Some Noob Questions

[psychedelicflava]

I been doing full boils meaning using 5 gallons of water instead of the 2.5 gallons, its getting cold out so i want to start using 2.5 gallons of water...My first question is how big of a brewing pot do i need for this, 3 gallon? Also what are the benefits of doing a full boil compared to a 2.5 gallon boil... Third question what is the typical wait time for brewing? I usually do 4 week fermentation (without secondary) 4 week priming bottle and maybe 2 days in the fridge. Final Question...How much priming sugar should i put in the bottling bucket, I either have no carbonation or too much, I wish there was just a set amount.... THANKS For All Your help

 

[Trox]

1) Would go about 4-5 so as not to worry about boil over

2) Better control over your OG I would think, not quite sure here so might edit after I look around some

3)Depends on the beer and yeast; I've had a amber that was gtg in 4 weeks, my IPA will be done in about 5 maybe 6, and the Wee heavy I have in my primary now will be ready about this time next year.

4)Here is a priming sugar calc: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

 

[freisste]

Full boil will give lighter color and you end up with better hops utilization.

Utilization may be the wrong word - Yooper gives the best explanation, so I will try to recreate her words:

Your wort will become saturated around 80-100 IBU. After that, you are more or less wasting hops. If you have to top up, the water you add will have 0 IBU. So if you do a full boil, your brew can be 80-100 IBU. If you boil down to 2.5 gallons and top up with 2.5 gallons, the max IBU you can have is 40-50. No matter what you add, it isn't really possible to go higher.

 

[Trox]

Full boil will give lighter color and you end up with better hops utilization.

Utilization may be the wrong word - Yooper gives the best explanation, so I will try to recreate her words:

Your wort will become saturated around 80-100 IBU. After that, you are more or less wasting hops. If you have to top up, the water you add will have 0 IBU. So if you do a full boil, your brew can be 80-100 IBU. If you boil down to 2.5 gallons and top up with 2.5 gallons, the max IBU you can have is 40-50. No matter what you add, it isn't really possible to go higher.

I knew there was a good reason to go full boil if you can, but I couldn't recall what it was.

 

[psychedelicflava]

Ok thanks yall! One more question, sorry, I have a plastic secondary fermenter carboy, I've heard it's only good in glass and some people don't even use the secondary, what do u all think

 

[Trox]

Only 2 reasons to use a secondary: 1) if you are going to be bulk aging a big beer (for 3-4 months after primary fermentation stopped), 2) you have to free up the primary to brew another batch.

Other than those 2 reasons there is no reason to use a secondary, and a whole lot of reasons not to.

As for plastic vs glass that is a big debate on these forums with pros and cons both ways, but mostly boils down to personal preference.

 

[te-wa]

i use better bottle or plastic bucket for primary, 5 gal better bottle for secondary when i choose to. nothing wrong at all with using a primary for 4 weeks. i prefer to dry hop or oak age in a secondary, and also use secondary on big beers that need to age and mature. im racking a wee heavy over next week, and plan to let it sit in secondary for 2 months at least. on the contrary, im going to brew a 1.040 pale ale that should go from pitch to keg in 3 weeks.

you may want to look into kegging. sure a lot of money is invested in a keezer/kegs/co2 and tap towers but i'll never go back to bottling.

 

[freisste]

Glass is harder to scratch and is less oxygen-permeable (might matter on a very long aging period).

Plastic is cheaper, lighter, and won't shatter.

Both will break and leave a huge mess if dropped. Both are transparent as well, so if you use them keep them out of the light.

Also, secondary is almost never required, but is ALWAYS optional. Lots of people will preach about reasons why you shouldn't use one. The choice is yours because you're the brewer. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't, just that you can. For what it's worth (nothing), I rarely use one.

 

[gr8shandini]

1) It depends on your pot. You want at least 3" above the initial level to avoid boil-overs. Taller pots are usually better than wider ones in this regard.

2) As mentioned earlier, lower gravities during the boil increase hop utilization. It also reduces the risk of caramelizing the wort. Both of these can be mitigated by adding some of the extract later in the boil. Search "late addition method" on here and you'll find more details

3) There's no real answer as to when a beer is ready. A lot of folks here preach a month in the primary. But if you pitch the correct amount of yeast into well-aerated wort and maintain the proper fermentation temperatures, an average gravity ale is ready to bottle in 10-14 days. If any of those factors are off, I recommend giving it a taste in two weeks. If it tastes like flat beer, bottle. If there's anything funky, you may want to let it sit a bit.

4) A set amount of priming sugar will be consistent no matter what. The problem you may be having is only waiting 2 days in the fridge. It takes some time for the CO2 to re-absorb when you chill them, you want to give it a while for things to come to an equilibrium.

 

[psychedelicflava]

Ok cause yeah, I've bottled two stouts to what they're supposed to be and they don't have too much carbonation... I was thinking of just putting the whole bag, the one the one that come with the Brewers best kits into the bucket... Also the way I do it, is i boil the sugar and throw it into the bottling bucket and the wort kinda stir it... Should I wait for the boiled sugar to cool down or is it OK to pitch hot?

 

[gr8shandini]

I wish I could be more specific, but it's been a long time since I've bottled. Anyway, what they give you in the kit is probably correct. Just heat it up in about a pint of water until it dissolves. If you're especially worried about infection, you can boil it, but at this point your beer is pretty hardy.

When the mixture is ready, you can just throw it in the bottling bucket and rack on top of it. The incoming beer will cool it off quickly enough and there will still be plenty of yeast left to do the carbonation.

 

[Trox]

I would boil the priming solution for about 5-10 min, let it cool down to room temp, add it to the bottom of the bottling bucket, and then rack on top of it. Letting the beer cool it down is a bad idea since in the time it takes for the priming solution to cool it down enough your going to kill off a bunch of yeast, and since your working with a minimal amount as it is it could affect your carb levels.

I would suggest taking the 5-10 minutes it would take to cool it off real quick in a cold water bath in the sink. Just boil the solution up first, and then sit it in a cold water bath to cool off while getting everything else around and set-up.

 

[psychedelicflava]

Awesome. Thanks guys!