Noob in MN - does it count if you haven't brewed yet?

[shortyjacobs]

Hi All,

Just getting ready to start into this adventure. I'm going straight for kegging....my dad brewed for years when I was a kid, and I remember first hand how much bottle washing sucked. Got my dual body reg, 2 keg kit on the way from kegconnection...busy sweet talking SWMBO into letting me get a few more off of craigslist for $22 a pop....

Just tried test boiling 3 gallons of water in a 5 gal SS pot on my stove, (ceramic top). Got it up to a rolling boil with the lid on in exactly 58 minutes....but then could only maintain 207*F with the lid off .....so I think a turkey fryer might be a good bet for me...

Just stole a bunch of stuff from my buddy for $105: the SS pot, 2 6 gal glass carboys, 2 6 gal buckets, autosiphon, hydrometer, various hoses and BO tubes and airlocks....and a bunch of bottles, and a capper.....so a lot of it won't be very useful to me with the keg route!

Now all I have to do is find a freezer craigslist steal and order my Love :rockin:..

Looking forward to learning lots!! Anyone know of a good, (easy), Newcastle clone from extract? (he says before searching ) That's SWMBO's first request...

 

[DuckAssassin]

There is no minimum number of batches required to refer to yourself as a noob. Sounds like you need to skip the stovetop and go to full boils. I can easily say that I wish I had. Moving to full boils improved my beer significantly. That said, welcome and good luck.

Even if you keg, bottles and a capper will come in handy for those specialty beers, or ones you want to give away. Sounds like you made a good score.

 

[nallanrex]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f67/aberdeen-brown-ale-newcastle-clone-ag-36912/index3.html

Everybody gets one

Post #29 is an extract recipe. It's untested though. You'll have to steep the specialty grains.



Welcome to the wonderful world of making booze. Give a man a beer and he drinks for a day. Teach a man to brew and in the event of an apocalypse still has a valuable trade.:rockin:

-Nick

 

[david_42]

Some people lurk and learn first. Others brew first and then ask what they did wrong.

Newcastle is a good start. Although it doesn't taste right without some RenFaire dust in it.

 

[shortyjacobs]

There is no minimum number of batches required to refer to yourself as a noob. Sounds like you need to skip the stovetop and go to full boils. I can easily say that I wish I had. Moving to full boils improved my beer significantly. That said, welcome and good luck.

Even if you keg, bottles and a capper will come in handy for those specialty beers, or ones you want to give away. Sounds like you made a good score.

Yeah, he gave me about 16 flip cap (grolsch style) 1L bottles in mint condition, plus about 24-26 750 mL ish cappable bottles....so I've got lots of bottling capacity if I need it. I plan on making up one of the DIY "We don't need no stinkin counterpressure gun" bottling rigs to allow me to bottle from keg if required...

Some people lurk and learn first. Others brew first and then ask what they did wrong.

Newcastle is a good start. Although it doesn't taste right without some RenFaire dust in it.

Hah, I've been hardcore lurking for the past few days....plus I used to help out my old man when I was a kid, so I'm gonna fall into the "lurk, learn, THEN make mistakes and ask what I did wrong" category!

 

[WindRiverGuy]

Good to hear you tested on the ceramic stove! I get calls now and then from people who never can get a boil on those things. The turkey fryer will be a much better setup, your only problem will be getting it too hot.

Cheers! And Welcome to the hobby!

 

[shortyjacobs]

Good to hear you tested on the ceramic stove! I get calls now and then from people who never can get a boil on those things. The turkey fryer will be a much better setup, your only problem will be getting it too hot.

Cheers! And Welcome to the hobby!

Yeah, I wasn't a happy boy last night when I realized my stove just wouldn't cut it for a 3 gal boil, nevermind a larger one...

But now I'm happy cuz I'm gonna buy a turkey fryer with a 7.5 gal pot, and I know my stove can easily hold water at anything lower than 207*F, so in a few months when I get more adventurous, partial mash batches, or even small All-Grain batches, (a la Deathbrewer's stovetop AG methods), will require no additional equipment outlay! (well, mash bags, but whatever)...:rockin:

 

[azscoob]

welcome to the forums! plenty of info and helpful folks on here!

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome