professional 1st time prebrew assistance needed!

[crazyseany]

trying to plan for my first brew... Have read alot of simillar posts but didn't see/remember the answers!

#1 what thermometer are you guys using? I used the stainless dial one that cam with my fryer for doing extract... Will this one work?

#2 are American & Canadian 2 row interchangeable?
#2a. Does it matter what "vienna" to use if recipe doesn't specify?

#3 mash tun: braided line or copper manifold? (also I can get the bigger 3/4" braid really cheap... Can this be used?)

#4 which cooler to use? I have a 5 gallon beverage cooler(round)... I also have the blue (i know blue is best) big "cube" roller cooler I see on some peoples rigs... (if I use this one I think the hole is above bottom... How does that work? False bottom?)

#5 check back please... Having posting anxiety and sure I forgot something!

 

[atchinator]

#1 It may not work. I've used an oven/fryer thermometer before and it didn't seem to be calibrated correctly. You really want exact temperatures - especially when mashing.

#2 From a beginners standpoint, yes.

#2a Probably not. If the recipe calls for Vienna malt, that means...Vienna malt. I haven't heard of specific "types" of Vienna malt to be honest.

#3 Not sure. I use neither. I just mash it in a plastic bucket at a specified temperature and then strain it through a false bottom when the mash is done.

#4 Are you referring to what you should use for a mash tun? Again, I just use a plastic bucket that can hold up to 6 gallons of liquid. I only notice about a degree (Celsius) in temp drop over an hour.

 

[Pappers_]

trying to plan for my first brew... Have read alot of simillar posts but didn't see/remember the answers!

#1 what thermometer are you guys using? I used the stainless dial one that cam with my fryer for doing extract... Will this one work?

Yes, your thermometer will work. Many also use an electronic, instant read thermometer. I use a floating thermometer - I find it works well for my system and the way I brew.

#2 are American & Canadian 2 row interchangeable?

Yes

#2a. Does it matter what "vienna" to use if recipe doesn't specify?

No

#3 mash tun: braided line or copper manifold? (also I can get the bigger 3/4" braid really cheap... Can this be used?)

I use a braided line, but both work well

#4 which cooler to use? I have a 5 gallon beverage cooler(round)... I also have the blue (i know blue is best) big "cube" roller cooler I see on some peoples rigs... (if I use this one I think the hole is above bottom... How does that work? False bottom?)

I use a round cooler, but both work fine. A five gallon cooler will be fine for five gallon batches of average gravity. If you anticipate brewing higher gravity batches, like barleywines, the five gallon cooler may not be large enough. If you only anticipate doing occasional big beers, you could always supplement the wort by adding DME to raise the gravity.

Good luck!

 

[KuntzBrewing]

That cube cooler does have a lower drain which means I would probly set it in a chair or on a table and hang it over, the braid will still work. id imagine you have close to 0 dead space, id just watch the ball valve since those coolers have angled drains. As far as vienna that's a technique of kilning and therefore all brands should be the same, I use braided mesh tube in my tun and its fine

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Also 2 row is a type of barley and should be the same

 

[asterix404]

Go out and get an instant read thermometer between 0 and 220 at your local sears for like, 10$. It's worth it.

2 Row is a type of barley and not all two rows are made alike. It depends on which grain is being used to make the "2 Row" malt, however, for all intents and purposes, treat all two row the same since the Maltster is doing their best to make it equal across batches.

Vienna malt is a style of malt, for authentic make sure it's is Weyermann malt though, to be honest, I can't quite tell the difference unless it's made with 6row barley. Muntons and Weyermann only use 2row malt for their specialty grains, Breiss uses 6, be very careful of this... typically 6row doesn't matter for dark roasted adjuncts, but if Briss decided that vienna malt is now a specialty malt, you don't want that.

I 100% agree on the braided vs copper. I used a torpedo mesh tube and I love the braided SS. If you can make a copper manifold and want to... go for it. I don't weld, so I am sort of stuck in that regard.

I LOVE my round cooler, but I love my round cooler for fairly advanced reasons. For single infusion mash, as long as the top of the rectangular cooler is insulated, use either. Otherwise stick with the round one. It removes the work of wrapping your cooler in all of the blankets in your house. I would also go and pick up the 10G cooler. This is a great size for all 5g batches.

 

[crazyseany]

well I think I'm going to splurge a little this month!

thanks for the info on the 2 row... I'm planning on trying a couple of american pale ales and maybe a red to start with.

I think on the vienna I meant brand... But good to know about the breiss...

do most people us a 1/2 inch braided? I've seen a larger diameter one and was wondering if that would be better to use or stick with the smaller D one..??

and you are right about the anfled drain on the cooler... Why watch out for the ball valve? So it doesn't get jammed on anything? I think they are well insulated coolers and we have 3 of them we bought a few years ago when we were camping alot... So I imagine I could do any size 5 gallon batch in those...

thanks for the quick answers and I know I have more questions... Will probably come back as I'm reading the recipes!!

oh yeah... If a recipe calls for 1/2 lb of this or that do you just randomly mix those grains in with all the "2 row/base" grain or do you keep those out and steep them like you do in a extract?

thanks again,
sean

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Not like extract, u mix all the grains together

 

[crazyseany]

if I'm going to spend some money on some bulk grain... Should I just start out with a bag of 2 row? And fill in the extras from the LHBS? 1or 2 bags? Or should I add a bag of vienna or C60? Or....?

thanks

 

[phenry]

if I'm going to spend some money on some bulk grain... Should I just start out with a bag of 2 row? And fill in the extras from the LHBS? 1or 2 bags? Or should I add a bag of vienna or C60? Or....?

thanks

Depends on what you brew a lot and how often you brew. Right now I only buy 2 row in bulk, but I could probably do with buying Vienna in 50 lb bags since I use it so much in my recipes. Everything else I couldn't really justify having that much grain on hand at one time since I only use a 1/2# or so at a time of crystal and other roasted malts.

 

[BrewerinBR]

if I'm going to spend some money on some bulk grain... Should I just start out with a bag of 2 row? And fill in the extras from the LHBS? 1or 2 bags? Or should I add a bag of vienna or C60? Or....?

thanks

If you buy in bulk it will not be crushed (some places may crush bulk orders but charge for it), you will need to have a gain mill. Most brewers that have a mill buy the base malts in bulk and the rest as they need it. I don't have a mill so I buy only what I need for a particular brew and have it crushed at my LHBS.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

if I'm going to spend some money on some bulk grain... Should I just start out with a bag of 2 row? And fill in the extras from the LHBS? 1or 2 bags? Or should I add a bag of vienna or C60? Or....?

thanks

I'd try to find a bulk buy, nicely organized by a spreadsheet, with both whole and partial sacks. Buy a whole sack of 2-row and maybe some partial sacks (in 5# increments) of various grains you use often. :fro:

 

[crazyseany]

I'd try to find a bulk buy, nicely organized by a spreadsheet, with both whole and partial sacks. Buy a whole sack of 2-row and maybe some partial sacks (in 5# increments) of various grains you use often. :fro:

if such a thing existed and I was able to get in on it... I'd like to order maybe 5# of the different specialty grains and 10 lbs of vienna... BUT... What if most of the partials are already full bags? I'd hate to start a partial with limited number of total bags left....

my splurge is going to be ordering a Barley Crusher at the end of the month so hopefully I can crush my own grain at the house...

 

[Hugh_Jass]

if such a thing existed and I was able to get in on it... I'd like to order maybe 5# of the different specialty grains and 10 lbs of vienna... BUT... What if most of the partials are already full bags? I'd hate to start a partial with limited number of total bags left....

my splurge is going to be ordering a Barley Crusher at the end of the month so hopefully I can crush my own grain at the house...

If it were me, I'd probably add what I wanted and see if others would be willing to adjust their quantities.....I'd be in the game, at the very least.

 

[crazyseany]

getting in at the end I'd hate to put anyone out...

 

[corkybstewart]

Let me try to understand something. You've never brewed before("trying to plan for my first brew") and you're already talking about buying bulk, a Barley Crusher, etc? Do you have a friend who is going to help you or are you just going to jump in headfirst? It can be done but you might want to try a batch before you spend a lot of money. If you decide this isn't for you there's not a lot of other uses for the 40 pounds of malted barley you'll have leftover.
I would suggest buying just the ingredients for your first batch, then if you're still interested go out and splurge.

 

[crazyseany]

if my first attempt really was horrible, would you suggest giving it another shot?

alot of recipes call for ~10lb of 2row for 5gallon batch... LHBS %s about $1.50 a lb... So if I did 2 batches the rest of the 2 row would be about free in a group buy right? (im sure I could give it to someone)

I have 2 ale pails and 5 carboys setting empty at my house right now and down to about a 6 pack from my last extract brew... Not to mention my wife constantly nagging me about "when are we going to make more beer?"

I just picked up my braided line for my mash tun... And I think I have everything else I need except a better thermometer, grain, and something to crush it with...

I'm thinking it will be pretty similar to extract brewing except the mashing part?

 

[KuntzBrewing]

I wouldn't spend a **** ton of money until your possitive this is for you, make a few batches to see if you want to brew your own or just go buy a six pack of beer you like, buying in bulk is a hassle as far as where to store the grain, weigh the grain, crush the grain, all of this is expensive and u may brew 2-3 times and realize it takes to long and you want beer now and maybe u get short on time and you don't have time to brew anymore, now you have 30lbs of grain and a $170 grain mill just sitting around, take your time and ease into this, never jump balls deep into a hobby you don't have any expierence with

 

[benzy4010]

I'm trying to get into all grain, made a mash tun, have bottles, two fermentation buckets, auto siphon and possibly hot liquor tank. What else do I need, home brew shop basiclt blew me off

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Look up an all grain homebrew starter kit and baiscally buy all that except the books, u can learn that stuff for free here and on youtube, uve pretty much got the vast majority of it, just a few other things you'd need

 

[Hugh_Jass]

if my first attempt really was horrible, would you suggest giving it another shot?

alot of recipes call for ~10lb of 2row for 5gallon batch... LHBS %s about $1.50 a lb... So if I did 2 batches the rest of the 2 row would be about free in a group buy right? (im sure I could give it to someone)

I have 2 ale pails and 5 carboys setting empty at my house right now and down to about a 6 pack from my last extract brew... Not to mention my wife constantly nagging me about "when are we going to make more beer?"

I just picked up my braided line for my mash tun... And I think I have everything else I need except a better thermometer, grain, and something to crush it with...

I'm thinking it will be pretty similar to extract brewing except the mashing part?

If you have any questions, ask when you pick up your things. I'll show you how I constructed my MLT w/manifold and any other piece of equipment you have a question about.

Also, remind me about a group brew day coming up. There will be at least a half dozen brewers brewing that day. Plenty of folks to watch and learn.

 

[asterix404]

Always buy books, books contain great recipes and fantastic information, but I do question your reasoning. I would not go out and spend a ton of money on an all grain setup immediately. You will need an immersion wort chiller or a hopback chiller, you have the MLT, the large pot, a ton of carboys and the like, you will want a propane burner, and eventually get a grain mill. For now, be small... 10# pale ale or something like that, maybe and IPA. This is a huge amount of stuff and you will gradually get to it. For now, I would seriously stick with worrying about one variable at a time. The thing for you to worry about right now are hitting your mash temp, getting your sparge water heated correctly, calculating your boil off rate and making a yeast starter. After you have ALL of those down well, I would then worry about grain crush (Which can and does cause a stuck sparge and lauter), grain conditioning, step mashes, which hops taste like what, and learning how to use your equipment to the best that you can.

You have the basics, but really read and understand what you are doing and why. Pick up "Designing great beer" by Daniels. It's a classic, I recommend it for all first time all grain brewers. "Radical Brewing" will also help you out quite a bit. Maybe you can get the "Brewing better beer" after a few brewing mishaps and you try to recover from something that went terribly wrong. I found it very pretentious but written by one of th best home brewers in the US... so he has a right to be. After that pick up "New Brewing Lager Beer" by Noonan which is a VERY advanced book. Once you have done all of those, getting the Classic beer style books is fantastic. I love those the most, but they are quite advanced and you should know what you are doing long before you read them. Basically... don't go out and spend like... 400$ in equipment if you are not sure you really like this particular hobby. Trust me... when you get a stuck fermentation, a stuck lauder or sparge, inconsistent results between brews, infected beer, etc. you will wonder if you picked the right hobby and then have a few home brews to sulk and try again next week. Good luck.

 

[benzy4010]

I have three books and have watches countless amounts of YouTube vids. I

 

[benzy4010]

I have three books now and have watched countless hours on YouTube haha, we have a brew store here in town that is new. I went and asked for advice but was pretty much shooed away because I wasn't planning on upgrading to a three tier stainless steel mega system. The dude actually left me standing there and stared talking on his cell phone. Super discouraging.

 

[benzy4010]

My questions about how many thermometers and spoons and size pots actually annoyed him

 

[crazyseany]

Always buy books, books contain great recipes and fantastic information, but I do question your reasoning. I would not go out and spend a ton of money on an all grain setup immediately. You will need an immersion wort chiller or a hopback chiller, you have the MLT, the large pot, a ton of carboys and the like, you will want a propane burner, and eventually get a grain mill. For now, be small... 10# pale ale or something like that, maybe and IPA. This is a huge amount of stuff and you will gradually get to it. For now, I would seriously stick with worrying about one variable at a time. The thing for you to worry about right now are hitting your mash temp, getting your sparge water heated correctly, calculating your boil off rate and making a yeast starter. After you have ALL of those down well, I would then worry about grain crush (Which can and does cause a stuck sparge and lauter), grain conditioning, step mashes, which hops taste like what, and learning how to use your equipment to the best that you can.

You have the basics, but really read and understand what you are doing and why. Pick up "Designing great beer" by Daniels. It's a classic, I recommend it for all first time all grain brewers. "Radical Brewing" will also help you out quite a bit. Maybe you can get the "Brewing better beer" after a few brewing mishaps and you try to recover from something that went terribly wrong. I found it very pretentious but written by one of th best home brewers in the US... so he has a right to be. After that pick up "New Brewing Lager Beer" by Noonan which is a VERY advanced book. Once you have done all of those, getting the Classic beer style books is fantastic. I love those the most, but they are quite advanced and you should know what you are doing long before you read them. Basically... don't go out and spend like... 400$ in equipment if you are not sure you really like this particular hobby. Trust me... when you get a stuck fermentation, a stuck lauder or sparge, inconsistent results between brews, infected beer, etc. you will wonder if you picked the right hobby and then have a few home brews to sulk and try again next week. Good luck.

I have read acouple of books on brewing (cant remember the names of them at the moment)

I have a couple of questions from the reading I've done I think I can get by with just the one propane burner I have already right?

also why do I need 2 immersion chillers? the one I have isn't enough

I think you repitch stuck fermentations right? it's been a while since I've brewed and need to refresh on a few things...

not sure on the stuck sparges though...

infected beer you give to your cheap friends that always show up with no beer...

sorry for being a little sarcastic... I read a TON on a new hobby adventure and get a little OCD
about it. I am in the process of getting ahold of my wife and trying to figure out how she got someones login ID!

I think the only thing I truly need is a grain grinder, and a valve and some washers...

 

[crazyseany]

My questions about how many thermometers and spoons and size pots actually annoyed him

the thing you should of asked is about the right size of the spoon....

I find stores like this are awesome... These are the ones I will tie up half a guys day asking questions I already know the answers to. We had a local hobby shop that the owner gave you the impression of "why the heck don't you know this"... And like I said ... We HAD ... With internet prices, free shipping, and alot of instant answers via google, etc. The only thing a lhbs offers really is costumer service (and of course something needed asap!)

 

[crazyseany]

Benzy... Where is your location...?

 

[crazyseany]

If you have any questions, ask when you pick up your things. I'll show you how I constructed my MLT w/manifold and any other piece of equipment you have a question about.

Also, remind me about a group brew day coming up. There will be at least a half dozen brewers brewing that day. Plenty of folks to watch and learn.

sounds good! Thanks. Depending on when for the brew day (we are swamped and only have 1 vehicle)

will there happen to be a grinder/scale in the area? Lol

I hope I enjoy this... You might be getting a bunch of free grain if not! Lol j/k

a friend of mine is supposed to bring me in a bag of mystery hops so that could be fun

(sorry I've bounced off topic on my post)

 

[benzy4010]

Atlanta ga