New Potential Brewer Here!

[DraKhen99]

Hi all!

I live in MD, and it's below freezing, so my house, even with the thermostat set to 68, is closer to 62-65 downstairs, where I'd be doing my brewing.

I went to Maryland Homebrew this past weekend, and saw their kits. I was going to buy the middle one:

http://www.mdhb.com/brewers-best-dlx-btr-bottle-kit-p-234.html

I also would get their 5-gallon kettle.

I saw they had this: http://www.mdhb.com/brewers-best-american-pale-ale-p-215.html, which looks like it'll fit my tastes nicely.

So, given that, do you think I'd be OK brewing it at those temperatures? I'd rather not have a $300 gas bill this month keeping my brew warmer - plus, SWMBO would be pissed, since I ask her to bundle up (I am comfortable at 62 degrees, she is frugal but would be better close to 70).

Also, anything else to look out for? I don't have any equipment right now, and if any of you live in Central MD, come on over and help get me started!

Thanks,

-John

 

[kh54s10]

The temperatures are fine if not possibly too warm. Fermentation creates heat and you will want to keep the wort temperature in the mid sixties.

You might want to part out the kit. You can probably save a little and get what you want or need instead of what they want to sell you.

6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Primary Fermenter with Grommeted Lid This or a 6 gallon Better Bottle
6.5 Gallon "Ale Pail" Bottling Bucket with Spigot
5 Gallon Better Bottle&Reg Carboy You don't really need this, you don't have to do secondary fermentations.
"Home Beermaking" Book Read the stickies on this site and forget the book
Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser Substitute Starsan for sanitizing and buy some Oxyclean (unscented) for cleaning
Triple Scale Hydrometer
Drilled Rubber Stopper You can use this for the 6 gallon Better Bottle
Liquid Crystal stick on Thermometer
Lab Thermometer invest in a good digital thermometer
Siphon Hose and Shut-Off Clamp
Brew Paddle
Airlock
Twin Lever Bottle Capper
Fermtech Auto Siphon
Bottle Filler
Bottle Brush

Go for a bigger pot if you can swing it. If you follow the path of most you will be doing full boils soon so a 10 gallon pot will keep you from buying twice. Or go to the grocery store and buy a 5 gallon one there for about $25.

The ingredient kit is a good one for starters.

 

[JR_Brewer]

Yeast is the temperature sensitive part of brewing, and different yeasts like different temperatures. There are many yeast strains that are perfectly happy fermenting in the low 60's (including a yeast that will work with that APA you've listed), so you shouldn't have a problem. Talk to the crew at MD Homebrew and they'll show you how to find the temp range on a packet of yeast so you can make an informed decision.

As you get more advanced and need to go higher or lower, you can searched the HBT forum to find ways other brewers have raised or lowered their temperatures without touching the home thermostat.

Good luck and happy brewing!

 

[unionrdr]

Looks good, but I simply don't believe any real cleaner is no rinse. I clean with PBW & sanitize with no-rinse Starsan. Pale ale is always a good choice for a first brew. You'll need to save or otherwise collect up 48-55-12oz bottles to bottle 5 gallons of beer. I bought an All-Temp laser thermometer from Midwest or Northern Brewer that's handy for checking temps in better bottles, buckets, flasks for rehydrating dry yeast or starters for liquid yeast. I use floating thermometers in mashes or steeps, but to each their own here. I do pb/pm biab in the same 5 gallon SS kettle I started with.

 

[Psylocide]

62°-65° F is perfect for most of the strains you'll probably start out using.

Fermentation alone will raise the temp of the liquid a few degrees.

 

[JR_Brewer]

Oh, and I forgot to comment on the kit you've found... kh54s10 makes some good points. However, let me emphasize this: "BUY STARSAN."

New brewers often think they can use cleaner in lieu of sanitizer. They are 2 different things. Buy Starsan - it is a sanitizer, you use it after you use cleaner (and yes, Oxyclean works great as a cleaner, and that stuff they put in the kit is fine too).

 

[eadavis80]

A couple tips: 1. Star San will bubble when you use it - that's a good thing. Don't "fear the foam" is a slogan around here. You can put beer on bubbling surfaces (bottles, carboys, etc.) it will NOT mess up your beer. 2. Star San can be re-used... a lot. I just make a 5-gallon batch and leave it in its own bucket dedicated to Star San. As long as it's still bubbling, it's working. For example, I'll put star san in a carboy to sanitize the carboy and the pour it back in the bucket. Then, I'll throw other stuff to sanitize in that bucket. Just to be safe I make a new 5-gallon batch of Star San about 4 x's per year and I brewed 20 batches last year. That's a lot of sanitizing when you think about brewing, racking and bottling every 5-gallon batch. Re-using Star San is a quick way to save money 'cause the stuff ain't cheap.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, I bought an 8oz bottle when I first started & I still have about 1/4th of it left! using the measure on the bottle, fill it 3/4's of the way up to the 1/4oz mark. Then pour into 1 gallon jug of water. Let it settle into the water to mix. Done. As long as things are cleaned & rinsed first, mixed Starsan lasts a long time.

 

[GrogNerd]

potential?

come back when you've actually fermented something.

no, I'm kidding. can't add anything in addition to what the others have said except WELCOME TO THE OBSESSION!

 

[Lgaddy44]

Welcome, fellow local brewer. MDHB is a great store with good people. Don't feel you need to load up on a ton of equipment. Take some time to really think out the process, and thoroughly map out your needs to minimize the costs. I agree with others about (reasonably) oversizing your kettle. Depending on how far you want to grow with the hobby, there are some things you can upsize early to allow room for expansion down the road.

 

[DraKhen99]

Thanks all!

LGaddy & JR Brewer, you guys wanna make a day of it? I'll drive I'm probably right at the half-way point for each of you, haha!

I appreciate the advice ... and had broken the kit out to compare with some online resources I had found (before I found HBT, naturally).

I already own a digital temp gun - is that sufficient? (it is not an el cheap-o model - it was about $100)

While I don't mind up-sizing things, I know my wife has her eyes on the 5-gallon kettle already, for chili and other things, since we don't own one yet. So, that'll get repurposed, and wouldn't be a waste if I want to make bigger batches.

With bottles in mind, I'll be stopping by the beer store on the way home to get a few 6-packs anyway (since now, all I've got on my mind is beer to go with my evening stogies!), and I'll make sure to get non twist-offs.

I have an odd mindset when it comes to my hobbies, in that I don't mind spending extra to have fun quicker - in this case, making one or two stops instead of three or four, is fine by me, even if it costs an extra $50.

The starsan tips will go a long way ... for a few bucks, I can buy a new bucket and dedicate it to this hobby, just like I did with a couple of buckets for shining up my rides

Thanks again all!

-John

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 on the suggestions above ^.

Also check Craigslist for brewing stuff. You shouldn't pay more than 50-70% of retail for most pieces depending on what they are, and often far less for multiple items.

Start collecting 12oz and 22oz bottles. You'll need them 3 weeks after brewing. Ask friends, family, bartenders, etc.

That does not look like a bad price for that 5 gallon SS kettle, an enameled canning one costs about as much (Walmart), but that size is limiting to what you can and how you can brew. A decent 10 gallon kettle is a better choice. How are you going to heat the kettle? In kitchen on the stove, and if so what kind? If outside, you'll need a propane burner. That's a crucial decision.

Agreed on multi-purpose use of the kettle.

If you're going to boil on your stove, 4-5 gallons of wort is about the max unless you're very lucky to have a higher powered one. My glass flattop boils 6 gallons comfortably, but the weight on that glass is darn scary! I've switched to induction.

You can always split a batch and boil 2 of those kettles at the same time. Then combine in the fermentor.

 

[unionrdr]

You can soak the bottles in scent-free Oxyclean or PBW to de-label the bottles. Scrub with bottle brush & a Dobie scrubber to clean inside & get the now soft glue off the outside. A bottle tree & avinator are real handy bottling tools as well. I have the 45 bottle tree with avinator & 45 bottles only take up about a 2 square foot area!

 

[DraKhen99]

+1 on the suggestions above ^.

Also check Craigslist for brewing stuff. You shouldn't pay more than 50-70% of retail for most pieces depending on what they are, and often far less for multiple items.

Start collecting 12oz or 22oz bottles. You'll need them 3 weeks after brewing. Ask friends, family, bartenders, etc.

That does not look like a bad price for that 5 gallon SS kettle, an enameled canning one costs about as much (Walmart), but that size is limiting to what you can and how you can brew. A decent 10 gallon kettle is a better choice. How are you going to heat the kettle? In kitchen on the stove, and if so what kind? If outside, you'll need a propane burner. That's a crucial decision.

I'll pay the $15 difference between the $40 that MDHB wants, versus going to a Walmart (extra gas and time, of which my truck eats the former, and the latter is valuable to me).

I'll be heating on my gas kitchen stove, at least initially. If I want to make bigger brews in the future, I'll invest in a proper propane burner and a larger kettle. At least, that's the plan

-John

 

[DraKhen99]

You can soak the bottles in scent-free Oxyclean or PBW to de-label the bottles. Scrub with bottle brush & a Dobie scrubber to clean inside & get the now soft glue off the outside. A bottle tree & avinator are real handy bottling tools as well. I have the 45 bottle tree with avinator & 45 bottles only take up about a 2 square foot area!

Yeah, I saw the bottle tree at MDHB, and for $25, thought it would be a great part of the initial investment.

-John

 

[Sailingeric]

You can soak the bottles in scent-free Oxyclean or PBW to de-label the bottles. Scrub with bottle brush & a Dobie scrubber to clean inside & get the now soft glue off the outside. A bottle tree & avinator are real handy bottling tools as well. I have the 45 bottle tree with avinator & 45 bottles only take up about a 2 square foot area!

I am worried about getting all the Oxyclean out of the bottles so what I do is fill the bottle with water, put them in a pot, fill the pot with hot water and Oxyclean the labels come right off in an hour or so.

Also, might be worth getting a 30L/ 8 gallon Brewcraft bucket, it is only a few dollars more than the 6.5 gallon buckets. It has marks to know how much is in the bucket and as light enough you can see the krausen forming to know if you are fermenting.

 

[DraKhen99]

I am worried about getting all the Oxyclean out of the bottles so what I do is fill the bottle with water, put them in a pot, fill the pot with hot water and Oxyclean the labels come right off in an hour or so.

Also, might be worth getting a 30L/ 8 gallon Brewcraft bucket, it is only a few dollars more than the 6.5 gallon buckets. It has marks to know how much is in the bucket and as light enough you can see the krausen forming to know if you are fermenting.

Hey, that's a great idea! Anything to make it easier for a newbie like me!

-John

 

[unionrdr]

Well, some use Oxyclean, but I prefer PBW. You can soak & clean just about anything with that stuff & it's made for brewery cleaning needs. Midwest has the 7.9 gallon shorty buckets that I like. They're a hair shorter than my Cooper's Micro Brew fermenter.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'll pay the $15 difference between the $40 that MDHB wants, versus going to a Walmart (extra gas and time, of which my truck eats the former, and the latter is valuable to me).

I'll be heating on my gas kitchen stove, at least initially. If I want to make bigger brews in the future, I'll invest in a proper propane burner and a larger kettle. At least, that's the plan

-John

Actually that's what I suggested, and rephrased, sorry. The SS kettle is way more useful than a easily chipped enamel graniteware one from Walmart. Unless you have commercial 35000+ BTU burners, boiling 4-5 gallons is about the limit for domestic gas stoves. It's a good start and the kettle will never be a waste.

Mind you, the bottom is thin, so be careful you're not scorching your wort/extract.