NEWBIE - Please Help Me Get Started!
- Thread starter BrettCo124
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BrettCo, this thread and process is a lot like mine and how I approached it. I initially scoffed at extract brewing but mostly because I didn't fully understand what I was about to get into. As I read through this forum for a year before joining a few bits of advice kept coming up. First and foremost was John Palmer's book, which I bought and read the first few chapters. With that and with what I was reading here it became obvious to me that extract brewing was indeed the perfect jumping off point, at least for me it was. I bought a 4 gallon ss kettle for $39, hydrometer, even a stir plate and I started brewing.
My first beer was a nut brown ale, brewed back in May '16 and you know, it was actually pretty darn good. But I learned something very quickly - my kettle didn't exactly fit in our sink too well, which made it tougher to cool, and got me in trouble with SWMBO because I marked up our white sink. But I stuck with it. Second batch was an IPA. Smells fantastic, tastes so-so, my fault though because I ad libbed a bit too much. Plus more trouble - more marks in the sink. Oy.
So I set aside an overtime check and bought a 15 gallon Spike kettle, a blichmann burner, an IC, and a Wilser bag and I'm moving to BIAB, outside. Expensive? Sure especially if you figure in the cost of a new sink.
Anyway, I've enjoyed reading this thread, and agree perhaps it would make a good sticky. It does sound like you did things quite well for a first brew attempt, and I feel you'll surprise yourself by drinking some really good beer in a few weeks. And the best part is you brewed it!!
My first beer was a nut brown ale, brewed back in May '16 and you know, it was actually pretty darn good. But I learned something very quickly - my kettle didn't exactly fit in our sink too well, which made it tougher to cool, and got me in trouble with SWMBO because I marked up our white sink. But I stuck with it. Second batch was an IPA. Smells fantastic, tastes so-so, my fault though because I ad libbed a bit too much. Plus more trouble - more marks in the sink. Oy.
So I set aside an overtime check and bought a 15 gallon Spike kettle, a blichmann burner, an IC, and a Wilser bag and I'm moving to BIAB, outside. Expensive? Sure especially if you figure in the cost of a new sink.
Anyway, I've enjoyed reading this thread, and agree perhaps it would make a good sticky. It does sound like you did things quite well for a first brew attempt, and I feel you'll surprise yourself by drinking some really good beer in a few weeks. And the best part is you brewed it!!
Morrey
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Looking back at the posts in this and similar threads, I note references to John Palmers How to Brew Book. I considered it required reading, bought it, read it and the information flew completely over my head. After reading it, I made a few extract beers which ranged from pretty bad to semi-passable.
THEN, after I had brewed a few beers, had some issues, had a failure along the way, I RE-READ his book again. WELL, now this book makes sense. I actually began to understand what he was talking about plus I was learning the vocabulary. The brewing learning curve takes time, practice and patience. Brewing is one of those hobbies (or jobs) that there is always something new, different or advancing to keep up with. You'll never want to quit learning.
THEN, after I had brewed a few beers, had some issues, had a failure along the way, I RE-READ his book again. WELL, now this book makes sense. I actually began to understand what he was talking about plus I was learning the vocabulary. The brewing learning curve takes time, practice and patience. Brewing is one of those hobbies (or jobs) that there is always something new, different or advancing to keep up with. You'll never want to quit learning.
BrettCo124
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Thanks Morrey. I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can. It's so neat to see the fermentation process. I'm glad I went with the plastic, see-through fermenter.
I'm hoping the beer I made will be tasty. Can anyone tell if it's going to be good just by looking? Better yet, does my beer look "normal" in the fermenting stage?
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482641241.893754.jpg
It's foamed up about 2 inches now since this photo was taken.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
I'm hoping the beer I made will be tasty. Can anyone tell if it's going to be good just by looking? Better yet, does my beer look "normal" in the fermenting stage?
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482641241.893754.jpg
It's foamed up about 2 inches now since this photo was taken.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
Can you tell if it will be tasty from the krausen? No, sadly, you cannot.
BTW, if you shine a flashlight into the liquid part of the fermenter, you should be able to see a sort of maelstrom of yeast particles moving about. Here's a youtube video that shows what I'm talking about; yours might or might not look the same, but you should see some sort of roiling action:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dayRhlr7t0w[/ame]
BrettCo124
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I can see! It's so neat to see. So, what exactly is happening in there to cause that violent reaction?
The best explanation I've seen is that the yeast and bits of trub act as nucleation points for CO2 coming out of solution. When the CO2 attaches to the yeast and trub, it makes them buoyant and they rise to the top of the wort. At that point they lose the bubble and the buoyancy, and down they go.
BrettCo124
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Makes perfect sense! Thanks! I can explain to people what is going on now when they ask me!
BrettCo124
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As long as nobody minds me keeping this thread going, I feel like my questions may be questions that other newbies will bring up. So perhaps it can help them out too:
My next question is, should I buy another extract kit, or venture in to reading up on recipes? I believe I've been told to go with one more kit again, to get the process down.
Will the kits come with the malt extract and grains? I can't seem to find the package listing for the kits on sites such as morebeer.com. I read that they don't come with yeast. I just want to make sure I get what I need for the next round.
Second fermenter will arrive tomorrow! I have to check my instructions on my first batch to see what I need to do next, and when.
My next question is, should I buy another extract kit, or venture in to reading up on recipes? I believe I've been told to go with one more kit again, to get the process down.
Will the kits come with the malt extract and grains? I can't seem to find the package listing for the kits on sites such as morebeer.com. I read that they don't come with yeast. I just want to make sure I get what I need for the next round.
Second fermenter will arrive tomorrow! I have to check my instructions on my first batch to see what I need to do next, and when.
You might want to do another kit just to get the process down. You do know that you can look at the ingredients list for most kits and put them together yourself, right? Yes, the kits come with extract, steeping grains, and hops. You have to choose the yeast separate, at least on morebeer.
Only thing left to do for your first batch is to let it sit, then bottle.
Only thing left to do for your first batch is to let it sit, then bottle.
I agree w/ Dave. You did well this first time, but look at all the questions you had, and the things you can do differently next time. Nail this down. After all, you aren't even done fermenting yet, haven't bottled the beer, etc.
For instance, remember you're going to do the yeast with a sterile set of implements, including boiled then cooled water. You may, this time, want to just dump the hop pellets in the boil kettle (that's generally what I do).
Same goes for using water with Chlorine in it. If your water is chlorinated you'll want to buy some Campden tablets, and for clarity, some Whirlfloc tablets. Both are pretty cheap--get a package that has 50 or so in them.
And here's another thing: did you take notes the first time? Every time I brew I take fairly detailed notes on what's in the recipe, different process elements, water additions, and so on. I use a spiral notebook for mine, others keep them in Beersmith or a spreadsheet or whatever. I've attached a pic from when I brewed Biermuncher's Black Pearl Porter below to give you one idea as to how you might do it.
All that aside, remember the "P" word. Think on where you want to be 3 months from now, not next week. A little extra care now will have you much further along in 3 months.
As far as the kit ingredients go, look under "documents" in the Morebeer recipes. You'll see a link to an ingredient sheet which shows the ingredients for both an all-grain as well as an extract brew. It'll download as a PDF file for you.
Here's an example:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/soulless-hop-pale-ale-extract-beer-kit.html
Northern Brewer also shows their ingredients (look under additional information). Yeast unless it's specifically included in a kit is left to your discretion, though the NB recipes also show different options--and since the different options cost different amounts, that's why it's an add-on.
Two examples of my notes are below.
BrettCo124
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Perfect. Is there a better way to go about buying the ingredients rather than kits? Id much prefer To put everything together myself, but im lost when it comes to what to buy.
Should I purchase bags of pellet hops, and a decent amount of bags of yeast, grains and extract? I've seen 5lb bags of pellet hops and stuff like that on eBay. What would you do? I'd love to focus on putting together a small room full of everything I'd need.
I just received this as a Christmas gift to add to my gear (I asked for it): View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482786252.036680.jpg
Should I purchase bags of pellet hops, and a decent amount of bags of yeast, grains and extract? I've seen 5lb bags of pellet hops and stuff like that on eBay. What would you do? I'd love to focus on putting together a small room full of everything I'd need.
I just received this as a Christmas gift to add to my gear (I asked for it): View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482786252.036680.jpg
BrettCo124
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Thanks mongoose! I'm working on it! I still have more to do, like adding the corn sugar packet/water mixture. The notes idea is very helpful. Does it Matter which yeast to use, or can I just purchase some packets of the same kind I used for this batch?
That's why you should slow down! You're trying to run a marathon and you haven't even mastered the 200-meter dash.
Good lord--slow down already! You don't even know what kind of hops you like and you're already talking about buying them in bulk.
What would I do? I'd listen to people like Mongoose33, PADave, and Morrey!
Ever do something so fast, without due consideration, that you ended up screwing it up such that if you'd just taken your time a bit more, things would have worked out better?
If so, channel that feeling. It'll help you be more patient.
Good--put that aside for when, A MONTH OR TWO FROM NOW, you're starting to mash.
Let me ask you this: have you read anything other than what you've asked about here, or seen in the directions to your kit?
IMO, you should be reading. You have gone through one brew, so what the authors say will have more meaning for you. Have you read Palmer's "How to brew"? Or any other book?
I just received five new brewing books for Christmas: Clone Brews, Designing Great Beers, Experimental Home Brewing, Radical Brewing, and The Beer Bible. That's to go along with seven or eight other books I have on brewing, including Yeast, Malt, Hops, Water, Homebrew All Stars, Brew like a Pro, How to Brew, Brewing Classic Styles and Mastering Homebrew.
Here are the next two steps in your brewing odyssey. ONE: Read a book or two; I'd start w/ Palmer's How to Brew. Two: brew a good-tasting beer.
We don't even know if you can brew a good beer; if you can't do it with a kit, then how on earth can you do it with any recipe you brew yourself?
So here's the process: prove you can do it. I'm sure you can, but while it's not rocket science, it's also not like taking candy from a baby. You've already seen it's not as simple as it looks, though it is in many ways, simple.
So pick out an extract kit--if you want to build a recipe from a list, you can, though why you wouldn't just get the kit I don't know--and brew your second beer. Correct what you should do differently from your first brew. And when you've become comfortable with the PROCESS, then start spending time worrying about ingredients. Oh, you can study up on that now, but don't buy anything until you are more comfortable in what you're doing.
*********
I'm a scientist. We're trained, if we've been trained well, to isolate causal variables. The more one changes at one time, the greater the difficulty in isolating the causal influence that creates change or difference. The more that you keep introducing into your learning curve before mastering where you are on that curve, the more difficult it will be to isolate problems. We all here are giving you a path on which you can reduce problems and accelerate your learning curve. But you've got to follow that path for it to work.
I'm also a really good learner. I can be voracious in my appetite for knowledge, and learning about brewing is no exception. I want to understand as much as I can about this. I know quite a bit, but there's still more I do not fully or even partially understand. I will improve that understanding. I'm sucking up everything I can on the internet, and books? Well, I buy 'em and I read 'em.
Nothing would give us more pleasure than seeing you move along rapidly and produce good beer, and then relate your experiences back to those who are just starting. We're hoping you do exactly that.
Brew on!
I forgot to add this to the soliloquy I wrote above.
Yes, yeast matters. A lot. Yeast is responsible for certain flavors, and certain yeasts are "clean" in that they don't obscure what the malt or hops are doing. Some styles are hugely dependent on the type of yeast.
If you're looking for a safe yeast to use, S-04 and S-05 are pretty good--though you will find people here who don't like what they do. A person's taste is their taste. My palate might not be the same as yours. I like to describe it as people liking what they like. I don't care for stouts much (they tend to taste burned to me), while others love them. I also do not care for Belgians. That doesn't make me a bad person, it just makes me a guy who doesn't like belgians.
I started brewing just over a year ago. I've come a long way in a relatively short time, but it's been a fairly deliberate journey.
In that time I went from extract to all-grain (just as I and others have suggested you do), put in an RO system for my water, bought a ferm chamber, built a keezer, learned how to keg, learned about water....you can get there just as fast if you do so in a deliberate fashion without skipping steps.
What has helped a lot is brewing established recipes that, if I do my job right, should turn out just fine. I'm not quite sure I know enough about building recipes to make them all on my own, so I've taken established recipes, for the most part, and tweaked them.
Sometimes you can come close to a recipe but you have to substitute an ingredient. It's a tweak, but you're not so far from the recipe that the character will change drastically. My daughter said she liked a Vanilla Porter she'd had, so I decided to try to brew one. I chose Biermuncher's Black Pearl Porter and collected all the ingredients. The day of the brew, I discovered I only had 60L Crystal Malt instead of what Biermuncher specified: 30L. I just put in the 60L and it turned out wonderfully.
I also brewed his Cream of Three Crops, a nice cream ale that many who aren't fond of big-tasting beers find appealing.
My last batch was Yooper's Dogfish Head clone I made for a friend who wants to get into homebrewing. He loves IPAs and Yooper's clone is relatively simple compared to some with huge late hop additions. I don't know, however, how close we were to producing her clone. I had my friend over to show him how to brew, and I'm not sure I'll do that again. I made several process mistakes because I was distracted--and yet, he loves what we produced. It's actually good! Yooper's recipe is resilient enough that it could stand some process errors. Yooper has other recipes here, as do many other well-established brewers.
I'm hoping the trend is clear. It's the old "I can see so far because I stand on the shoulders of giants" saying. I'm taking recipes from established brewers with a lot of experience and using their knowledge, ensconced in their recipes, to produce good beer. Really good beer. Really. Because I'm starting with something known to be good.
So go to the Recipe forum of HomeBrewTalk and look at some of them. In every case, the recipe will specify the kind of yeast to be used, so you don't have to make that choice. Maybe later you want to brew the same recipe but change the yeast. Excellent! Then we'll all learn something when you tell us how it went.
*************
Biermuncher's Black Pearl Porter, to which I added vanilla extract to produce a beer that my daughter's fiance, who doesn't like beer, decided he could even order a second one. That's a win in my book.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24243
Biermuncher's Cream of Three Crops:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=66503
Yooper's Dogfish Head Clone:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=25709
Mongoose said it well, very well. Slow down. There will be plenty of time to brew, play with ingredients, etc. For now learn the basics. You got to learn to crawl before you run. Also, read, read, and read some more. I have a half a shelf of brewing books already read, and pretty much start a new one once I finish the current one that I'm reading. Always something new to learn.
If you don't know what the ingredients do or taste like, how can you put together an inventory of them or even a recipe? That's why I liked starting out with kits, and I will still brew them, so I can try new things.
If you don't know what the ingredients do or taste like, how can you put together an inventory of them or even a recipe? That's why I liked starting out with kits, and I will still brew them, so I can try new things.
Dave, what books are on your shelf?
BrettCo124
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Thanks for the advice! I should have mentioned, I wanted to brew the same kit again to try and do it better again.
The reason I would buy the ingredients would be to make it myself and not buy the kits, if, and only if, it Costs less to buy the ingredients myself.
I've been watching a ton of videos on YouTube from reputable brewers, taking in the tons of knowledge on this forum, and reading online. I do not have any books (yet).
I figured the beer would taste good if I followed the directions, and I did. I thought brewing questionable beer comes from when you either A, brew from scratch or make up your own recipe, or B, not follow directions on the kit.
I know I'm a mile a minute lol, but I do research and read up (and obviously ask lots of questions). I do prefer to bypass things such as buying equipment that I'll grow out of, and saving money on putting together my own kits.
Thanks as always for your help and suggestions!
The reason I would buy the ingredients would be to make it myself and not buy the kits, if, and only if, it Costs less to buy the ingredients myself.
I've been watching a ton of videos on YouTube from reputable brewers, taking in the tons of knowledge on this forum, and reading online. I do not have any books (yet).
I figured the beer would taste good if I followed the directions, and I did. I thought brewing questionable beer comes from when you either A, brew from scratch or make up your own recipe, or B, not follow directions on the kit.
I know I'm a mile a minute lol, but I do research and read up (and obviously ask lots of questions). I do prefer to bypass things such as buying equipment that I'll grow out of, and saving money on putting together my own kits.
Thanks as always for your help and suggestions!
Morrey
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I assure you, Brett, that nobody on HBT wants to thwart your enthusiasm. Your positive attitude and eagerness to learn is just plain exciting! Every single person here wants to see you succeed!!
One of the most profound statements in this entire thread is what Mongoose33 told you a few posts ago. Learn one thing at a time and make one change at a time. If you make 3 changes on your next brew, you'll not realize the impact that any one of those impacts make on a singular basis. Problem is that if you do want to make 3 changes, one change at a time would take you 3 successive brews to see the impacts. Palmer's book can help you make some good decisions while practical experience in brewing makes it like a college lab course backing up theory. Patience really is a virtue in the art of brewing.
I can tell you that it wont take you long to get there with your bubbling over desire to learn. Take a look at Northern Brewer and the beer kits they offer. Each kit on their site has a full instruction sheet that also contains the ingredients in their kit. I look at each recipe I am interested in and study the ingredients. Learn how and why various specialty grains work with base grains. Learn from the way these kits are put together, then construct a recipe on your own. You'll eventually want to try a substitution and make the recipe your own. So make one substitution at a time so you'll see how that changes the recipe. You can then be an expert!
I cant wait til you report in on your first beer. You'll be an excited brewer!!
One of the most profound statements in this entire thread is what Mongoose33 told you a few posts ago. Learn one thing at a time and make one change at a time. If you make 3 changes on your next brew, you'll not realize the impact that any one of those impacts make on a singular basis. Problem is that if you do want to make 3 changes, one change at a time would take you 3 successive brews to see the impacts. Palmer's book can help you make some good decisions while practical experience in brewing makes it like a college lab course backing up theory. Patience really is a virtue in the art of brewing.
I can tell you that it wont take you long to get there with your bubbling over desire to learn. Take a look at Northern Brewer and the beer kits they offer. Each kit on their site has a full instruction sheet that also contains the ingredients in their kit. I look at each recipe I am interested in and study the ingredients. Learn how and why various specialty grains work with base grains. Learn from the way these kits are put together, then construct a recipe on your own. You'll eventually want to try a substitution and make the recipe your own. So make one substitution at a time so you'll see how that changes the recipe. You can then be an expert!
I cant wait til you report in on your first beer. You'll be an excited brewer!!
As a home brewer, I wouldn't buy hop pellets in bulk, only buy what what your individual recipe demands. You will end up with a bunch of excess hops that you will be forcing yourself to use up.
This is what can happen when one jumps into this without thinking through properly:
I have a friend that works at a brewery that doesn't know how to brew (yes, I am serious) and asked me to help him with his first AG at about 10:00 AM on a Saturday. He brought home 20 pounds of crushed 2 row and other specialty grains (he didn't know what it was, he just grabbed whatever) and 3 gallon size ziplock bags of miscellaneous hops (3 pounds about). He had no recipe so we spent over an hour on the internet trying to figure out a hop schedule. Once we got started I realized his boil pot was too small (he bought a 5 gallon pot), so we wasted more time driving to my house to get a bigger pot. He secured a free mash tun cooler with PVC piping for recirculating laying around the brewery (no temp control) and insisted we recirculate just like the Pros. After we figured out how to put together the PVC piping and get the pump to work, we had at least another 2 hours in the hole. Long story short, I bailed on him at about 8:00 PM waiting for the wort to come to a boil on his electric kitchen stovetop. He said he finished about 3:00 AM due to trying to cool the wort down. His beer of course came out crappy because of uncontrolled mash temperature and who knows what temp he pitched his yeast.
Look for days like this when you don't take time to learn this.
BrettCo124
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That sounds like a horror story. So, kind of throwing myself under the bus here, but I did the same thing by starting my first brew at 10:00 PM without any knowledge of the process and solely relying on the directions. It went till almost 3:00 AM and my buddy bailed on me by 11:30 PM. Needless to say, I had a long, hard night ahead of me.
Lesson learned on becoming too excited, but that's what it's all about. I am a bit confused when it comes to him having an assortment of product that he could use whenever he wants. Is it not good to have containers of hops and everything else I had mentioned?
Perhaps what I may be missing is, hops expire? Grains expire? Are there a ton of different types of hops, and just blindly buying them is not smart? What did you mean by you had to search the internet for a hops schedule?
I've already decided to continue on the kits, as you all had recommended. I will always be ultimately taking your advice, so I just wanted to let you all know I'm not stubborn, lol, just learning and asking lots of questions.
I will be reading How to Brew. I have heard nothing but raving reviews, so trust me, it's happening!
Lesson learned on becoming too excited, but that's what it's all about. I am a bit confused when it comes to him having an assortment of product that he could use whenever he wants. Is it not good to have containers of hops and everything else I had mentioned?
Perhaps what I may be missing is, hops expire? Grains expire? Are there a ton of different types of hops, and just blindly buying them is not smart? What did you mean by you had to search the internet for a hops schedule?
I've already decided to continue on the kits, as you all had recommended. I will always be ultimately taking your advice, so I just wanted to let you all know I'm not stubborn, lol, just learning and asking lots of questions.
I will be reading How to Brew. I have heard nothing but raving reviews, so trust me, it's happening!
It's ok to be excited. I still am. But I have to temper that excitement by not stretching beyond my abilities.
Hops will lose their potency over time unless care it taken to slow that process. My hops are in 1-ounce packages, and I store them in the freezer.
Hop schedules tell you when to put the hops in the boil or in the fermenter or keg. Hops that are put in the boil early (at, say, the 60-minute mark) are bittering hops. The boil will convert the alpha acids to bittering compounds which will balance the malty sweetness of the grain bill.
Hops added later--toward the end of the boil--don't have enough time in the boil to convert the alpha acids fully to bittering compounds. In fact those hops often have much less of those alpha acids, and instead, they are used for flavor and aroma.
The recipe I noted above--Yooper's Dogfish Head clone--had 3/8 oz of Warrior hops going in at 60 minutes, 3/8 oz going in at 25 minutes, then an ounce and a half of Centennial and Simcoe hops sprinkled in over the last 25 minutes. Then there are more Centennial and Simcoe that go in the keg as further flavor and aroma hops.
All recipes will have a hop schedule. The California Common I brew has .75 ounce of Northern Brewer hops going in at 60 minutes (where they will provide bittering), 1.25 ounce at 10 minutes, and 1 ounce at flameout (end of the 60 minutes). The latter two provide flavor and aroma.
Good for you. You may find after 2 or 3 kit brews that it makes sense and it's time to move to the next level. I did three extract brews before i switched to all-grain, but even then, I screwed up in trying to clone a beer no longer made. I should have brewed an established recipe on those first two all-grain efforts. They weren't terrible, they just were...not what I wanted.
And I'll reiterate what I said earlier in the thread: If you can find someone to show you an all-grain brew before you do it yourself, it will pay you dividends.
Brew on!
jan_b19
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There's no need to spend $700 - $1000 right of the bat. I started with something like https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-products/starter-kits/starter-kits-beer/d/brewferm-starter-s-kit-deluxe#.WGHrEIbhCUk (beware it's a Belgian site so I wouldn't recommend ordering from it if you live on the other side of the world
I insulated one of the buckets to use as mash tun (did have to insulate it quite well tbh.... stupid thin plastic) and it worked well, and I still use those buckets for other brewing purposes today so it's not wasted money.
First of all get your tap water analyzed, water is the most important ingredient for beer so it has to be good.
Find yourself a good water calculator, there are many different ones and you can find all of them on the forums here.
Get brewing salts to adjust your water if necessary.
-A boiling pot; stainless steel, aluminum or ceramic
-A good thermometer.
-A siphon tube
-A good spoon in food grade plastic or stainless steel
-A good sanitizer Star-san for example.
-A bottle brush
-Airlocks
-A hydrometer
-Fermentation vessels (buckets or carboy)
-bottle brush
-Bottle caps
-Bottle capper
-And if you want to do all grain or partial grain something to crush your grain.
-A iodine solution to determine if there's any starch left in the mash.
- Your grains, extracts and hops.
I totally understand you don't want to brew with kits, however it might be a good idea to start with a partial mash. This means only mashing a part of the grains (specialty malts, roasted malts, ...) while using extract for the base malt. It greatly reduces the amount of malt you have to mash. The first time brewing all grain can get pretty hectic because you have to worry about hitting your strike temperature and other things, dealing with a smaller grain bill makes this whole process just a bit easier (for me it did).
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jan_b19
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Creating your own beer is one of the most fun things to do. It's not easy to get it right immediately but my first creations weren't all that superb either. However there are a lot of tools available on the internet to help you do this.
For example I use the recipe creator on brewersfriend for every single beer I make, even if I grab another recipe of the internet i'll run it through this to see if everything is correct.
As I said in my humongous, totally unnecessary post above the best way to start creating your own beer is by going for a partial mash.
explanation:
Basically when you're brewing with grain you have a base malt (majority of the grain you're using) for example: pale malts, pilsner malts, munich malts, and a ton of other malts. (there's a lot more info about them, too much to type here).
Then you have your specialty malts: caramelized malt and roasted malt.
These give the most flavor to your beer (that's why they're used in smaller quantities else the beer would be undrinkable).
When you're using partial mash you're substituting the base malt for extract. and you're only mashing your specialty grains. This reduces the amount of grains you have to mash and makes the whole thing a bit easier (cause you don't need 10+ lbs of base malt).
It just simplifies the whole process a bit.
For hops go to these sites they tell you what taste each hop has:
https://byo.com/resources/hops
http://www.onebeer.net/hopschart.html
For example heres a beer i created with mentioned site: http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/410736/my-flemish-ale use at your own risk
Brett, I am going to assume you are being serious and not having fun here.
My brewing bible - The Complete Joy of Home Brewing
2nd edition circa 1991
Dog eared and yellow.
Some of what was written has been improved on in 30+ Years, but it's still a good read and full of great information.
So buy this book or "How to Brew" by Palmer before you go out and buy a mash tun, HERMS coil, RO system, etc, etc, etc....
baby steps... You'll be a better brewer.
I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised with how good that batch in the fermenter is going to taste.
2nd edition circa 1991
Dog eared and yellow.
Some of what was written has been improved on in 30+ Years, but it's still a good read and full of great information.
So buy this book or "How to Brew" by Palmer before you go out and buy a mash tun, HERMS coil, RO system, etc, etc, etc....
baby steps... You'll be a better brewer.
I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised with how good that batch in the fermenter is going to taste.
Hops loose potency over time. Eventually they get a cheesy smell and become no good. Yes, there are a ton of different hops with a ton of different flavors and aromas. Some work well together, others not so much. Grains will get stale. Whole grains will last much longer than crushed grains, years vs. months. Grains can also get bugs in them. All this depends on proper storage, which leads to more equipment just to have ingredients sit on a shelf. I personally would rather spend my money on stuff to make better beer.
I like to think of it like this. My kitchen/pantry could be stocked like a 5 star restaurant, but if all I make is boxed mac and cheese and hot dogs, what's the point?
GHBWNY
Well-Known Member
Totally agree. I've been brewing 2 years, still have my "basic" equipment and still making great beer. Which is to say, whether you drive to work in a BMW i8 or a Geo Metro, both are going to get you there.
The best piece of 'equipment' you'll ever own is the one that can't be bought: time. Take yours and use it wisely when brewing. Welcome!
BrettCo124
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Janb-19 - every post is an important post for me to read, regardless of what it's stating. Thanks for helping me out! Right now, the internet is helping me tremendously during my journey.
Martin - I have no idea what anything is yet. Still learning the process, jargon, ingredients, etc.. I'm getting there lol.
Atoughram - thanks for the advice on the second book recommendation. I'm going to Look in to that one too. And I sure hope this beer comes out tasting good! I smelled the top of the airlock and can smell the beer inside - it certainly smells good if you ask me.
GHB - I am learning that time and patience is key. I have my kit and I'm happy with the purchase. Now I need to dive in to the science of everything, which will help me understand the process better.
Mongoose and PADave - per usual, thanks for all of your contributions in this thread. I won't be buying anything in advance until I know the exact beer I want to brew. It just makes the most sense now that I can understand why it's not a good idea to buy lots of ingredients. Good news is, I found a local home brew store which I didn't even know existed! So I'm stoked about that, and will be going on Friday to look around. Now I can buy fresh from them.
Thanks as always! What an awesome thread this will be for so many new people. So many people will learn from it.
Martin - I have no idea what anything is yet. Still learning the process, jargon, ingredients, etc.. I'm getting there lol.
Atoughram - thanks for the advice on the second book recommendation. I'm going to Look in to that one too. And I sure hope this beer comes out tasting good! I smelled the top of the airlock and can smell the beer inside - it certainly smells good if you ask me.
GHB - I am learning that time and patience is key. I have my kit and I'm happy with the purchase. Now I need to dive in to the science of everything, which will help me understand the process better.
Mongoose and PADave - per usual, thanks for all of your contributions in this thread. I won't be buying anything in advance until I know the exact beer I want to brew. It just makes the most sense now that I can understand why it's not a good idea to buy lots of ingredients. Good news is, I found a local home brew store which I didn't even know existed! So I'm stoked about that, and will be going on Friday to look around. Now I can buy fresh from them.
Thanks as always! What an awesome thread this will be for so many new people. So many people will learn from it.
How to Brew - Palmer
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - Papazian
Mastering Homebrew - Mosher
Brewing Porters and Stouts - Foster
The Illiustrated Guide to Brewing Beer - Schaefer
The Everything Beer Book - DeVito
Brewed Awakening - Bernstein
I also like reading about commercial brewers:
The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. - Koch, Wagner
Beer School (Brooklyn Brewing) - Hindy, Potter
Brewing Up a Business (Dogfish Head) - Calagione
Next up:
Radical Brewing - Mosher
There are probably a dozen or so more on my Amazon wish list waiting to be ordered.
Thanks!
Mosher's "Mastering Homebrew" is, I think, an excellent book. I just received "Radical Brewing" for Christmas, I'm looking forward to it.
**************
As an FYI, I'm just about done with Miller's "Brew like a Pro" but I can't recommend it. If homebrewing like a pro means overcomplicating what doesn't have to be complicated, then IMO he hit the nail on the head.
Among other things, he eschews (oh how I love that word) a simple way to chill, i.e., a really good immersion chiller in favor of a counterflow that must be cleaned. Look at Jaded Brewing's Hydra as an example.
He ends up with a lot of CIP about which I keep scratching my head wondering why he's doing it that way. There are other recommendations which don't quite jive with what I see real homebrewers doing (the good ones, the ones with years of experience). His complaints about starters seem to me to be bizarre.
But his most bizarre recommendation is that the first purchase any newbie homebrewer should make is a draft system. Really. His belief is that draft beer is what we should be aiming for, thus start with that. Buy kegs from local craft brewers and then you're set as you move forward. If you get the impression he's pretty anti-bottle, well, you'd probably have the right impression.
It's absolutely an advanced book if money is not much of an object--but for most people, it is. I'm about 90 percent done with it, and I'll finish it hoping I pick up a couple tidbits, but in no way would I recommend it over any number of other books on how to brew.
Don't forget youtube is a great resource as well.
jan_b19
Well-Known Member
Ok so I think it's a great idea to get as much information as possible and I'll give you a few useful links that can help explaining the jargon used on several sites.
Sparging information: dennybrew
You'll see a lot of equipment that the guy uses but you don't really need it.
Most recipes you'll find online measure the color of the beer, they use SRM EBC or °L. The color of the beer depends on the color of the grain and the additional additions (sugar, honey,...). Most calculators already have these values for each grain. But in case the grain you want to use doesn't show up in the calculator grainlist color
If you need to convert one of those values to another one: color-converter
Check this site for sure!!!
howtobrew It gives a TON of information about things we talk about all the time.
I would highly recommend to check out the yeast terminology chapter it gives a lot of information about what yeast does how it affects your gravity, ...
If how to brew doesn't give enough information you can find all the information you'll ever need on the homebrewtalk wiki Read the formulating recipes and solutions FOR SURE
good explanation about hops: http://winning-homebrew
Efficiency: Understanding efficiency
There are a lot of calculations on this site, don't let them scare you, you wont't need most of them in the near future.
And there are many more. If you don't find what you're looking for you can always ask us.
Sparging information: dennybrew
You'll see a lot of equipment that the guy uses but you don't really need it.
Most recipes you'll find online measure the color of the beer, they use SRM EBC or °L. The color of the beer depends on the color of the grain and the additional additions (sugar, honey,...). Most calculators already have these values for each grain. But in case the grain you want to use doesn't show up in the calculator grainlist color
If you need to convert one of those values to another one: color-converter
Check this site for sure!!!
howtobrew It gives a TON of information about things we talk about all the time.
I would highly recommend to check out the yeast terminology chapter it gives a lot of information about what yeast does how it affects your gravity, ...
If how to brew doesn't give enough information you can find all the information you'll ever need on the homebrewtalk wiki Read the formulating recipes and solutions FOR SURE
good explanation about hops: http://winning-homebrew
Efficiency: Understanding efficiency
There are a lot of calculations on this site, don't let them scare you, you wont't need most of them in the near future.
And there are many more. If you don't find what you're looking for you can always ask us.
BrettCo124
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Thanks Jan_b19! That's so helpful. I'm on the train now for an hour so I'm going to look through each one! Much appreciated.
I suggest doing brew in a bag if you're going to start out doing whole grain (which I also suggest.) There is some split opinion on whether it is much different than doing the whole mash tun etc deal and having only done BIAB I can't really comment on that except to say that enough experienced people like BIAB that it can't be THAT different if it is different.
It will reduce the hardware you need to buy substantially and the only thing that will be obsolete if you do upgrade to using a mash tun is the $10 bag. And the pully if you decide to get one, which for 5 gallon brews is very nice to have but optional unless your grain bill is big.
It will reduce the hardware you need to buy substantially and the only thing that will be obsolete if you do upgrade to using a mash tun is the $10 bag. And the pully if you decide to get one, which for 5 gallon brews is very nice to have but optional unless your grain bill is big.
BrettCo124
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Thanks so much. I'll be looking in to BIAB for sure. Right now I'm waiting on my first extract brew to be complete. It's got another week to ferment.
Question for all: should I leave it be for an additional week before bottling? It calls for two weeks, but I don't mind waiting longer if it could make it better. Or should I leave it an additional week after bottling? Or it won't make a difference?
Also, I wanted to take a pic to show how far off I was from the 5 gallon mark. I wrote the number 5 on the side of the fermenter to show where I should have been. I must have over boiled, but I hope it doesn't drastically change anything. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482982775.723442.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482982788.282366.jpg
Question for all: should I leave it be for an additional week before bottling? It calls for two weeks, but I don't mind waiting longer if it could make it better. Or should I leave it an additional week after bottling? Or it won't make a difference?
Also, I wanted to take a pic to show how far off I was from the 5 gallon mark. I wrote the number 5 on the side of the fermenter to show where I should have been. I must have over boiled, but I hope it doesn't drastically change anything. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482982775.723442.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482982788.282366.jpg
I'd leave it in there another week--it certainly won't hurt if you bottle it now, but I let the beer sit on the yeast typically now for 3-4 weeks.
As far as being short of 5 gallons, you were going to be short even if you had it exactly at that line--unless you were planning on siphoning the trub at the bottom of the fermenter into the bottles. Which, I might note, you do not want to do.
I typically start with 6.5-6.75 gallons of wort at the start of the boil--looking to end up with about 5.5 gallons at the end. Half a gallon will remain in the fermenter after I've siphoned it off, so as to not bring all that trub along with it.
Your beer will be fine--it may be a bit higher in alcohol content than predicted, but I doubt the flavor will change all that much.
www.basicbrewing.com is a great source for information. The audio podcasts are very informative. The video podcasts are more fun and very helpful. You can email James or Steve about anything brew related. Great guys.
The Brewers Log Book is a great way to track your brews.
The Brewers Log Book is a great way to track your brews.
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