Newbie Purchasing Equipment

[QsnotPs]

Hello everyone. I have always wanted to brew beer...blah, blah, blah.

I am giong to purchase a 10 gallon brewpot (im going to weld it up with copper coils, etc.), an extra fridge, make a space in the shed with a heater and racks (similar to an oven, but bigger and only goes up to 160 degrees) for drying, for germination I'll probably do what they do on youtube and use a barrell, or something with a motor, and extra candy thermometer, a thermometer for the fridge, etc.

In many of these threads people respond saying "take a gravity", and the results are typically from 1.002 to 1.6. What does this mean, and what kind of equipment should I get?
When it comes to measuring CO2 prior to bottling, where can I get a cheap analyzer/monitor? They're freaking expensive.

 

[Nohup]

I'm not quite clear on welding up a brewpot with copper coils. If you're meaning an immersion chiller, then usually that's not welded into the pot, you just place it in for the last few minutes of a boil, and then when you're cooling down the wort.

The extra fridge is ok for serving, but I haven't found them as useful for a fermentation chamber.

I think from your comments that you're considering malting your own barley/wheat. That's really above and beyond what most people do. Live barley that can be malted is somewhat hard to find, and is usually not the highest quality (the big maltsters buy up all the best stuff for themselves). Besides, when you can buy malt for less than a buck a pound, it's not very cost effective to malt your own.

I think you should do a bit more reading before you jump into this. You might be missing some of the big-picture parts of making beer, and may not need to go through so much effort and expense so soon in your homebrewing career.

The gravity of a liquid, is it's specific gravity. It's density. distilled water is 1.000 when you make a wort, it usually runs about 1.050, then the yeast start eating all the sugars, and making lighter alcohol, which brings the gravity down lower, sometimes around 1.012 or so.

As for measuring the CO2. Normally you don't measure it directly. You just add a carefully measured amount of priming sugar to the beer when you bottle it. The remaining yeast eat that sugar and make a precise amount of CO2 which carbonates the beer in the bottles.
There are some very detailed guides on bottling, and I would recommend reading them carefully, bottle-bombs or sour, infected bottles can result if you make a mistake here.

Good luck with your homebrewing.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Welcome! Can I recommend getting an extract kit and cooking up some wort on your stovetop? Go through an entire fermentation cycle to finished product and see if you like the results, process, etc. You're talking about making a lot of purchases, which is fine if it's a passion of yours to produce craft beers, but I would brew with some friends first, see if it's for you, and then consider buying a lot of equipment.

Oh, and malting your own is pretty cool, but it's gotta be way easier to just buy it for pennies a pound and just brew.

 

[QsnotPs]

I guess i should say my goal is something similar to miller lite, I enjoy the hoppy beers like sam adams, and the stouts like guinness extra stout, but when it comes to throwing a kegger, or having a keg around the house i like it to be a lighter beer. Every time i have a home brewed/microbrewery beer it is no lighter than budweiser, and that is rare. Typically they're over hopped if you ask me, and the grain was scorched, creating a darker fuller beer (from what i've researched).

Does anyone have a citation ofthe basic process broken down. Most of what i have read is chemistry based, and over my head. It seems as though it is a step by step process, with static variables (if that makes sense), and if that is the case, a flow chart has got to exist somewhere out there.

Thank you for the replies, very insightful.
yes I am brewing with friends, it's the only way to do it
yes i want to eventually start a business doing this, My specialty is representing companies with the FDA (which I hate), and i would like to give the BATF a try.
As for the fridge, it is so I can ferment lagers.
Based on the first paragraph, is there an extract kit you would recommend?

 

[erikpete18]

As far as the basics, check out the how-to-brew website. Most of the info you need will be in there. I'll caution you that some of it is a little outdated since that's the first edition, but most of it still applies. You could also purchase a newer version online or at a local homebrew store, if there's one in the area. You can also find a bunch on info here on HBT. For starters, I'd go to the HBT wiki for any particulars you have questions about.

The actual step-by-steps depend on how you want to make the beer. The easiest method, and the method that most people start out with, is an extract kit. In this case, the grains have already been mashed and the resulting wort (sugars) concentrated into either a thick liquid or powder. This extract is mixed with water and boiled for 60 minutes with a variety of hop additions giving bitterness and hop flavor. After 60 minutes everything is cooled and transferred to a sanitized vessel (bucket or carboy) and yeast is added. The yeast will consume the sugars in the boiled wort, producing CO2 and alcohol. After the yeast have fermented out all the sugar they are going to ferment, the beer can either be bottled or moved to a secondary for aging (as is the case for lagers).

Of course, the above is very simplified, and there are a ton more details to figure out along the way. I'll agree that especially for a first batch, I'd look into buying a kit. If you've got a local homebrew store, head down there and talk to the guys or gals behind the counter. Assuming they're a decent store, they'll be able to answer a bunch of your questions for you and get you set up. If you don't have a homebrew store, there are a bunch of places online that have pretty nice kits. Austin homebrew, Northern Brewer, Midwest Homebrewing, and Morebeer are a few to take a look at.

Based on what you've mentioned you're looking for, I've got a few suggestions. First, I should warn you that light beers are notoriously hard to make, especially light lagers. Because there aren't a ton of hops or dark malts in them, any slight flaw winds up getting magnified. Not to dissuade you, just want to temper your potential expectations. I personally started out with very hoppy IPAs and dark stouts to avoid that . Second, figure out if you really want to start with a lager or not. Lagers will take quite a bit longer than ales, and come with a whole host of problems. While you've got a fridge for lagering, you'll have to get a controller so that the beer can be kept at lager fermenting temps (50 degrees or so). Ales tend to finish faster (can bottle 3 weeks after boil-day for a lot of beers), and can be fermented closer to room temp (60-65 is best). There are plenty of lighter lager kits out there, but if you decide to do ales look for a cream ale kit. You can also do a what's called a California common, where you ferment at ale temps with a particular lager yeast.

Either way, I'd start doing some research, figure out what you want to do, and get a plan of attack. Definitely brew with friends as well! Also, welcome to the hobby and HBT!

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

+1 on How To Brew by John Palmer

 

[goybar]

I would also highly recommend listening to a bunch of the Brew Strong shows.

 

[Docgineer]

I would also recommend JP's book. The website is from the 1st edition and he is now on the 3rd. Get the 3rd. Don't buy any equipment until you read this thing cover to cover. Then buy yourself a nice starter kit based on the knowledge from the book and do at least 2 extract batches. You'll learn a ton by doing it.

If you jump in with all the equipment you mentioned I'm afraid you'll be overwhelmed in short order. Keep it simple to start, learn good sanitary technique, do a full boil, and control your fermentation temps. Then go on to learn about details one at a time once you get the important stuff down.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

No no no... contact us and we'll sell EXACTLY what you NEED...

Baby steps is how I did...

 

[QsnotPs]

sorry onehoppyguy, i don't do facebook, and i don't suggest anyone does, aside from robbing the us, it has been hacked many, many, many times, and several of which pictures majically end up on dating sites. For those parents out there how would that be to see your young daughter on a dating site?

Thanks goybar, I'll be tuning in.

i appreciate the information. So y'all know i am a process control engineer, i represent companies for the FDA, and my specialty is thermometry. If anyone understands the importance of detail, it's me. Don't get me wrong, I will fail, many times, but I'm the person who thinks long and hard as to why i failed, and retry accordingly. I even thought a fridge, a pot, a copper coil, a hydrometer, a drying area, etc. were the basics, I wanted to get the huge things on ebay which you do everything in the same container and it makes about 200 gallons at a time....... Mmmmmm200 gallons of beer, my corn flakes will never go lonely again

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

sorry onehoppyguy, i don't do facebook,

So visit our website
I personally don't have to worry about ending up on a dating site