My tips to beginner brewers

[ABVIBUSRM]

Here are some tips for the new brewers..hope they help

#1 Never worry while brewing beer. Have fun

#2 Sanitize everything that will touch chilled wort

#3 Control and monitor the beer temp and not the air temp

#4 Do not judge beer by the smell of the airlock

#5 Just know that if you sanitize well and are careful your beer is not infected just trust the process. Beer is harder to infect then you think

#6 Get comforable with your own process

#7 Dont start with lagers

#8 Get comforable with making yeast starters and become a good yeast handler

#9 Be patient and let your beer run its coarse and do not be finicky just let the yeast work

#10 know your ingedients and what they bring to the table

#11 No bubbles in airlock does not mean the beer is finished. Always use a hydrometer before pitching yeast and before packaging

#12 aerate wort well..just get yourself some pure o2 and ss stone.. trust me

and last but not least allow enough conditioning time before drinking..too many new brewers start drinking too early and misjudge the beer and write it off as failure..Do not ..time and patience grasshoppers...cheers and welcome to the hobby

 

[frazier]

#7 Don't start with lagers, or jalapeno chocolate cherry vanilla bourbon oak porters with extra sugar added because you want more booze in your beer.

 

[number40fan]

Come on now. My first brew was a lager. I didn't die, go blind and drank every drop!

 

[Moose_MI]

#7 Don't start with lagers, or jalapeno chocolate cherry vanilla bourbon oak porters with extra sugar added because you want more booze in your beer.

This is the most prophetic thing I have ever read on this wonderful web site. As a noob myself, I'm asking others to please take this suggestion seriously.

Kudo's to OP for taking time to coach us noob's...

 

[edco76]

#7 Don't start with lagers, or jalapeno chocolate cherry vanilla bourbon oak porters with extra sugar added because you want more booze in your beer.

Soooooooo? Should I pour it down the drain now or what lol


Funny but I think that is the type of personalities that are drawn to the hobby.


Here is an actual convo my wife and I had before my FIRST extract kit

Me: So, Ive been researching and apparently there really isnt any need for a secondary fermentation

Her: Really? I think you should just follow the directions.

Me: No, Really. Ive heard it from several people. Credible people. There isnt any real advantage for this beer. Not unless you are adding fruit or oak, or dry hopping and stuff.

Her: Ok, well, do what you want

Me: Of course, I could add something? Maybe some vanilla? Or spice or something?

Her:

 

[agrazela]

^^^Very different from the conversation I had with the wife before my first brew; that went like this:

Me: "So I..."

Her: "Don't forget to mop the floor."



So I'd like to add #13: If you are married, don't forget to mop the floor.

 

[balrog]

O.
M.
G.

+1 on the mop the floor. And be done before she gets home from work. Or shopping. Because not only will she not like the smell of the boil, she might <gasp> not like the smell of the mash!

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

Come on now. My first brew was a lager. I didn't die, go blind and drank every drop!

Its just my tips to beginners..its not scripture..i think new brewers should be able to brew a stout before they go on trying to brew an octoberfest..again not saying they CANT brew a lager if they want just think ales are better for newbies

 

[Hemidoc]

I have to disagree about Lagers.
I've ruined a few Ales but all my Lagers have been drinkable..
As long as you have temp control the process is not that different(to me).
Granted I live in Ga so whether it be an Ale or a Lager I need some kind of temp control. So I have a freezer converted to a ferm chamber.

 

[edco76]

I guess I got lucky. My wife loves beer, bought my kit for me, and is excited as I am. Even helped me clean and if anything got a little disapointed when I didnt need her help as much as expected.


She just has this crazy, completely unfounded fear that I get I may get carried away.

I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I have 100+lbs of hand made soap in my storage room. Or the thousands of dollars in woodworking equipment. Or constant computer and AV upgrades..........

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

I have to disagree about Lagers.
I've ruined a few Ales but all my Lagers have been drinkable..
As long as you have temp control the process is not that different(to me).
Granted I live in Ga so whether it be an Ale or a Lager I need some kind of temp control. So I have a freezer converted to a ferm chamber.

Again just my tip to new brewers..99% of newbies do not have a the fermentaion control for lagers..im not preaching the gospel here just trying to set up newbies for success..sure people will disagree and thats cool..if a noob came up to me who never brewed i aint gonna tell him or her to brew a lager or a sour..gotta crawl before you walk

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

Come on now. My first brew was a lager. I didn't die, go blind and drank every drop!

"didn't die or go blind" i dont know what that has to do with anything but ok

 

[balrog]

I have to disagree about Lagers.
I've ruined a few Ales but all my Lagers have been drinkable..
As long as you have temp control the process is not that different(to me).
Granted I live in Ga so whether it be an Ale or a Lager I need some kind of temp control. So I have a freezer converted to a ferm chamber.

I've stayed away from lagers for two main reasons: (1) Time & (2) Temp. Just me.

 

[Hemidoc]

Again just my tip to new brewers..99% of newbies do not have a the fermentaion control for lagers..im not preaching the gospel here just trying to set up newbies for success..sure people will disagree and thats cool..if a noob came up to me who never brewed i aint gonna tell him or her to brew a lager or a sour..gotta crawl before you walk

Yep!
I agree with that.
But with Ales comes the possibility of fermenting hot(or something else going wrong) and turning a guy off to the hobby cause the Irish Red extract kit he bought made something closer to battery acid than beer(happened to me still don't know what happened)

 

[edco76]

I have to disagree about Lagers.
I've ruined a few Ales but all my Lagers have been drinkable..
As long as you have temp control the process is not that different(to me).
Granted I live in Ga so whether it be an Ale or a Lager I need some kind of temp control. So I have a freezer converted to a ferm chamber.

Again just my tip to new brewers..99% of newbies do not have a the fermentaion control for lagers..im not preaching the gospel here just trying to set up newbies for success..sure people will disagree and thats cool..if a noob came up to me who never brewed i aint gonna tell him or her to brew a lager or a sour..gotta crawl before you walk

As an Alabamian, I see where you both are coming from.

I think a good tip would be to understand temp control at all stages.


Based on the couple videos and instruction with my kit AND recipe, if I had just dove in, I may have been in trouble.

Had a closet that was 72-73 degrees room temp. Thought that was fine (both instructions said 64-72)

Then I find that fermentation can raise by as much as 10 degrees



So yeah, varying degrees of temp management based on geography seems to be a big, probably the biggest (after sanitation) obstacle I have seen and I see where Hemidoc is coming from because if I decide to do more than a couple kits, temp management will need to be addressed and aggressively, so if it really is just a temp thing, lagers may be no biggy


BTW, where in GA? I grew up in Blue Ridge and also lived in Marrietta, Acworth, Wrightsville, and Sandersville.

 

[Hemidoc]

I've stayed away from lagers for two main reasons: (1) Time & (2) Temp. Just me.

Time isn't much more than a well aged Ale but the Temp is huge. I keep my ferm chamber at 48-50 deg. Pitch cool and let ride for 14 days then bring up to 68+ for a few days then cool back to 50 for a few days then in the keg on gas it goes for a few weeks.
Enjoying a "pilsner" I made seven weeks ago now.
I have a couple of bottles of an O-Fast ale I made a year ago that is still undrinkable and not even usable as marinade .

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

Yep!
I agree with that.
But with Ales comes the possibility of fermenting hot(or something else going wrong) and turning a guy off to the hobby cause the Irish Red extract kit he bought made something closer to battery acid than beer(happened to me still don't know what happened)

There is always gonna be the possibility to brew bad anything but ales are much more forgiving..and yes temp control still applies to ales..no one want to brew nail polish remover

 

[MindenMan]

ABV..... Lots of good ideas, how many years do you have brewing?

 

[Hemidoc]

As an Alabamian, I see where you both are coming from.

I think a good tip would be to understand temp control at all stages.


Based on the couple videos and instruction with my kit AND recipe, if I had just dove in, I may have been in trouble.

Had a closet that was 72-73 degrees room temp. Thought that was fine (both instructions said 64-72)

Then I find that fermentation can raise by as much as 10 degrees



So yeah, varying degrees of temp management based on geography seems to be a big, probably the biggest (after sanitation) obstacle I have seen and I see where Hemidoc is coming from because if I decide to do more than a couple kits, temp management will need to be addressed and aggressively, so if it really is just a temp thing, lagers may be no biggy


BTW, where in GA? I grew up in Blue Ridge and also lived in Marrietta, Acworth, Wrightsville, and Sandersville.

I'm just east of Atlanta.
If ya go to Homedepot or whatever ya can find a chest freezer for about 150. Black Friday is coming up. Then make ya a temp controller with and STC 1000 or similar(made mine for$15.

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

ABV..... Lots of good ideas, how many years do you have brewing?

10 years

 

[Hemidoc]

There is always gonna be the possibility to brew bad anything but ales are much more forgiving..and yes temp control still applies to ales..no one want to brew nail polish remover

I'm gonna agree with ya that Ales are more forgiving. In that they will usually be expected to have some fruity esters to them.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I haven't gone the Lager route due to storage issues at cold temp. I prefer ales and stouts and need my fermentation chamber to keep the pipeline going. Once I get one of the Brewjacket immersion kits, then I will start on Lagers and have to invest in a Fridge for the bottle storage.

 

[masskrug]

Who smells their airlocks? C'mon, raise you hands. How many of you smell your airlocks?

 

[JimRausch]

^^^Very different from the conversation I had with the wife before my first brew; that went like this:

Me: "So I..."

Her: "Don't forget to mop the floor."



So I'd like to add #13: If you are married, don't forget to mop the floor.

Love this one! My routine since back in the days when I was brewing in the kitchen, includes washing the kitchen floor when I've finished brewing a batch. Keeps SWMBO happy(ish).