Scared to brew

[Electric Mike]

just placed a order for a bunch of equipment to do all grain but after reading the forms a little more I'm getting really scared. I only like neipa style beers and am nervous about the water aspect of brewing. Any suggestions on water? My home water tastes like chlorine from faucet but is great tasting from my refrigerator with filter. Would my fridge water with Camden tablet be ok to use? I know nothing about water chemistry so going with to to water and building it up right now is out of the question.

 

[MaxStout]

You could use the tap water with Campden to remove chlorine. Another option: Buy bulk RO water from the grocery store, and add salts based on style. Water chem doesn't have to be intimidating, you can dial things in close with just a couple inexpensive additives.

 

[ChadS]

If chlorine is an issue, then you can use a filter that screws onto your faucet like this one. It takes out most of the nasty chlorine taste along with the other nasty funk you sometimes find in water. Make sure you have a faucet that can use the head on this filter though. Otherwise you’ll need an adapter.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Where is your water supply? There's a good chance an analysis of it is listed somewhere on the internet.

 

[505-Brewer]

Filter like that and a food grade garden hose using tap water has been working great for years for me. I brew outside so just yse the outdoor faucet. They sell adaptors for sinks if needed.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Would my fridge water with Camden tablet be ok to use?

Maybe. That is what I do (well, use tap water treated with Camden). I don't know a lot about water treatments, but I have some info on the mineral content of my water. I know it is semi-soft and nothing is too out of whack. You might want to see if you can track down info on your water. Your water company might post this info online, or provide it if you call. Another source might be homebrew clubs or brewers in your area. My personal opinion is that if your tap water is decent, there are probably more important things to tackle first (like sanitization, general brewing process, recipe formulation, fermentation control, reducing oxidation, etc.). Water chemistry is less important for extract brewing than all-grain.

I have never brewed an NEIPA, but I have seen a lot of info about how fragile they are to oxidation. I have seen commercial examples turn to brown due to oxidation. I don't want to scare you away from brewing a NEIPA, but it is something to be aware of.

 

[kh54s10]

Depending on the amount of chlorine any charcoal filter could be ineffective. You have to have very slow flow for it to filter enough. I had very good water where I used to live. I didn't even treat for chlorine. After a move, not so much.

Neipa is a tough one to start with. They are complicated (multiple hop additions), they are easily oxidized.

It might be wise to start with something simpler. For all grain, it often takes a few brews to dial in your equipment/water parameters so that you get your expected OG. I would go with something inexpensive for at least the first couple of brews.

 

[Novacor]

I buy gallon jugs of spring water from Walmart for about 60 cents each. That works well enough without playing with any additions. Someday I might use RO and play with adding salts, but so far I've been happy with all my beers.

 

[Electric Mike]

Where is your water supply? There's a good chance an analysis of it is listed somewhere on the internet.

Milford Ct. from regional water authority

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Milford Ct. from regional water authority

I see this: https://www.rwater.com/media/61289/wqr-2017-web.pdf

But it does not say much that I could see that is important for brewing, other than they use Chlorine and I don't see any mention of Chloramine.

Go here and search for "New Haven" and you will see some that might apply to you: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/water-profiles

 

[mongoose33]

just placed a order for a bunch of equipment to do all grain but after reading the forms a little more I'm getting really scared. I only like neipa style beers and am nervous about the water aspect of brewing. Any suggestions on water? My home water tastes like chlorine from faucet but is great tasting from my refrigerator with filter. Would my fridge water with Camden tablet be ok to use? I know nothing about water chemistry so going with to to water and building it up right now is out of the question.

Number one thing: brewing should be fun. If you're "scared" then you're not doing it right. Treat this as a journey where the learning will be enjoyable, and result in nectar of the gods.

Yeah, water can be a little intimidating, but less so than you think. Heck, if you told me your grain bill, amount of water you planned on using, I'd tell you the things to add to the water. Then go back and figure out, after the brew, why they were what they were.

Any number of brewers here can do that for you to start.

Here's a short version: I am ready to brew a hazy ipa (not quite NEIPA, just a simple little thing). If I use 8 gallons of RO water my water additions would be 5 grams of calcium chloride, 5 grams of Epsom Salts, 1.5 grams of Gypsum, 3 ml of Lactic Acid.

Yours would be different but probably not hugely so.

You can get that stuff from Ritebrew: http://www.ritebrew.com/category-s/1817.htm all that costs less than $10. All you need is a gram scale and a pipette or eyedropper to measure the lactic acid.

Water was the hardest thing for me to figure out, but with the spreadsheet calculators it's not bad. You put in your grain bill, source of water, then salts and additions to get the mineral balance where you like it, plus the pH about where it needs to be.

I agree with @kh54s10 in that starting simpler would be better. In fact, if you have never brewed before at all, I would suggest brewing a couple extract kits first to get familiar with the process of the boil forward. Brewing isn't rocket science, but there are many moving parts, and the more you have to manage at the beginning, the harder it is to get them all to work correctly.

Remember: it's supposed to be fun. Make it so!

 

[kh54s10]

Remember: it's supposed to be fun. Make it so!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Milford Ct. from regional water authority

The very good news for you is that your water is very soft (not far from RO water).
For pale coloured beers (including NEIPA), use 1tsp of Calcium chloride per 5gallons of brewing water, and use 2% sour malt (acid malt) in your grist.

When you have more of a handle on the brewing process, you can start to try more/other salts and acids, but this will serve you well for as long as you want it to.

 

[mongoose33]

View attachment 608226

 

[OpenSights]

My city water is hard! I can’t give you ph, hardnes... and I’m a plumber. That said, I drink a half to one and a half gallons of water a day. I like the gallon jugs of spring water from my local convenience store. It’s the water I like, so that’s what I brew with. My LHBS uses our city water to brew their “tasting” beers and wine, and they come out great!

If you’re concerned, go buy 6 gallons of filtered water. It’s cheap! Sanitize and don’t stress!

 

[Electric Mike]

im a plumber also 38 years in trade

 

[Electric Mike]

The very good news for you is that your water is very soft (not far from RO water).
For pale coloured beers (including NEIPA), use 1tsp of Calcium chloride per 5gallons of brewing water, and use 2% sour malt (acid malt) in your grist.

When you have more of a handle on the brewing process, you can start to try more/other salts and acids, but this will serve you well for as long as you want it to.

The very good news for you is that your water is very soft (not far from RO water).
For pale coloured beers (including NEIPA), use 1tsp of Calcium chloride per 5gallons of brewing water, and use 2% sour malt (acid malt) in your grist.

When you have more of a handle on the brewing process, you can start to try more/other salts and acids, but this will serve you well for as long as you want it to.

Just so I understand. If my grain bill is 10lbs I would add 2lbs of sour malt to it?

 

[mongoose33]

Just so I understand. If my grain bill is 10lbs I would add 2lbs of sour malt to it?

Two percent, not twenty percent. And make it 2 percent of your grist, the other 98 percent regular.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

So if your grain bill is 10lbs, use 0.2lbs of acid malt (stupid imperial measurements, what's that in ounces? about 3oz) and 9.8lbs of other grain.

 

[Electric Mike]

Ok got it don't know what I was thinking

Starting to feel a little better about this lol
I actually can't wait...but not rushing

 

[Electric Mike]

The very good news for you is that your water is very soft (not far from RO water).
For pale coloured beers (including NEIPA), use 1tsp of Calcium chloride per 5gallons of brewing water, and use 2% sour malt (acid malt) in your grist.

When you have more of a handle on the brewing process, you can start to try more/other salts and acids, but this will serve you well for as long as you want it to.

Going this route would I use water right from the faucet or use the filter?

 

[khannon]

You could also try letting the water sit overnight.. right from the tap I get chlorine smell or taste at times.. when I do I just pull the water the night before and by morning it is good. I guess this is only a solution for chlorine though, and a different issue than chloramine.

 

[porter1974]

I got a water test done from Ward Labs. It's simple to do.

Personally, I would not mess with water chemistry for my first brew. Just buy some jugs of water. In the future, test your water.

I also find IPAs to be one of the easier beers to brew. The aroma hops cover up lots of problems.

Just have a few beers and have fun.

 

[mongoose33]

Ok got it don't know what I was thinking

Starting to feel a little better about this lol
I actually can't wait...but not rushing

Do you know someone locally who would either allow you to watch a brewday, or watch you do your first time with helpful suggestions?

I watched a friend brew before I ever ordered a kit or did anything else; while he made a number of questionable choices, IMO, it allowed me to grok the entire process and it made what I read much easier to understand.

It might be possible to use youtube videos to approximate that, but nothing beats seeing it done first-hand and being able to ask questions.

Doing that sped up my learning curve a lot. There are lots of little things that don't matter, and a few that do, and you can't really tell the difference. For instance, do you sprinkle the hop pellets into the boil or just dump 'em in? Answer: whichever pleases you. But be aware that hops added to boiling wort may produce a boilover, dumping in may increase that, so be prepared with either a spray bottle of water to cool down the foam, or sprinkle the hops in very slowly, or use Fermcap-S to limit foam.

 

[beernutz]

Great advice so far and hopefully without being too redundant I think you will like your first homebrew a lot better if you first either get some exposure to other brewers doing their thing or watch some video of the process and take notes or both. I suggest either making your own or using an online brewing checklist like this one https://cdn2.brewersfriend.com/brewersfriend_checklist_allgrain.pdf .

I did one extract brew 28 years ago after attending a multi-session homebrewing class at a local health food store before starting all-grain. The checklist was the teacher's idea and I have used one for I believe every brew since then. It has evolved since my equipment is more complicated than what I started with but I still will refer to it in the heat of battle so to speak.

Also I think you are starting with a relatively complex and I would think expensive-to-brew style of beer due to all the hops needed. IMO get your feet wet with a simpler recipe even an extract batch or two before diving into the deep end.

 

[Jayjay1976]

You only like NEIPAs? What did you drink before NEIPAs came along? Do you like DIPAs, IIPAs or BIPAs? I have to say, if you set out to brew the only beer style you like, as a new brewer, you are in for a very expensive lesson in disappointment. Not saying you can't brew a good one, but you will likely brew a lot of crappy beer if you start out with such a complex style. Or, just buy extract kits that include all the right hops, that might turn out well for you. Are you set up for kegging? IME, bottling IPAs is hard to get right, the hops will fade a lot by the time the bottles carb up. Not sayin' it can't be done, I just haven't had much success myself with bottled IPAs.

 

[Electric Mike]

You only like NEIPAs? What did you drink before NEIPAs came along? Do you like DIPAs, IIPAs or BIPAs? I have to say, if you set out to brew the only beer style you like, as a new brewer, you are in for a very expensive lesson in disappointment. Not saying you can't brew a good one, but you will likely brew a lot of crappy beer if you start out with such a complex style. Or, just buy extract kits that include all the right hops, that might turn out well for you. Are you set up for kegging? IME, bottling IPAs is hard to get right, the hops will fade a lot by the time the bottles carb up. Not sayin' it can't be done, I just haven't had much success myself with bottled IPAs.

Never liked beer growing up vodka was my drink of choice
Use to go out on Wednesdays for .25 cent vodka nights. We would get vodka on the rocks. After a few run ins with the law I finally figured out vodka made me a little nuts so gave it up. Kinda gave up all drinking for years then got on a tequila kick. Really only started drinking beer the last few years and only really like IPAs and a few stouts.
Some of my favorite beers Heady Topper,Focal Banger,Second Fiddle,Sip of Sunshine double and triple,Almost anything made by Treehouse and a bunch from Hillfarmstead

 

[CascadesBrewer]

The checklist was the teacher's idea and I have used one for I believe every brew since then. It has evolved since my equipment is more complicated than what I started with but I still will refer to it in the heat of battle so to speak.

Same here. I have one sheet that is a simple checklist of my brewing process. I don't refer to that one as much these days (and I have not fully updated it to BIAB) but it does help jog my memory when I have not brewed for a few months. What I still find very helpful is a second sheet where I detail every part that I need to sanitize for Chilling, Transfer to Primary, Transfer to Secondary (not something I have done lately) and Transfer to Keg. It is not as big of a deal now that I mostly use StarSan with it's one minute contact time, but it sucks to get to a step and realize you did not sanitize a piece you need.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Never liked beer growing up vodka was my drink of choice
Use to go out on Wednesdays for .25 cent vodka nights. We would get vodka on the rocks. After a few run ins with the law I finally figured out vodka made me a little nuts so gave it up. Kinda gave up all drinking for years then got on a tequila kick. Really only started drinking beer the last few years and only really like IPAs and a few stouts.
Some of my favorite beers Heady Topper,Focal Banger,Second Fiddle,Sip of Sunshine double and triple,Almost anything made by Treehouse and a bunch from Hillfarmstead

I too am a fan of the polish water. Sounds to me like you do like other styles beyond NEIPA, I would recommend starting there to learn the basics before dumping a ton of expensive hops into a poorly executed beer. I brewed a bunch of mediocre beers at the beginning, throwing hops at them didn't cover my mistakes.

 

[mongoose33]

I too am a fan of the polish water. Sounds to me like you do like other styles beyond NEIPA, I would recommend starting there to learn the basics before dumping a ton of expensive hops into a poorly executed beer. I brewed a bunch of mediocre beers at the beginning, throwing hops at them didn't cover my mistakes.

Good advice here ^