New to UT, LHBS & more

[CheemsAF]

Howdy fellow Utah brewers. I just moved in from CO to Kaysville and have a few questions about getting started AG brewing here.

1. What LHBS do you recommend? I did a search and found one up in Ogden and a couple down in SLC. Any places to stay away from?
2. Local tap water...do y'all use it, or do you go and buy water off the shelf at the grocery store? I was kind of blessed with awesome water in Colorado, and wondering about it here.
3. I was told kegs are illegal to have here. Is there any truth to that? I saw one of the LHBS sells CO2. So I'm assuming if there is such a law it doesn't apply to home brewing?

Thanks!

 

[new2brew32]

I recommend Salt City Brew supply. They are knowledgeable and well stocked. Plus as an added bonus they are just up the street from one of my favorite Utah breweries, The Bohemian Brewery.

As far as kegging goes, it is not illegal. You will find corney kegs almost exclusively. If you are looking for sankes and find some let me know. You have to go outside of the state to get full kegs and that is illegal, but you can find corneys if you do a little looking. Art's brewing supplies has a stockpile of used corneys, but I will warn you the establishment is more than a little weathered.

I use a water filter for all my water not just for brewing because we have a lot of sediment. Parts of Utah use fluoride in their water and you might want to look into that where you are. I do not think it is necessary to purchase water because I have used tap as well as filtered successfully, however it is ultimately up to you.

 

[Gameface]

Welcome.

I second the Salt City Brew Supply recommendation. The Beer Nut is also good but they were a little snotty with me when I was a new brewer so I'm loyal to the SCBS.

I use tap water filtered with a whole house charcoal filter and then treated with campden.

Kegs full of beer cannot be sold, same as mini-bottles, plus no (commercial) beer on tap with an ABV greater than 4%. Silly rules that make little sense. But hey, reinforcements like yourself arrive all the time. Maybe we can do something about it eventually.

 

[ThreeBrothersBrewery]

+1 more for Salt City. They are always helpful and friendly and they have the best prices in town.

If you need Corny Kegs, the best place is Arts brewing down town. Be warned, if you go there, he can be VERY talkative about the good old days. Its not bad, I just wouldn't go there if you are pressed for time.

We buy almost everything from Salt City but we do venture to Arts for his cleaning solution called Cipton. Its pretty awesome stuff and as far as we can tell, hes the only one that has it.

As for the water, we use the same process as listed above with a charcoal filter for all of our ales. When we brew our lagers, we do a mix of 50-50 filter water vs store bought stuff. There are plenty of others that brew with strictly filter water, we have just had some bad experiences towards the fall with chloramines.


Cheers.

 

[Beernik]

Cheers. My folks live in Kaysville. I'm a bit further south.

Like has been said, the three in Salt Lake are Art's (downtown), the Beer Nut (1200 South State), and Salt City (Midvale).

I was loyal to the Beer Nut for a long time. Jamie is really nice. But Salt City is twice as close to my house as the Beer Nut. So for the past two years I've been going there almost exclusively.

I'm not familiar with what is in Ogden.

Kegging is one of those things that is technically illegal. Strong beer (greater than 4.0% ABV) in a container larger than 2 liters is illegal. With that said, all homebrewing was illegal until Huntsman was governor. It didn't stop anyone from brewing and nobody was ever arrested for homebrewing. In fact, I think the first post-prohibition arrest for home distilling was made last year and that was only because the still was found in a drug house during a raid.

I use my tap water with no adjustments. I've never noticed any problems. But I'm also on a small well water system that still uses chlorine gas. Kaysville's water tastes good but I haven't brewed with it.

 

[bkorver]

I use the Beer Nut almost exclusively, but I live downtown. I have ventured to Salt City and was impressed. I was actually looking for some stir bars and Jamie called ahead for me and made sure they had some in stock. Of course they did, it is an impressive store. Just too far from my house when the Nut is right there.

I third or fourth (where ever we are on that) the motion for going to Art's for your kegging needs. Block off some time and bring some patience. Well worth it in the end.

 

[dave8274]

Welcome to Utah. I live closer to Salt City so I tend to go there more often, but both Salt City and Beer Nut are excellent. You can't go wrong either way.

 

[BrewBYOB]

I got a brewing kit for mothers day this year and made my first brew Sunday night. I am pretty sure I followed every direction to a T. What are some things that I can expect to see but might think are mess ups as a 1st time brewer.

 

[Beernik]

Good luck with your brew and new hobby. My first two brews were kits I got for my birthday.

For a new brewer, the main things that I'd worry about are: sanitation, temperature of the wort when adding yeast, wort temperature during fermentation, and making sure the final gravity isn't too high before bottling.

The things that you want to watch for:
1. Expect 24 - 48 hours before your airlock starts going. It can be shorter or longer, but that it typical.
2. Expect 7 - 10 days for fermentation. It can be shorter or longer. Air lock activity isn't a guarantee of fermentation. If you have an air leak, it may not bubble. It will bubble after fermentation is complete as it off-gasses.
3. Don't over sample for checking the gravity. The more you sample, the less beer goes into the bottle for drinking.
4. Don't worry about racking to a secondary. Unless you are using fruit or have some other specific reason for doing it, you don't need to do it.
5. After you bottle, the beer will probably carb in less than 3 weeks, but it probably won't taste good for 3 weeks. Patience is a virtue.

Good luck!

 

[BrewBYOB]

Thank you, Beernik
That is good info. It is hard not to check it every day and just watch the airlock wondering if it is working. I am using the bucket system. I think I would like the glass carboys better that way I can see it working. I have been watching local sites for glass carboys.

 

[Beernik]

A lot of used homebrew stuff is advertised on KSL Classifieds.

Glass carboys are kind of more trouble than they are worth. You need a brew hauler or crate for carrying them. You don't want to carry them by the neck, even if you have a handle unless they are empty. You can't put a thermal wrap on them to heat your wort during fermentation. They are fragile and take a lot of space to store because they don't stack like buckets.

I get nervous using them for anything that could build a big krausen. If the airlock gets blocked, it will explode the carboy. With a bucket, it usually just blows the lid off.

I have four glass carboys. I only use them under certain circumstances:
- wine, mead, cider making. I could use buckets but glass is easier to clean caked on fruit debris and doesn't retain stains or odors.
- long term storage. This is mostly wines and meads and wanting to prevent oxidization.
- when using wild yeast or making sour beer. This gets back to ease of cleaning and the odor issue.

You can use plastic buckets for any if those. Is just my preference to use glass. If your only interest is seeing the beer fermenting, consider Better Bottles. They are about 70% of the cost and won't shatter.

 

[WayFrae]

I love my carboys. I have both glass and plastic. They are a pain to clean though, that is the only downside in my opinion. The glass is heavy and requires a hauler so the plastic is much easier to use and also there is no risk in breaking the plastic. If you want to see your fermentation then get a plastic carboy. BUT, I will say it again, they are a PAIN to clean.

 

[quincy07]

I live in West Valley and go to SCBS for my ingredients but I had to stop into Beer Nut on my way home from work (Layton) for a new bottling spigot. They close at 6:30 on week nights and I was by the ball park at about 6:20 so I called them and asked if they'd be willing to hang out for a few minutes until I got there because traffic was bad due to a game that night. I got there shortly after 6:30, yes it took me over 10 minutes to get there from the ball park, and were very courteous and even retrieved the spigot for me. If they were closer I'd go there more often but I like SCBS a lot too as they are very knowledgable and helpful.

 

[davecu]

The Beer Nut is closer than SCBS. If you're doing extract beers note that the Beer Nut stocks Munton's for DME while SCBS stocks Briess.

And don't forget to enter a beer (or more) in the Bee Hive Brew Off taking place mid-August. Your beers can be dropped off at the Beer Nut.