Starting my first brew

[jonnyp1980]

Hello everyone. Just bought all my supplies and my first beer kit. Very excited and a bit nervous. Bought the home brew IPA kit, thought that would be a good first timer. Anything I should look out for I'm really new at this and only going by what people and instructions say. Also I have a glass top stove. I've heard that can be tricky. Anyway I'm starting this awesome or abomination this weekend. Cheers

 

[amandabab]

I prefer a glass/flat top over a burner for an electric stove.
that big even heat disk is almost as good as a gas range.

 

[jonnyp1980]

Good to know. I figured it would be more difficult to regulate the temp.

 

[amandabab]

Good to know. I figured it would be more difficult to regulate the temp.

temp changes are slower, both up and down, so make small adjustments.
also you dont have the spiral hot spots, like a regular electric burner, so you can get by with a much cheaper thinner bottom pot.

 

[jonnyp1980]

I've decided to do a couple practice runs boiling water in the 5 gallon stainless steel pot. Seeing if I can maintain temp around 150. Another fear is that I have the sugar mixture says boil it In two gallons of water then pour into bottling container.. My friend uses the sugar tabs to directly put in the bottles. I have heard stories of bad sugar mixes leading to bottle bombs. Not sure if I should use the packet of sugar. Or go with the sugar tabs.

 

[davis119]

I've decided to do a couple practice runs boiling water in the 5 gallon stainless steel pot. Seeing if I can maintain temp around 150. Another fear is that I have the sugar mixture says boil it In two gallons of water then pour into bottling container.. My friend uses the sugar tabs to directly put in the bottles. I have heard stories of bad sugar mixes leading to bottle bombs. Not sure if I should use the packet of sugar. Or go with the sugar tabs.

Well first of all its not 2gallons. Its about a cup.
Second just be sure fermentation is over by chewing gravity for a few cas in a row seeing it changes and u shouldn't have to worry about bottle bombs

 

[jvp1]

I've decided to do a couple practice runs boiling water in the 5 gallon stainless steel pot. Seeing if I can maintain temp around 150. Another fear is that I have the sugar mixture says boil it In two gallons of water then pour into bottling container.. My friend uses the sugar tabs to directly put in the bottles. I have heard stories of bad sugar mixes leading to bottle bombs. Not sure if I should use the packet of sugar. Or go with the sugar tabs.

I use a glasstop stove and had no trouble regulating temperatures or anything like that. Good luck.

I could be wrong but two gallons of water and sugar seems like a little much for priming sugar? That's still a few weeks away for you, anyway...

 

[amandabab]

Another fear is that I have the sugar mixture says boil it In two gallons of water then pour into bottling container.

it this a regualer ingedient kit using a conventional bucket/carboy fermenter bottling bucket setup or a beer machine setup where you ferment and bottle from the same unit.

the 2 gallon priming sugar makes no sense with conventional equipment.

 

[jonnyp1980]

Well first of all its not 2gallons. Its about a cup.
Second just be sure fermentation is over by chewing gravity for a few cas in a row seeing it changes and u shouldn't have to worry about bottle bombs

Lol sorry I meant two cups. Also I plan on doing a secondary 1. to keep the sediment content low and 2. people say the beer comes out better tasting. When is the best time to make the switch. After it completely stops perk. Or if it perks every so often ? I'm trying to keep the questions to a minimum but I have so many.

 

[jonnyp1980]

I use a glasstop stove and had no trouble regulating temperatures or anything like that. Good luck.

I could be wrong but two gallons of water and sugar seems like a little much for priming sugar? That's still a few weeks away for you, anyway...

Thanks for the info. My nerves about the glass stove have been eased. And ya I meant two cups of water not gallons lol

 

[jaynik]

There's an old debate here about secondary or not. Personal preference I think. In either case, don't mess with the beer until fermentation is done. Don't judge by the airlock. Give it a week or two, then take some daily hydro samples to determine if it's stable if you're really particular about it. Leave it alone! Good luck.

 

[jonnyp1980]

it this a regualer ingedient kit using a conventional bucket/carboy fermenter bottling bucket setup or a beer machine setup where you ferment and bottle from the same unit.

the 2 gallon priming sugar makes no sense with conventional equipment.

Ya this a regular kit from home brew. I have 2 fermenting buckets and a bottling bucket. And I meant 2 cups of water.

 

[jvp1]

Lol sorry I meant two cups. Also I plan on doing a secondary 1. to keep the sediment content low and 2. people say the beer comes out better tasting. When is the best time to make the switch. After it completely stops perk. Or if it perks every so often ? I'm trying to keep the questions to a minimum but I have so many.

It is personal preference. Wait a week or so, or until the airlock activity dies down significantly, and then take SG samples. If it remains steady (and usually low) for a few days, your beer is ready for secondary.

 

[amandabab]

Lol sorry I meant two cups. Also I plan on doing a secondary 1. to keep the sediment content low and 2. people say the beer comes out better tasting. When is the best time to make the switch. After it completely stops perk. Or if it perks every so often ? I'm trying to keep the questions to a minimum but I have so many.

2 cups makes more sense
I've gotten better consistancy batch priming over bottle priming but the tablets aren't bad.

usually a week is good but when its slowed/stopped and there is a good yeast cake dropped out.

I run a blow off hose at first on the primary and switch it to an air lock when it calms down.

 

[jonnyp1980]

There's an old debate here about secondary or not. Personal preference I think. In either case, don't mess with the beer until fermentation is done. Don't judge by the airlock. Give it a week or two, then take some daily hydro samples to determine if it's stable if you're really particular about it. Leave it alone! Good luck.

Great info. I would have judged by the airlock lol. Im going to read more about hydrometer readings.

 

[jonnyp1980]

2 cups makes more sense
I've gotten better consistancy batch priming over bottle priming but the tablets aren't bad.

usually a week is good but when its slowed/stopped and there is a good yeast cake dropped out.

I run a blow off hose at first on the primary and switch it to an air lock when it calms down.

A blow off huh? I'm an infant at this but I'm guessing you do this because you have an aggressive fermentation process??

 

[davis119]

Lol sorry I meant two cups. Also I plan on doing a secondary 1. to keep the sediment content low and 2. people say the beer comes out better tasting. When is the best time to make the switch. After it completely stops perk. Or if it perks every so often ? I'm trying to keep the questions to a minimum but I have so many.

I figured u meant two cups..... but the the secondary or not question is gone over alot on here some people do some never do unless u dry hop. But u can if u want u just did two batches ill probably do a secondary on both.
I understand all the questions I still have so many but I try not to go to crazy getting answers since my beer comes out good enough for me.......
But your "getting started " questions are needed to be asked.... good luck if u have a kit follow the directions and u should be good

 

[jonnyp1980]

I figured u meant two cups..... but the the secondary or not question is gone over alot on here some people do some never do unless u dry hop. But u can if u want u just did two batches ill probably do a secondary on both.
I understand all the questions I still have so many but I try not to go to crazy getting answers since my beer comes out good enough for me.......
But your "getting started " questions are needed to be asked.... good luck if u have a kit follow the directions and u should be good

Thanks. Much appreciated. Ill post on this thread during my experience Incase i run into a problem I'm starting it this sat. I'm sure things will go well.

 

[jonnyp1980]

One of the questions is cooling. I have ice and water. How fast should the batch be cooled to get around 60. My friend did it in his tub but it took well over an hour to do it. I've heard it has to be done as fast as possible. What do you use and how fast do you usually take.?

 

[jvp1]

Ice and water, but some people have fancier setups. Ideally you turn on your tap and water enters the sink at the same rate it leaves so that the water stays constantly cool, otherwise you'll be swapping out water pretty often. I've heard getting it down to 60 in 20 minutes is the goal.

 

[jasondirkx]

One of the questions is cooling. I have ice and water. How fast should the batch be cooled to get around 60. My friend did it in his tub but it took well over an hour to do it. I've heard it has to be done as fast as possible. What do you use and how fast do you usually take.?

When I first started I cooled just in my sink. I switched from one basin to the other, as the water heated up I would switch the pot to the other basin, drain out the warm water and refill with cold. If you had a lot of ice, you could just keep adding that as the cooling water warms. You also need to keep the wort and cooling water moving to increase heat transfer. Another way to speed it up is to cool/freeze your top-off water.

This method works fine, but it does take awhile. Mine took just under an hour, but the resultant beer turned out fine. I believe, ideally, you want the chill to go as fast as possible to increase beer clarity and to decrease the amount of time bacteria can grow (so as to not compete with the yeast). But for your first few batches, there will be many other less than ideal conditions, so it's all relative. You're probably going to want a chiller of some sort as one of first upgrades just because the sink/bathtub method becomes a real PITA and is cheaply and easily solved.

 

[Xaphoeous]

I use an immersion chiller made from a 20-foot spool of soft copper tubing found in the appliance parts section of places like Home Depot or Lowes. Match that to some clear tubing (vinyl i think? don't recall) and a hose attachment, then the hose attachment to a faucet attachment. Google "immersion chiller" for images of what I'm talking about. It's cheap and easy to make one. There's actually several threads on this site about them.

 

[jonnyp1980]

Awesome info. I will take all into consideration. Thanks for the help