Quick question before tomorrows brew.

[GodsStepBrother]

Really quick I am going to start brewing tomorrow, and I just got the kit today. On the advice of some on this site I got the dry yeast because it is easier, and I got extract. I threw the yeast, grains, and the hops in the fridge, is this okay? Also how much water should I sanitize tomorrow for the brew, how much does it usually take to sanitize everything? And is it really bad if I use an aluminum brew kettle? Also i have seen some videos of people bottling without rinsing, and some with rinsing even thought the sanitizer says no rinse, does it make that big of a difference?

Thanks!

Best Regards
Albert…

P.s. i am brewing a warrior pale ale from Austin home brew supply

 

[bob1852]

slow down Albert -- you'll be fine

don't worry about your bottling questions - that's weeks off.

putting your ingredients in the fridge is fine - in fact, great!

without your recipe, we can't give much more advice, but keep in mind that when you boil the water you'll drive off the nasties....

aluminum v. SS is a long debated topic, but you'll be fine either way....

post your recipe and we can help you out.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

It is a Warrior Pale Ale
from Austin Home Brew Supply. THANKS A LOT!!

 

[Killer_Robot]

If the aluminum pot is new, make sure it's broken in: 30 minutes filled with boiling water to form the oxide layer before you put anything you'll cook in it. If it's a used pot you had around already, never mind that part.

 

[bob1852]

Austin gives good directions to brew -- follow them.....BUT leave it in the primary for at least 2 weeks

 

[daveooph131]

Most of all ENJOY!!! I just recently started this hobby and it is bad-a.

As for the bottes, if you have a no-rinse sanatizer (ie star san or iodopher no need to rinse, in fact don't you could risk infection from the tap water)

One last thing I might add....Rehydrate your dry yeast. In a nut shell, take about 1/2 cup water, microwave it or boil it to sanatize, let cool to around 80F or lower, and then mix with yeast....Let the yeast and water do their thing for about 15 minutes, and then when it is time pitch into your wort.

 

[slomo]

And Al sanitize everything. Nothing more frustrating as waiting two to three months to find that your brew is infected due to not saitizing. Welcome to the addiction!

 

[slomo]

Oh and star stan is a great sanitizer! Its a no rinse, and dont fear the foam... its okay!!!

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Austin gives good directions to brew -- follow them.....BUT leave it in the primary for at least 2 weeks

You want to remove the beer from the trub soon after the beer reaches final gravity. This is usually a week after the fermentation starts. Leaving the beer sitting on top of the trub after fermentation is complete is not needed and can change the flavor. The beer will be able to clear faster if the trub is removed by transferring to a secondary fermenter.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

 

[AnonyBrew]

Austin gives good directions to brew -- follow them.....BUT leave it in the primary for at least 2 weeks

I agree with AZ_IPA. Primary for 2 weeks and you should be fine. I have read that the rule of thumb around here is that fermentation is complete after 3 consecutive days of the same gravity reading.

 

[Mencken]

I'm a noob too. I only have 6 brews under my belt (plus one mead) but I can break down some things I've done so far.

1) Boil about 3 gallons the night before, and just let it cool overnight. Keep it covered.

2) If you can, sanitize an extra bucket (maybe your bottling bucket) and throw the 3g into this the next day. This means you won't be worried about volumes in your fermenter. You just dump your cooled wort into the fermenter, then top off with the sanitized water to get to 5g.

3) Sanitize everything. I fill my sink with sanitizer, and keep it filled throughout the brew until it's time to cool down the brew and I need the drain. I just find it easier this way, since I can always go back and re-sanitize stuff. I'd recommend sanitizing your yeast packets too. It's rather frustrating to drop your packet in your activator/starter, then have weeks of paranoia that this will infect the brew.

4) I was really impatient to get my first beer in my belly. But have patience! You need to let it sit properly. Personally, I've learned that 6 weeks is best for my tastes. Two weeks in a primary, 1 week in a secondary, then minimum three weeks in the bottle.

5) Brew a lot! This is tied to #4. Because I'm so impatient, the only way I can handle it is to brew a lot. I now have two fermenters, and a couple extra carboys for secondaries. I always want to have two brews going at once. This means I'm not constantly counting my beer, how much I have left, considering cracking other brews early, etc. Also, your friends are all gonna want to try your homebrew, so be prepared to lose some to them

 

[GodsStepBrother]

hey thanks alot guys this really helped out alot!

 

[Mencken]

Also, during your brew and keeping track of volumes, don't just brew with 2 gallons. You're going to lose volume due to the boil (and the grains will absorb some too). You're also going to gain volume when you add the extract (assuming you're doing a partial mash). Usually, I mash 2.5 gallons, with an additional gallon for the sparge. Between losing volume to the grains, and gaining volume from the malt extract, this puts me up to around 3.5 gallons when I start the boil. I'll lose about 0.5-0.75 gallons between the boil and filtering out the hops as I add it to the fermenter.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You want to remove the beer from the trub soon after the beer reaches final gravity. This is usually a week after the fermentation starts. Leaving the beer sitting on top of the trub after fermentation is complete is not needed and can change the flavor. The beer will be able to clear faster if the trub is removed by transferring to a secondary fermenter.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

This is also very debtable as lots of us leave our beers i primary for several weeks with no off flavors. I started just leaving my beer's in primary for 4-6 weeks, then racking to keg.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Hey also guys when i add the hops, do i have to strain it when i go to the primary fermentor, or can i just ferment it with the hops still in the wart?

 

[staffVAJoe]

IN CASE YOU DID NOT THINK OF THIS:

Using water fill your carboy in 1 gal. increments - marking each level so you will know how much liquid you have / will need to add. (do the same with your brew pot.)

Have fun and make beer. It's not rocket science.

 

[nebben]

...and if you have a glass carboy, do NOT put hot wort into it. This can cause significant damage and injury to you and ones around you.

Have some funs!

 

[Hang Glider]

When you add the hops, you can strain them out at the end or leave them in - they'll settle to the bottom, along with the break (proteins, etc).
Also - either oxygenate or shake the heck out of the wort before adding the yeast, so the little buggers will have some O2 to use in reproduction.
Thermometers are your friend. Cool the beer to 70, pitch the yeast, keep below 70 (63-65 is good) if possible. (tub of cool water, swapping out frozen milk jugs is a good way to start until you begin collecting/building "stuff)

 

[Brewin_the_goods]

Don't worry about sanitizing your water before you start brewing seeing as how you're going to bring it to a boil anyway. When cooling the wort in the sink I use a sterilized whisk to stir the wort to help aerate and cool at the same time, it took my cooling time down to 10-12 min from 20 and uses less ice plus it gets the aeration done.

 

[Mencken]

Don't worry about sanitizing your water before you start brewing seeing as how you're going to bring it to a boil anyway. When cooling the wort in the sink I use a sterilized whisk to stir the wort to help aerate and cool at the same time, it took my cooling time down to 10-12 min from 20 and uses less ice plus it gets the aeration done.

Clearly you have a pot big enough to handle the 5 gallons entirely in a single boil. I only have a 5 gallon pot, so between needing to leave headspace and adding the extract, I can't do it all in a single go. This is why I pre-sanitize some water, and let it cool overnight