Newbie brewer starting out

[EddieB428]

Hi.
I'm looking into getting started with homebrew in the very near future. I've been reading a lot on this forum trying to learn at least some basics before I jump in. I'm more interested in brewing smaller batches since it would take me forever to drink a 5 gallon batch. Here's what I have planned so far:

Probably going to buy this kit. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html
From what I've been reading I can ferment a 2.5 gallon batch in the primary without any problems. Plus if I do want to make a larger batch (like for Christmas presents) I'll have the larger primary to do that.

I do like the idea of using a secondary. Rather than use a carboy, Better Bottle or otherwise, I was thinking of getting a 3.5 gallon food grade bucket with a lid and add an airlock to it. I'm assuming that would work fine? The other option I have already for a secondary is my brother's Mr. Beer kit...but I'd rather not go that route.

Besides the kit and secondary, is there any other equipment I would need? Already had fun emptying plenty of bottles . And I'm pretty sure I have a pot big enough to do a small batch in.

For my first batch I'm currently looking to find a decent Pale Ale recipe along the lines of Saranac or Magic Hat #9. Eventually I wan't to see about making a batch of trappist ale.

 

[AmandaK]

Invest in a good thermometer. I went through 4 crappy ones before I bought a digital candy thermometer. And especially don't get one of those floating glass ones. I've broken two of those without doing anything, once in the boil kettle and once in the mash. Sucks.

How big of a pot do you have?

 

[Vance71975]

Hi.
I'm looking into getting started with homebrew in the very near future. I've been reading a lot on this forum trying to learn at least some basics before I jump in. I'm more interested in brewing smaller batches since it would take me forever to drink a 5 gallon batch. Here's what I have planned so far:

Probably going to buy this kit. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html
From what I've been reading I can ferment a 2.5 gallon batch in the primary without any problems. Plus if I do want to make a larger batch (like for Christmas presents) I'll have the larger primary to do that.

I do like the idea of using a secondary. Rather than use a carboy, Better Bottle or otherwise, I was thinking of getting a 3.5 gallon food grade bucket with a lid and add an airlock to it. I'm assuming that would work fine? The other option I have already for a secondary is my brother's Mr. Beer kit...but I'd rather not go that route.

Besides the kit and secondary, is there any other equipment I would need? Already had fun emptying plenty of bottles . And I'm pretty sure I have a pot big enough to do a small batch in.

For my first batch I'm currently looking to find a decent Pale Ale recipe along the lines of Saranac or Magic Hat #9. Eventually I wan't to see about making a batch of trappist ale.

A bit of advice, Save up and get this kit right at the start.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/master-brewers-kit-with-kegging-setup.html

Also i would get a Burner(propane) and a pot that is at least 10 gallons right at the start as well.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/propane-burner-sp-50.html

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/polar-ware-brewritetm-40-qt.html

I know this seems like a lot of expense up front, but if you care for the stuff properly it will last you forever! Also invest in Star San Sanitizer, It is easy to use and works GREAT. If you get a 10g pot to start, you can do full boils on a 5g batch, and trust me 5g of good home brew DOES NOT last long! Oh and buy as many extra kegs as you can afford trust me, you will need them lol

 

[ETCS]

That is a good kit for extract brewing and it will do 5 gallons batches. That is basically what I started out with. As for a secondary, for most of your basic extract kits, you wont need a secondary. I would recomend that you start collecting NON-twist top beer bottles from anyone that will give them to you, you will need about 55ish of them.

 

[EddieB428]

So I found out on Friday night that there is a brewshop right here in town (http://www.themerrywinemakers.com. They're closed on Sunday and Monday so I'm making a trip there tomorrow. The biggest dilema I have right now is if I want to spend $30 extra on a kit and have it immediately or order one and wait a week. I'm hoping they have a better selection in store than what's on their website. I've been doing more reading and started working on a recipe for my first brew. It's going to be a Pale Ale. This is what I've come up with based on a batch size of 2.5 gallons and the ingredients I can get locally.

Malts/Grains
3 lbs Munton's Light Dry Malt Extract (I'm assuming this would be the same as a Pale Extract...please correct me if I'm wrong)
1/4 lb Caramel 60L Malt

Hops (Pellets)
.5 oz Centennial (9.7% AA) 60 min
.5 oz Cascade (6.3% AA) 15 min

Yeast (Dry)
Safale US-05 Ale Yeast

Using some different calculators I came up with these values.
Expected OG = 1.054 (Not taking the steeped grains into account)
Expected FG = 1.015
ABV = 5.1%
IBU = ~50 (5-10 points higher than most pale ales but it's ok with me)

Now some questions:
1 - What size pot would I need to do a full boil for a 2.5 gallon batch, I would guess a 4 gallon pot would be plenty.
2 - Since I'll lose volume in the boil, would 3 gallons of water be plenty?
3 - I'm considering dry hopping about a week prior to bottling. Would it be preferential to do this in a 3 gal carboy or just add the hops to the primary about a week after fermentation is done?
4 - Would there be any benefit in doing 2 lbs Light Extract and 1 lb Amber extract?

 

[EddieB428]

So my LHBS was closed today when they were supposed to be open...going to try again tomorrow. Another question on my recipe. Would using a 2-Row grain work better than the Caramel 60L? I see a lot of recipes that use Crystal 60L but I'm not sure if my LHBS carries it, at least it's not listed on their website under that name.

 

[enkamania]

2 Row and Crystal\Caramel are vastly different. You would be better off substituting with another crystal\caramel grain, i.e 40L or 80L

 

[medusa1066]

Get a 10 gallon pot. 5 gallon batches go very quickly when you bring six packs along with you to parties. StarSan, Oxyclean are a must. The two burner stove method is OK, but you will eventually want to upgrade to a propane burner for its quick boil. And then an immersion chiller..and then......

 

[EddieB428]

Tomorrow's the big day. Went to my LHBS today and got a starter kit and ingredients for a Pale Ale. Had to make too trips because on the way to Walmart to get a pot I realized I forgot grain bags and Star San. The biggest issue I may have is finding a place with the proper temperature. I've got a thermometer in the basement right now that keeps track of the highest and lowest temp. My only concern is the basement is pretty damp and dirty...definately will not be opening the fermenter down there at all. My kit came with a 5 gallon better bottle. Since I'm only doing a 2.5 gallon batch I'm considering using that as my primary so I can see what's going on. I've got just over a 5 gallon pot so I should be able to do a full 2.5 gallon boil without too much risk of a boil over.

Tomorrow should be fun, I'm excited to get started...then the long agonizing wait until I can drink my first beer of the batch. I'm already planning out my next batch. My wife isn't a big beer drinker so she wants something that's not too bitter. She likes Killian's Red but I don't care for it much. I'm thinking maybe a brown ale or porter.

 

[EddieB428]

First brew is boiling along nicely...20 more minutes until the second hop addition. Going to transfer the cooled wort to my bottling bucket and take a hydrometer reading before transferring it to my 5 gallon better bottle. My basement temps look to be holding in the low to mid 60s so no worries there.

 

[MattyIceGfunk]

You don't need to necessarily transfer the wort twice in order to take a reading. Maybe I just misread your statement. Also if your basement isn't finished I suggest placing the fermentor on a towel folded up. Certainly not directly on the floor.

 

[EddieB428]

The transferring twice is to help aerate the wort and since I'm putting it in a carboy to ferment it'll be easier to take a reading in the bottling bucket first. The basement isn't finished but I'll be putting the fermenter on top of an old milk crate to keep it about a foot off the floor.

Wort is chilling now...about 20* to drop until I can transfer it, take a reading, and pitch the yeast.

I'm actually pleased with the process, my biggest concern right now is the boil wasn't rolling enough since I have an electric stove top but it seemed alright. Doing the small batch in a 5 gallon pot I never even got close to a boil over.

 

[EddieB428]

Beer is now in the fermeneter sitting in 62* temps. Only one small mishap during transfer where the siphon hose popped out of the bucket and lost maybe half a potential beer.

The OG was higher than expected, I had calculated about a 1.050 and I ended up with a 1.060. Now the worst part of the beer making process....WAITING!

 

[EddieB428]

Been checking on the brew the past couple days since it was started on Thursday. Yesterday morning there was about half an inch of krausen and this morning I had a good 5 or 6 inches. Nothing looks funky in the carboy. The temperature in my basement has been holding at a steady 61*. The Safale US-05 packet said 60*-75*, I'm on the low end of that so hopefully that doesn't have much impact.

Still trying to figure out why my OG was higher than expected. All the calculator's I tried said a little over 1.050 but I came out with about 1.060. No big deal, if I hit the expected FG I'll have around a 6.4% ABV instead of 5.1%.

I'm going to convert my brother's Mr. Beer into a secondary by adding an airlock to it. Since it's a small batch the Mr. Beer should be big enough. I know a secondary isn't needed, but I'd like to do it anyways. I plan on dry hopping with the Cascade hops I have left over about a week before bottling. I have .5 oz left, what would be a good amount to use?

Now the only issue I have is needing a few more empty bottles. Guess I'll have to suffer and drink a 6 pack of Guinness

 

[NWMOBrewer]

3 weeks of fermenting and 3 to bottle condition means 42 days. Almost a full batch for 5 gals. Since you want 2.5 gals, get your pipeline or your second batch will take just as long. I do 5 gal and have 3 fermenters. Never drank this much before but its so good

 

[Vance71975]

Been checking on the brew the past couple days since it was started on Thursday. Yesterday morning there was about half an inch of krausen and this morning I had a good 5 or 6 inches. Nothing looks funky in the carboy. The temperature in my basement has been holding at a steady 61*. The Safale US-05 packet said 60*-75*, I'm on the low end of that so hopefully that doesn't have much impact.

Still trying to figure out why my OG was higher than expected. All the calculator's I tried said a little over 1.050 but I came out with about 1.060. No big deal, if I hit the expected FG I'll have around a 6.4% ABV instead of 5.1%.

I'm going to convert my brother's Mr. Beer into a secondary by adding an airlock to it. Since it's a small batch the Mr. Beer should be big enough. I know a secondary isn't needed, but I'd like to do it anyways. I plan on dry hopping with the Cascade hops I have left over about a week before bottling. I have .5 oz left, what would be a good amount to use?

Now the only issue I have is needing a few more empty bottles. Guess I'll have to suffer and drink a 6 pack of Guinness

You cant reuse Guinness bottles, they have the lil widget thing in them and sanitation would be a problem, and you cant get that thing out without breaking the bottle i have tried! I would find you a nice craft brew to drink for the bottles!

 

[kapbrew13]

You cant reuse Guinness bottles, they have the lil widget thing in them and sanitation would be a problem, and you cant get that thing out without breaking the bottle i have tried! I would find you a nice craft brew to drink for the bottles!

Some don't come with widgets. Buy 2 6 packs one has them the other doesn't. Go figure.

 

[Vance71975]

Some don't come with widgets. Buy 2 6 packs one has them the other doesn't. Go figure.

Hmmm I have never seen them without the widget. Dunno but if you shake an empty and there is something rattling around in it, i would not try to reuse it!

 

[BWN]

You cant reuse Guinness bottles, they have the lil widget thing in them and sanitation would be a problem, and you cant get that thing out without breaking the bottle i have tried! I would find you a nice craft brew to drink for the bottles!

Just use needle nose pliers to pull them out. I love guinness bottles because the lables are easy to take off.

 

[EddieB428]

Just use needle nose pliers to pull them out. I love guinness bottles because the lables are easy to take off.

Yep, already pulled the widgets out of the Guiness bottles I had and I love that there is no glue holding the label on. But the best part about using Guiness bottles is you have to drink the beer inside them first