newbie brew kit questions

[maddawg4]

I see a lot of beginner kits come with a plastic fermentation bucket and a plastic bottling bucket with a spigot.

Why can't you just use the bottling bucket for fermenting and bottling?
It seems unnecessary to transfer the beer to the 2nd bucket.

What is the advantages of having a glass carboy instead of a plastic bucket? Is it worth it or necessary to have glass.

Is secondary fermentation necessary? Is it highly recommended?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Rev2010]

*edited - mistook his bottling bucket as secondary since he'd mentioned the carboys.

As for the glass carboy, there are many threads here on glass carboy's vs. plastic buckets. One plus for glass is the transparency so you can visually see your beer and what's going on. Plastic however blocks out light and is lighter and not as breakable. Each have their pluses and minuses. My plastic fermenter has the best of both worlds - a lid that is clear so I can see through it with a semi-opaque plastic fermenter. I keep it in a dark hallway and when needed wrap with a blanket if I want to help keep the temps a little warmer.


Rev.

 

[RM-MN]

When time comes to bottle your beautifully clear beer that you left in the bottling bucket for a month of fermenting time, how are you going to mix in the priming sugar? No priming sugar means no carbonation. If you try to mix it into the beer that is still on the yeast cake, you stir up all the yeast too and now your clear beer is all hazy and when it all finally settles out in the bottle, you will have a big layer of sediment at the bottom taking up the space that could have been beer.

 

[Rev2010]

If you pour in the priming sugar and give it a very very gentle stir, let it sit a half hour to settle I don't think it would introduce much haze. Another option is to use Carb drops in the bottles.

In all honesty though it's not hard and doesn't take much time to siphon over to the bottling bucket.


Rev.

 

[maddawg4]

I apologize I am very new to this.

That all makes sense but don't you just add the sugar to the bottles and then add the beer? So you don't have to add the priming sugar to the bucket so there will be no stirring up the stuff on the bottom.

 

[Rev2010]

Depends. Most homebrewers just use priming sugar as mentioned. Some kits though, like the Cooper's kit, include sugar drops you simply put into the bottles. Makes things easier and when using them you can just use your bottling bucket as primary, but the drawback is those carbonation drops cost much more than simple priming sugar - usually 3-4 times the price. If an extra $3 isn't a big deal than you can just go ahead and use them and save the boiling priming sugar and mixing it in step. But, when you want to prime with other things like brown sugar or honey then you have to go the typical route.

Rev.

 

[maddawg4]

What is the best site that has beer recipe/ingredients for you to buy everything all together that comes with step by step instructions(Perhaps on the cheaper side)? I am too new at this to come up with my own recipes.

 

[Rev2010]

Northernbrewer.com and Midwestsupplies.com have some good cheap kits. Plus some have grains to steep which is cool.

Rev.

 

[RM-MN]

Austin Homebrew Supplies has a ton of kits to choose from. The are also a good source of grain malts should you choose to go from extract kits to all grain. http://austinhomebrew.com/

 

[ongreystreet]

If you haven't brewed yet, you haven't made a mess yet.

Adding bottling sugar to each individual bottle has a bunch of issues, first it isn't diluted thru boil. Second, you will make a mess. Third it will take a lot longer to but sugar in each bottle then it will to do it the standard way. Finally you risk under or overcarbing your beer if you do it wrong.