The time is here. First Brew

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bboyeruga

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
199
Reaction score
19
Location
Atlanta
Just finished the purchase of the rest of my equipment. I bought over $500 in equipment to get started and I'm diving in head first.

I'm going to start with a Saison since it's pretty hot here and I want to ferment my first brew in my garage just to be safe. I think I'll add a bit of honey water to it after a couple days in primary to dry it out a bit and give it some originality.

Needless to say, after 6+ months of reading books and this forum, I'm still nervous as hell. I wish I could just RDWHAHB, but it being my first, I don't have a home brew to keep me calm.

Thanks to everyone on this site for keeping interesting and awesome threads going because it really helps someone like me know that it really will be okay. Can't wait to report the results.
 
Went pretty well. I accidentally added the spice pack in with the specialty grains, but it should be alright.

Unfortunately I realized my 8 gallon brew pot is too wide and didn't really accommodate the specialty grains. I had to add an extra gallon to get them submerged. Anyone have a suggestion for this?

Other than that, I hit OG on the spot at 1.047. It's sitting in the the fermenting bucket currently and hoping to see some action soon.
 
Oh man first brew day is the best! It's exciting and intimidating at the same time. Then in the end you realize the hardest part was the sanitizing and even that's not so bad.
 
Saison is a nice first brew. It is actually pretty difficult to completely wreck a beer. Be patient and you'll have your process down before you know it.

With an 8G pot, use more water to steep, no problems there. More water gives you better hop utilization, not a bad thing in most brewer's minds.
 
Good work on taking the first step!

If you have been reading the forums for 6+ months, then your first beer will prolly turn out just fine. Enjoy!

Cheers,

HZ99
 
If you have an 8 gallon pot, just do full boils (or nearly full boils whichever is possible).

I'm not trying to naysay, but I think "adding originality" is not the best idea for your first brew. Just brew it as the recipe says. It'll be plenty "original" I promise :)

Oh yeah, and your OG is generally going to be be spot on, or very very close on extract batches. AG is a different story. I'm kind of assuming you're doing extract since you mention adding the spices with the specialty (steeping) grains.
 
Saison is a nice first brew. It is actually pretty difficult to completely wreck a beer. Be patient and you'll have your process down before you know it.

With an 8G pot, use more water to steep, no problems there. More water gives you better hop utilization, not a bad thing in most brewer's minds.

Funny thing. I had bought an 8 gallon pot from Amazon but it turned out the pot that got shipped was a 10 gallon! Didn't realize until I was cleaning it after the brew and turned it over. It worked great and I knew the extra water to steep wasn't a big deal.
 
If you have an 8 gallon pot, just do full boils (or nearly full boils whichever is possible).

I'm not trying to naysay, but I think "adding originality" is not the best idea for your first brew. Just brew it as the recipe says. It'll be plenty "original" I promise :)

Oh yeah, and your OG is generally going to be be spot on, or very very close on extract batches. AG is a different story. I'm kind of assuming you're doing extract since you mention adding the spices with the specialty (steeping) grains.

Yep, definitely did a full boil. Turned out great. After rehydrating the yeast, it was alive and happily bubbling away within 4 hours of pitching.

Yes, I am doing extract for now. And I didn't customize it at all. I came up with the same conclusion you posted about. Just glad everything went well.
 
Sorry to revive my old thread, but I have a couple questions. Since my first brew 2 weeks ago, I have bottled it and brewed two more beers.

When I bottled the Brewer's Best Saison, it was 2 weeks in fermenter and definitely done fermenting. The final gravity was around 1.002 and smelled great. Upon tasting I noticed an overly salty taste. While searching the forums I found that this is okay and that it is probably just bitterness masked by saltiness and it will correct itself upon bottle conditioning. Is this true? I also used the entire 5 oz pack of priming sugar in the pack and looked up the style after the fact and realized it might have been too much. Should I worry about bottle bombs?

Third question. My two brews this weekend were Brewer's Best Belgian Golden ale and Caramel Wit. I missed the OG by about 4 points for each but I know it's because I tried to avoid topping off water like I did with the Saison by boiling 6 gallons and 5.5 gallons each. How much is the typical boil off? I know this varies based on environmental issues but is there a general rule of thumb?

Any help would be great. Thanks!
 
Boil off depends upon air temp, humidity, surface area of boil, boil rate/temp and time....
Having only brewed in the Deep South, I can say the boiloff rate I use is 12% or more....more now that I am on the same latitude as the Bahamas and in dry, dry country.....I upped it to 15% for a 90 minute boil.
 
Not sure about the first question.

Second question, I wouldn't worry about it. I have found that when keg conditioning I pay more attention to the style and relative amounts of CO2. When bottling, the "correct" volumes of CO2 are often too low. It would be kinda weird.

As far as boil off, the rate is not only condition-specific, but also setup-specific. Unfortunately, it would be a guess at best. Likely 0.5-1 gal/hr, but very possibly could be only 0.25 or 1.5+. You'll just have to take notice and get a feel for your setup at different conditions (hot/cold, windy, humid/dry, high boil/low boil, etc.).
 
Sorry to revive my old thread, but I have a couple questions. Since my first brew 2 weeks ago, I have bottled it and brewed two more beers.

When I bottled the Brewer's Best Saison, it was 2 weeks in fermenter and definitely done fermenting. The final gravity was around 1.002 and smelled great. Upon tasting I noticed an overly salty taste. While searching the forums I found that this is okay and that it is probably just bitterness masked by saltiness and it will correct itself upon bottle conditioning. Is this true? I also used the entire 5 oz pack of priming sugar in the pack and looked up the style after the fact and realized it might have been too much. Should I worry about bottle bombs?

Third question. My two brews this weekend were Brewer's Best Belgian Golden ale and Caramel Wit. I missed the OG by about 4 points for each but I know it's because I tried to avoid topping off water like I did with the Saison by boiling 6 gallons and 5.5 gallons each. How much is the typical boil off? I know this varies based on environmental issues but is there a general rule of thumb?

Any help would be great. Thanks!

I just did the BB Saison also and ended at 1.001, so I guess that is normal. I just tried a taster in bottle after 3 days and it definitely was "green". I would give this beer at least 2 weeks in bottle before being concerned on the taste.

I also used the entire 5oz priming sugar, in general that should never result in bottle bombs but it may not be "true" to the style. I think the kit just gives you a standard amount which will get you generally there safely.

As others said the boil off varies. Just generally top off to hit the OG generally specified (does not have to perfect). I do 4 gallon boils because of my smaller pot and have good results (top off approx 1-2 gal). By the way, the BB Belgian golden ale is only ok initially after bottling. After a month in the bottle it becomes fantastic!
 
RealLyte said:
I just did the BB Saison also and ended at 1.001, so I guess that is normal. I just tried a taster in bottle after 3 days and it definitely was "green". I would give this beer at least 2 weeks in bottle before being concerned on the taste.

I also used the entire 5oz priming sugar, in general that should never result in bottle bombs but it may not be "true" to the style. I think the kit just gives you a standard amount which will get you generally there safely.

As others said the boil off varies. Just generally top off to hit the OG generally specified (does not have to perfect). I do 4 gallon boils because of my smaller pot and have good results (top off approx 1-2 gal). By the way, the BB Belgian golden ale is only ok initially after bottling. After a month in the bottle it becomes fantastic!

Great! I tried the golden ale pre-pitch and it tasted awesome. Also made some bread from its spent grains. It has been fermenting happily for 4 days and I'm more excited for it than I am for the Saigon.
 
chezhed said:
Boil off depends upon air temp, humidity, surface area of boil, boil rate/temp and time....
Having only brewed in the Deep South, I can say the boiloff rate I use is 12% or more....more now that I am on the same latitude as the Bahamas and in dry, dry country.....I upped it to 15% for a 90 minute boil.

Deep South? Where are you at? I'm in Georgia but I brew on my bad ass gas stove indoors.
 
Deep South? Where are you at? I'm in Georgia but I brew on my bad ass gas stove indoors.

Currently in Mission, TX....almost as far south as you can go in continental US! But previously brewed in Louisiana, SC, NC, AL........

Georgia is pretty big:eek: narrow it down
 
Well, I wanted to follow through on this thread and report that I just tasted the Saison 6 days into bottle conditioning and all saltiness is gone. It has a very strong spice character and I think that is what had the off flavor right out of the fermenter. It is quite drinkable right now, but I know in time, it will get even better. Thanks for all the help guys.
 
Back
Top