious, why all the Mr. Beer kits? I've never brewed one, so I can't personally speak on them, but I've also never considered one. Always thought of them as gimmicky and inferior kits, but what do I know? I would have figured that you would start out doing all grain, at least BIAB. About as simple and easy as AG brewing can get.

 

[BGBC]

In before brew day.

Surprised no one suggested a glycol cooling system for the closet yet.

 

[Altrez]

Just curious, why all the Mr. Beer kits? I've never brewed one, so I can't personally speak on them, but I've also never considered one. Always thought of them as gimmicky and inferior kits, but what do I know? I would have figured that you would start out doing all grain, at least BIAB. About as simple and easy as AG brewing can get.

Hi PADave,

About 20 years ago my Father and I made a batch of beer in one that was a gift from work. When I started thinking about hombrew I remembered that day vividly and decided to start with the Mr. Beer kits.

Everyone I talked to say that the LBK's make great secondary's on down the line so I will have a use for them.

They also just came out with partial mash kits that I would like to try when they are back in stock.

http://www.mrbeer.com/refills/recipes/partial-mash-recipes/leo-session-ipa-by-wavelength-brewery

-Altrez

 

[Altrez]

Wort!!!!!!!!!!

-Altrez

 

[Altrez]

Taking some readings

-Altrez

 

[FatDragon]

Wort!!!!!!!!!!

-Altrez

Woohoo! We have liftoff!

 

[Altrez]

Now we wait for a week or so to see what happens.

-Altrez

 

[jimmerz]

Awesome! I wasn't sure if you were really going to brew anything. This thread was hilarious to follow though. Cheers!

 

[Altrez]

Awesome! I wasn't sure if you were really going to brew anything. This thread was hilarious to follow though. Cheers!

Hi!

Thank you for the post. This was just a practice session to see what all was involved. I learned a lot!

-Altrez

 

[Sammy86]

Congrats on the first brew! You have officially joined the club I've been following since the beginning of the thread...glad to see you finally got Brew 1 done!

 

[PADave]

Now we wait for a week or so to see what happens.

-Altrez

You'll want to give it two or three.

 

[kombat]

That LBK looks like it's in a fridge - is the fridge on a temperature controller?

 

[Altrez]

That LBK looks like it's in a fridge - is the fridge on a temperature controller?

Hi kombat,

Yes it is on a temperature controller. The fridge is a makeshift fermentation chamber.

-Altrez

 

[Altrez]

I checked on the batch at lunch and its full of krausen. The temperature shift across the LBK is caused by the refrigerator in this pick:




-Altrez

 

[Onkel_Udo]

The temperature shift across the LBK is caused by the refrigerator in this pick:
-Altrez

FYI, to buffer this, many of us start a few degrees low for the first 24 or so hours of fermentation depending on the yeast. Often the heat transfer, especially with plastic is slow enough that the beer can ramp up pretty quick and by the time the fridge can counter it you have overshot a bit...or with S-04 for instance...a lot.

The guys that like gadgets go for a thermowell probe to avoid this...I just pitch low and ramp up.

Good to see you making beer!

 

[kh54s10]

Woo Hoo, we finally have brewed!!!!

Almost a month of buying advanced equipment to brew entry level beer (MrBeer kits). This will be interesting.

I started with a Deluxe equipment kit $150 from Northern Brewer and 2 extract kits. About $30 each. 4 weeks later I had 5 gallons of decent beer. (the first one, it got a little warm the first night) and 5 gallons of great beer. The second batch. The OP has already spent more in a month than I have in 5+ years......

I admire the ambition but, what a huge amount of overkill. It is like someone who decides to take up fishing as a hobby and goes out and buys a fully loaded Tuna boat before actually going fishing to know whether he actually likes fishing...

Good luck.

 

[m00ps]

I remember stocking up on a bunch of grains before I started my first batch a few years ago. Just grabbed whatever smelled good at the LHBS. Took me till around #250 to get rid of the last of that damn 6lb of honey malt I stupidly bought

 

[davidst]

Haha this thread is great. I started with a $12 clearance kit on my stove. I couldn't imagine getting that many kits and that much equipment without even doing a single batch (well one now).

 

[Altrez]

Quick update!

We have some happy yeast!

-Altrez

 

[Altrez]

Brew Day #2 will be tomorrow night! I will be making a Mr. Beer Oktoberfest kit with a booster pack. This time I will take PH levels and use my new refractometer to get a good sample.

This first 8 gallons are just test runs. I learned a lot last night. There really is a lot more to it then I thought!!!!

-Alrez