One batch down, second brew day tomorrow. I am officially hooked...

[DatsyukianDeke]

I have a friend who, due to contracting diabetes, had to get out of brewing. I picked up his setup for $100. I ended up with two glass carboys, two fermenting buckets, bottling bucket, brushes, therm and hydrometer, pretty much everything to get going. He also threw in an Apricot Ale kit he had from Vermont Homebrew Supply. I replaced the yeast and hop pellets and brewed it up. Everything went great. Beer came out clean with no wierdness growing in it. Now on week 2 in secondary.

That was a few weeks ago and since then I've picked up a new Bayou Classic KAB4 and immersion chiller for $125 and the tools needed for yeast starters. I can see myself spending a lot more disposable income on this stuff. So much fun and so exciting making something I love so much.

I hope to have more brews and beers to share here once everything gets rolling. WIth everything I have now I can have two or three batches going at once. Can't wait to have my own private stock of homebrew.

Sometime soon I'd really like to brew a lager or two. What are some ways to get lagering temps for fermentation and lagering without a cold basement to use? Spring is just barely beginning to take hold here in central NY (mid 40s during the day and 20s or so at night). I'm wondering if I can just put a covered carboy on the porch and if it will be cool enough to do the job, Any help is greatly appreciated and I look forward to a long and beerful relationship.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Welcome to the madness...

Awesome deal on your pickup of gear cheap.

Read thru this thread on Lagering https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/quick-lager-method-updated-518132/

You really need a way to control the temperature (raising and lowering). A lot of people use a temperature controller on a freezer or fridge. I am using a johnson controller (dial thermostat) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002EAL58/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 on a standalone freezer. I can keep two buckets in there at the same time.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

+1 for the Johnson Controller. Without it there is honestly too much temperature swing to produce a good lager. That's why lagers are usually reserved for more "advanced" homebrewers. I use quotes because it's more a question of equipment than skill

 

[AkTom]

Just wait... Things get hectic and you don't brew for 3 months�� then you decide you should really start doing 10 gallon batches. You finally get some time and all the sudden you have 10 gallons bottled, 15 gallons to bottle tomorrow and 10 more gallons in the fermentation chamber. You now realize you don't have enough bottles. A friend has extra kegs and is willing to part with some. Good thing you just got a raise�� don't ask me how I know.

 

[ol-hazza]

Welcome to the rest of your life champ!!

With those temps i would store lager in a cool room/garage in a swamp cooler and insulate it. Or even better get a ferm chamber as the guys above were saying

 

[how1]

I got hooked on homebrewing in 1996. The last 19 years have been a total blur to me.

 

[DatsyukianDeke]

Just wait... Things get hectic and you don't brew for 3 months�� then you decide you should really start doing 10 gallon batches. You finally get some time and all the sudden you have 10 gallons bottled, 15 gallons to bottle tomorrow and 10 more gallons in the fermentation chamber. You now realize you don't have enough bottles. A friend has extra kegs and is willing to part with some. Good thing you just got a raise�� don't ask me how I know.

Reminds me of those 80s anti-drug ads. "I only do coke so I can work longer hours, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke, so I can work longer hours, so I can make more money..."

Thanks for the lagering info. Looks like I'll need more research and some kind of temp-controlled setup. Got a Two Hearted clone set for tomorrow. After that I'll have to decide what to make next. Maybe a porter or Cascadian Black IPA.