ThatGuyRyan
Well-Known Member
I just announced myself in the intro section so now onto the good stuff! Questions and more questions! I asked all of these on some other forums but none dedicated to brewing so I am going to ask them again. I already have 5 brews going so nothing can really help them now if I messed up but I have open primaries and plenty of space for more!
1st. To use a starter or not. My local shop instructions said yes but you don't have to double the yeast. AHB's instructions said yes on one recipe and no on another. It also said to double the yeast on one and not the other. J.P.'s book says yes to a started but in further chapters it also says that a starter is not needed with liquid yeast. Very confusing.
2nd pitch time. My local shop said start the starter 2-3 hours before brewing. AHB says nothing but make a starter or not and JP's says to make the starter 18-24 hours before pitching.
My first beer the Belgian dbl I used dry yeast and made a starter that sat for about 3 hours and was very active same with the Cream Ale. I used liquid yeast for the Winter Warmer and just let it sit out at room temp for a few hours and pitched it. The Chocolate I tried a liquid yeast with a starter and for 3+ hours not a damn thing happened. But I pitched it anyways.
The Belgian was crazy in the fermenter for about 4 days foaming out of the air lock every few hours then tapered off about 6 days in only one bubble in the air lock every three to four minutes. I moved it to a secondary after 8 days. ***Update In secondary since 12/28
The Cream Ale I cant really tell since they did not have any 6.5gal buckets so I got a 10gal and had to cover the top with a garbage bag as directed by the shop. It did puff up for about 3 days then collapsed. On Monday it will be two weeks and off to the bottle for that.**Update bottled after 2 weeks in primary per shops instructions.
The Winter Warmer was started 12/29 and today shows life only once every few minutes.**Update moved to secondary on 01/05
The Chocolate was started on 12/31 the next day it was slow but today it is bubbling once every second.**still in primary should I leave it for 2-3 weeks and just bottle?
The last brew was Three Weiss Guys found in Palmers Joy of Homebrewing bourn on 12/31 still in primary.**Should it stay in the primary until botteling or move to secondary?
OG on Winter 1.092
Belgian 1.082
Chocolate 1.068
Cream ? well I forgot
I also used alcohol boosters in the Winter and Chocolate so I cant compare the OG in the instructions since it was with out the booster.
3rd Secondary conditioning. Should you or shouldn't you. And my Belgian that is in the secondary is not close to the top but about two inches down. Is this going to cause a problem with too much oxygen? The instructions said not to disturb the bottom so I left about an inch of sludge in the primary.
4th and this also has to do with the 3rd boil amounts. The recipes all call for 2.5 or 3gal boils and then add more to the cooled wort the get your 5. However my local shop says that if you have a big pot you can do a full 5gal boil and that is best. Also JP's book says to use 5 1/4 gal. I have been boiling 4.5 - 5 gal in my pot with no problems and topping off the primary as needed. Also the last to batches I went over the5 gal to 5 1/4 as suggested. I assume this will help me fill the secondary to a better level. But should I be doing a 5 gal boil or a 3 gal?
5th I also read in JP's book that if you have extra primaries you can pour the wort in the first let rest 15 min then siphon to the next and pitch yeast. This will help remove some of the sludge from the main boil. Have you tried this?
6th Steeping temp and time. One says steep from room temp water to 155-160 then remove other say heat water to 155 then turn off heat and throw in grains and steep for x so many minutes. What is it add to hot water or cold?
7th alcohol Boosters and Yeast Nutrients. The AHB kits came with both but none of the other kits did. I want higher % beers so can I just buy and add these to any beer kits?
8th Adding extra ingredients. If I wanted to add lets say some coco or Cinnamon or dried orange peal when should I do that?
9th When cleaning my bottles for the Cream Ale I ran out of one step and just asked the local supply store for more and thought that was what they gave me. Well one step says that rinsing is not necessary and since the package looked exactly the same I thought it was but it wasn't. They gave me straight-a I believe and well I must admit I didn't read it and didn't rinse the bottles after using it. Just shook them dry and put them on the drying tree:-( Will this have harmed my beer?
Thanks to everyone who reads this! And sorry if its a little messed up I pulled parts from of this from multiple threads and tried my best to put it all together!
Thanks!
Ryan
1st. To use a starter or not. My local shop instructions said yes but you don't have to double the yeast. AHB's instructions said yes on one recipe and no on another. It also said to double the yeast on one and not the other. J.P.'s book says yes to a started but in further chapters it also says that a starter is not needed with liquid yeast. Very confusing.
2nd pitch time. My local shop said start the starter 2-3 hours before brewing. AHB says nothing but make a starter or not and JP's says to make the starter 18-24 hours before pitching.
My first beer the Belgian dbl I used dry yeast and made a starter that sat for about 3 hours and was very active same with the Cream Ale. I used liquid yeast for the Winter Warmer and just let it sit out at room temp for a few hours and pitched it. The Chocolate I tried a liquid yeast with a starter and for 3+ hours not a damn thing happened. But I pitched it anyways.
The Belgian was crazy in the fermenter for about 4 days foaming out of the air lock every few hours then tapered off about 6 days in only one bubble in the air lock every three to four minutes. I moved it to a secondary after 8 days. ***Update In secondary since 12/28
The Cream Ale I cant really tell since they did not have any 6.5gal buckets so I got a 10gal and had to cover the top with a garbage bag as directed by the shop. It did puff up for about 3 days then collapsed. On Monday it will be two weeks and off to the bottle for that.**Update bottled after 2 weeks in primary per shops instructions.
The Winter Warmer was started 12/29 and today shows life only once every few minutes.**Update moved to secondary on 01/05
The Chocolate was started on 12/31 the next day it was slow but today it is bubbling once every second.**still in primary should I leave it for 2-3 weeks and just bottle?
The last brew was Three Weiss Guys found in Palmers Joy of Homebrewing bourn on 12/31 still in primary.**Should it stay in the primary until botteling or move to secondary?
OG on Winter 1.092
Belgian 1.082
Chocolate 1.068
Cream ? well I forgot
I also used alcohol boosters in the Winter and Chocolate so I cant compare the OG in the instructions since it was with out the booster.
3rd Secondary conditioning. Should you or shouldn't you. And my Belgian that is in the secondary is not close to the top but about two inches down. Is this going to cause a problem with too much oxygen? The instructions said not to disturb the bottom so I left about an inch of sludge in the primary.
4th and this also has to do with the 3rd boil amounts. The recipes all call for 2.5 or 3gal boils and then add more to the cooled wort the get your 5. However my local shop says that if you have a big pot you can do a full 5gal boil and that is best. Also JP's book says to use 5 1/4 gal. I have been boiling 4.5 - 5 gal in my pot with no problems and topping off the primary as needed. Also the last to batches I went over the5 gal to 5 1/4 as suggested. I assume this will help me fill the secondary to a better level. But should I be doing a 5 gal boil or a 3 gal?
5th I also read in JP's book that if you have extra primaries you can pour the wort in the first let rest 15 min then siphon to the next and pitch yeast. This will help remove some of the sludge from the main boil. Have you tried this?
6th Steeping temp and time. One says steep from room temp water to 155-160 then remove other say heat water to 155 then turn off heat and throw in grains and steep for x so many minutes. What is it add to hot water or cold?
7th alcohol Boosters and Yeast Nutrients. The AHB kits came with both but none of the other kits did. I want higher % beers so can I just buy and add these to any beer kits?
8th Adding extra ingredients. If I wanted to add lets say some coco or Cinnamon or dried orange peal when should I do that?
9th When cleaning my bottles for the Cream Ale I ran out of one step and just asked the local supply store for more and thought that was what they gave me. Well one step says that rinsing is not necessary and since the package looked exactly the same I thought it was but it wasn't. They gave me straight-a I believe and well I must admit I didn't read it and didn't rinse the bottles after using it. Just shook them dry and put them on the drying tree:-( Will this have harmed my beer?
Thanks to everyone who reads this! And sorry if its a little messed up I pulled parts from of this from multiple threads and tried my best to put it all together!
Thanks!
Ryan