Throwing in the towel

[skraeling]

Brewer's Best has some amazing kits. I've only done one batch, the Mango Saison, and it turned out amazing. It's a kit that requires a grain steep prior to the boil, but the directions are easy to follow and they give you tips on how to make it even better.
Another thing I would HIGHLY recommend is getting the book "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" by Charlie Papazian. If you don't know who he is, he's pretty much the Godfather of homebrewing. The book is informative, humorous, and has lots of recipes for extract or all grain brewing.

Mr. Papazian gives the best advice EVER. Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew.

Edit:
@ReaperOneFour - You should wait until there is no activity in the air lock for 24-48 hours prior to bottling. Sounds like you bottled too soon. That would explain excessive trub in the bottles.

Seconding this im really impressed with the BB kits so far. Ill have to snag the christmas one before its out of stores this season so i can start it for next years holidays

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks bill. Ill check out the book too nihlbeer. I was thinking of buying the northern Brewer go pro 1 gallon kit. They just got bought out by Budweiser. I don't know what to think about that just yet. I hope Budweiser don't start pushing their recipes on northern Brewer.

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks bill. Ill check out the book too nihlbeer. I was thinking of buying the northern Brewer go pro 1 gallon kit. They just got bought out by Budweiser. I don't know what to think about that just yet. I hope Budweiser don't start pushing their recipes on northern Brewer.

Get what you want. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that over time, you'll disengage from the need for kits and be able to figure out how to build one yourself, without reliance on NB or anyone else.

Here's an example: you can see any kit at NB and look at the instructions which tells you what's in it. The 1-gallon kits show only "steeping grains" (at least some of them) but if you look at the 5-gallon kits, guess what?

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/CreamAle.pdf

It shows what's in the 5-gallon kit, which means...you can build your own, change some of the ingredients to what you want them to be, etc. You can scale down to 1-gallon if you want.

If you like 1-gallon kits, I'll bet you're really going to like moving to 5-gallon batches.

 

[ericbw]

Use the Mr Beer fermenter with your own ingredients. All grain or extracts. Ferment for 3-4 weeks. Bottle and condition 2 weeks at room temp, then 1 week cold.

Control your fermentation temp.

This alone will improve your beer immensely.

Brooklyn Brew Shop recipes or kits if you want all grain.

 

[skraeling]

Control your fermentation temp.

.

Probably the single best thing I have ever done. And I've done it professionally lol.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1476637600.679704.jpg

 

[ReaperOnefour]

What's the longest I can leave wort in the fermenter? I left my first mr beer batch in the fermenter for 3 weeks, & it came out like wine. I don't know if that's because I made a mistake in brewing.

 

[mongoose33]

What's the longest I can leave wort in the fermenter? I left my first mr beer batch in the fermenter for 3 weeks, & it came out like wine. I don't know if that's because I made a mistake in brewing.

You can leave it in there for weeks. I just kegged a California Common that was in the fermenter for...26 days. I'm drinking it right now watching the Packer game, and it's one of the best beers I've brewed. I keep wanting to refill my glass!

 

[ReaperOnefour]

That sounds great mongoose. I'm watching the kc oak game. I'm probably the only chiefs fan in California. I saw the big mouth bubbler 5gal, I like that one too. I'm kinda split on which one to get. I'm trying to decide which one would work the best for me.

 

[mongoose33]

That sounds great mongoose. I'm watching the kc oak game. I'm probably the only chiefs fan in California. I saw the big mouth bubbler 5gal, I like that one too. I'm kinda split on which one to get. I'm trying to decide which one would work the best for me.

A buddy of mine has made wine in carboys. He wants to get into homebrewing and when he saw that I could reach all the way inside that BMB and clean it with a soft cloth, he was sold.

If you haven't run across the Brulosophy.com website, you might check it out. Among other things, the guy who runs it (Marshall Schott) and his associates do "exbeeriments" where they change one variable and see what effect it has. I've changed the way I brew because of it, and I'll bet a lot of people have.

I no longer filter out trub when I transfer to a fermenter, I don't use a secondary, there are several things there I've paid close attention to and which have informed how I brew.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Is a secondary really necessary? I've read from some guys that say yes, & some say no.

 

[jbunton]

Probably the single best thing I have ever done. And I've done it professionally lol.

View attachment 373705

It that pic your glycol control setup that looks gnarly!!!

 

[skraeling]

It that pic your glycol control setup that looks gnarly!!!

lol no, no glycol there. Was for ecoli fermentation. It was water jacketed if i remember right. Could autoclave in place was a friggin sweet setup.

not pictured were the other 5 in the room.

 

[ericbw]

Is a secondary really necessary? I've read from some guys that say yes, & some say no.

I say no. I think if you leave it in the fermentor for 3-4 weeks, you get the same effect as moving it to another vessel for a couple of weeks. Plus less mess, less chance for mistakes, etc.

Others will say it is critical.

 

[ericbw]

Probably the single best thing I have ever done. And I've done it professionally lol.

View attachment 373705

I don't see your Mr. Beer fermenter in that pic.

 

[ericbw]

BTW, there is a Mr. Beer thread on this forum, and it's people who are really into using the equipment and tweaking recipes. Read through that and see if it helps.