Some First Timer Questions...

[Alex W]

Hello all,

I am a fresh newbie to the homebrew game. In fact, my very first brew day was a couple days ago. I got a kit from Northern Brewer for Christmas and I got their Chinook IPA ingredient kit. As far as I was aware, everything seemed to go well. I've got it fermenting and I can tell the yeast is hard at work.

Despite my vast research and studying prior to getting started I still have some questions... (pardon my likely ignorance haha)..

1. I have read mixed things about secondary fermenting. My kit came with two carboys but I've seen a lot recently where some are saying there is no need to transfer to a different carboy for secondary fermentation. Would I be okay just keeping it in the primary? Maybe for longer?
2. I also was instructed to dry-hop this IPA. When would you recommend adding this?
3. I don't have a hydrometer at the moment so I didn't get a true OG. Is this a big issue or can it slide for the first go around?
4. What is the best way to clean my brew kettle and other equipment? I am assuming I should avoid dish soap...
5. Does anyone re-use old beer bottles? I have been thoroughly rinsing old bottles immediately upon finishing them and setting them aside. I felt as though as long as I was diligent with my cleaning and sanitation on bottling day, I should be fine.

I think that is all I have for now. Would love any feedback to help me as I embark on this exciting new hobby.

Thanks

 

[doug293cz]

Hello all,

I am a fresh newbie to the homebrew game. In fact, my very first brew day was a couple days ago. I got a kit from Northern Brewer for Christmas and I got their Chinook IPA ingredient kit. As far as I was aware, everything seemed to go well. I've got it fermenting and I can tell the yeast is hard at work.

Despite my vast research and studying prior to getting started I still have some questions... (pardon my likely ignorance haha)..

1. I have read mixed things about secondary fermenting. My kit came with two carboys but I've seen a lot recently where some are saying there is no need to transfer to a different carboy for secondary fermentation. Would I be okay just keeping it in the primary? Maybe for longer? Skipping secondary, and leaving in the primary fermenter longer, is now generally accepted practice, except when adding fruit, etc. or doing long term bulk aging.
2. I also was instructed to dry-hop this IPA. When would you recommend adding this? About four days after the start of active fermentation should work. At this point fermentation should be almost complete.
3. I don't have a hydrometer at the moment so I didn't get a true OG. Is this a big issue or can it slide for the first go around? Not a big deal with extract kits. Just leave it for at least a week after fermentation appears to have stopped completely before bottling. Many kit instructions suggest fermentation times that are short enough the fermentation might not be completely finished. This can lead to over carbonated bottles if primary fermentation completes after bottling. Highly over carbonated bottles can explode (bottle bombs or glass grenades.)
4. What is the best way to clean my brew kettle and other equipment? I am assuming I should avoid dish soap... Soaking in hot water with unscented Oxiclean or PBW (from your brew store) will remove most light brewing soils without any scrubbing. Heavier deposits may need some light scrubbing.
5. Does anyone re-use old beer bottles? I have been thoroughly rinsing old bottles immediately upon finishing them and setting them aside. I felt as though as long as I was diligent with my cleaning and sanitation on bottling day, I should be fine. Lots (most) brewers reuse bottles. Just make sure not to use the twist off cap type bottles.

I think that is all I have for now. Would love any feedback to help me as I embark on this exciting new hobby.

Thanks

Welcome to the obsession.

Brew on

 

[wyowolf]

If it's a liquid extract kit and you added proper amount of water gravity should be good.

 

[jalc6927]

Most times you won’t be needing secondary, but in the case of dry hopping it may be a good idea

I always reuse bottles, just rinse out real good as soon as they are empty and sanitize before reusing

Try to use non twist offs and always use new sanitized caps

 

[hambiguous]

Welcome! Homebrewing is a very rewarding, fulfilling hobby!

Been at it for about 5 years and I can tell you that at the beginning, simplicity is key. Doing multi-step fermentation can cause unnecessary confusion (hence why you're asking the question), not to mention you have even more chances to screw up sanitation. I can only speak from experience and from the reading/researching I do on the topic, but I'll give you what advice I can.

1&2) The main purpose of secondary is to get the beer off of the 'dead' yeast cake at the bottom of the fermentor. Past 3 to 4 weeks in the primary fermentor, the dormant yeast can impart off flavors to the beer. If you weren't able to get to bottling/kegging for a couple months, then you would definitely want to rack to a secondary fermentor to get the beer off of those dead yeast cells. You can read more about it here. Another main reason is to dry hop. If you were to dry hop during primary, especially day 3 or 4 where the yeast is most active, the large amount of yeast activity will 'scrub' the hop aromas and you will get very little to no aromas. You will be left with even more of a mess to clean in primary. Dry hopping in secondary where almost all of the yeast activity has ended allows the beer to get the desired hop aromas. It's important to note that oak chips, fresh fruit puree, etc. will be referred to as 'dry hopping' even though you may not be adding any hops to the secondary. After all that, with your IPA recipe, if you are not dry hopping, I would say starting out to leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks before bottling/kegging. With all that said, I have heard that its safe to dry hop after about day 4 or 5. The yeast is still active enough that if there were any sanitary concerns, its definitely less. The activity is also low enough that the hop aromas wont be scrubbed off nearly as much.

3) Not getting an OG won't affect the beer, but will restrict you from knowing how well you did the other steps (hitting mash temps, sparging technique, grain milling, etc). The other thing is you won't have any idea what the ABV is of your beer.

4) I've been using dish soap from the beginning and I haven't had any off flavors. If you really want to stay away from dish soap, use powdered brewery wash (PBW). I'm always sure to really rinse my equipment and make sure there isn't any remaining dish soap. For kegs/fermentors where you get more stubborn residue, I always use warm water and PBW.

5) Absolutely! Make sure to get a good bottle cleaning brush from your LHBS and good sanitizer (which I assume you already have). Be sure to thoroughly clean and sanitize your bottles right before you use them. I keg mainly now, but I would clean and sanitize on bottling day right before I racked the beer.

Sorry for the long reply!

 

[grampamark]

Hello all,

I am a fresh newbie to the homebrew game. In fact, my very first brew day was a couple days ago. I got a kit from Northern Brewer for Christmas and I got their Chinook IPA ingredient kit. As far as I was aware, everything seemed to go well. I've got it fermenting and I can tell the yeast is hard at work.

Despite my vast research and studying prior to getting started I still have some questions... (pardon my likely ignorance haha)..

1. I have read mixed things about secondary fermenting. My kit came with two carboys but I've seen a lot recently where some are saying there is no need to transfer to a different carboy for secondary fermentation. Would I be okay just keeping it in the primary? Maybe for longer?
2. I also was instructed to dry-hop this IPA. When would you recommend adding this?
3. I don't have a hydrometer at the moment so I didn't get a true OG. Is this a big issue or can it slide for the first go around?
4. What is the best way to clean my brew kettle and other equipment? I am assuming I should avoid dish soap...
5. Does anyone re-use old beer bottles? I have been thoroughly rinsing old bottles immediately upon finishing them and setting them aside. I felt as though as long as I was diligent with my cleaning and sanitation on bottling day, I should be fine.

I think that is all I have for now. Would love any feedback to help me as I embark on this exciting new hobby.

Thanks

Welcome to the hobby!

1. Secondary. It's not really necessary. Most folks leave beer in primary for at least two weeks. Some will go as long as a month. The longer it sits the more all the floaties settle out and the clearer the beer becomes. When you get the same gravity reading twice in a row, two or three days apart, fermentation is complete. After that, additional time in the fermenter is for clarity.

2. Dry hopping. Many recipes will say "dry hop 3 days" or 5 days, or whatever. That is usually interpreted as the last 3 or 5, etc, days. Some folks dump the hop addition right away, some maintain a strict schedule. (If you think you're detecting a pattern here-you're right. There are no rules for any of this stuff, just different methods. Pick one, try it, if you don't like the result, try a different method next time).

3. Hydrometer. Get one. They're cheap, and using one will give you the information you need to track the progress of your brew and determine your efficiency.

4. Cleaning. PBW or Oxi-Clean Free for cleaning and Star San for sanitizing are widely used.

5. Bottles. Yes, reuse bottles. Rinse them when empty, wash them, sanitize them. Try to use pry off bottles. Crown caps usually seal on twist off bottles, but not always. If you continue to brew regularly you will realize what a tedious, messy, time consuming job using bottles is and your next questions will be about kegging.

Mark

 

[C-Rider]

Old wife's tale about dead yeast ruining your beer after 2 or 3 weeks. I just about always ferment for 4 weeks to get nice clear beer. You can also dry hop in primary but not after 3 or 4 days. I usually wait til week 4 then just dump them in for a few days. been winning some medals so I must be doing something right.

 

[stosh]

That was my first brew too.

I'm sure you've noticed there seems to be no limit as to what technique can be used to brew. For me it comes down to experimentation and what ultimately leads to me brewing the best beer I can. I see myself brewing for the rest of my life so I figure I'll have time to try lots of things. Right now I follow the instructions to a T the best I can until I get the experience and confidence to tinker.

1. I used the carboy for secondary ferm because I knew I'd want to eventually brew bigger beers/age beers for weeks/months. I also knew I'd have to learn to rack beer safely w/o contaminating it and learning to leave as much unwanted stuff in the bucket. I've cold crashed a few beers too and for me a glass carboy gets it done (along with the refrigerator). Plus I like to see my beer thru the glass. It's just cool to me.

2. If you want to brew IPAs get used to dry hopping. Simple process done after fermentation is done just follow the instructions and use a secondary. You can experiment with how long the hops sit but typically I let mine sit between 5-7 days before bottling.

3. Hydrometer - get one now. Providing you did everything correctly you likely hit your OG. I use mine for checking alcohol content, insuring when fermentation is done, and diagnosis

4. Cleaning/sanitizing - I'm still in the experimentation phase but I will likely go with the PBW/Oxyclean and Starsan route. That seems to be the best combo. I'm a border line germaphobe so I'm exceedingly particular about this.

5. Absolutely reuse beer bottles. Tell your friends, neighbors, family, coworkers, and anyone else you can think of that you're brewing beer and need empties. I did that and I have more bottles than I know what to do with. My take on bottling: It sucks. It's time consuming and sometimes you have to deal with the beer not carbing up although its usually a simple fix (my second batch didn't carb up right away so I had to do some tinkering to get my fizz). As much as it sucks, I like bringing up a 6 pack from the basement for friends/neighbors and offering them a homebrew. I also get a lot of satisfaction hearing the hiss when I open one. Moving forward I will continue bottling the beers I want to age and keg the rest.

Pretty awesome hobby isn't it?

Keep reading/researching it is a never ending learning experience. You're in the right spot too. This site has helped me to no end. Good luck.

 

[Barath_68]

For cleaning, You can never go wrong with PBW. It is a bit pricey, so for lighter, quick cleaning jobs and bottles, I use Oxyclean Free.

My advice on using old beer bottles is, Definitely! BUT, NEVER EVER use twist-off type bottles! Sure, they may seal, but you run the risk of tiny pieces of the thread chipping off and ending up in your glass.

If you live in a State that has a bottle deposit, stop by your local beer store and see if they will let you buy back returned bottles. You can't beat paying .05 or .10¢/bottle! When I was in NY, it didn't take long before the owner of the local beer distributor started putting aside specialty bottles (like the Grolsch flip-tops) for me. I even ended up with a case of flip-top Champagne style bottles one year when Budweiser was running a limited edition.

Also, +1 on the Hydrometer. My first ever batch was done without on, and it did turn out amazing, but I would consider it a Must Have.