Throwing in the towel

[kh54s10]

What's up kh54? The instructions that brew demon provides says to boil the hme & the brewing enhancer ( which is pretty much corn syrup) until completely dissolved. Then pour into the conical fermenter. They say ferment for 1 week then bottle. I ferment for two weeks, then bottle.

I don't know if there is a kit that Brewdemon sells that is different, but I looked at 2 of them, no mention of boiling at all. Hopped malt extracts are boiled in the process of making them. If you are not adding more hops, boiling is likely a bad idea. The longer you boil hops the more bitter the beer becomes.

The directions I read said to heat the containers in warm water to make them easier to pour and dissolve.

Good luck, And again, look for and buy a more quality kit. A good one will not have a hopped malt extract. I would have steeping grains, liquid and/or dry malt extract, hop pellets and a quality yeast of a type suitable for the style of beer. Some of the inexpensive kits have "yeast".

 

[Chiller_ale]

More like 2.5 ounces/5 Gallons if your using table sugar. Even that's been too much occasionally.

Just do a google on "priming sugar calculator" and you will find some online calculators.

 

[applescrap]

When I used to bottle, I used 2-liter bottles. I used the mr. Beer Sugar recommendations for amount. Poured sugar right into bottle. It never did me wrong not once.

Hme is not what you want. Imo if you want to make beer that you will respect, you need good extract and hops. It's my understanding that extract beers are just as good as all grain. Some people can taste the twang supposedly and I'm sure after about 15 or 20 gallons I probably could too. I don't Brew with extract because it's cheaper to brew All Grain. Brewing cheaply is kind of my thing as well as quickly. I have no problem stepping up in price for special occasions though or if I wanted to impress, etc. Just most the beer I make cheaply by buying in bulk.

What kind of beer do you really like? I will help you find a recipe of extract that will work. A one-button solution is to get a kit from a trusted brew website. It will have all the ingredients you need to make good beer.

You will basically heat water, add the extract, Stir It in, start boil, add hops at certain times and chill in your sink. Throw it in your sanitized lbk, tear open the dry yeast and put it somewhere with a fairly consistent temperature for the style. You can do this we are all here to help!!

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I like a Pilsner, & a good Vienna lager. I like some ales, as long as their not to bitter. I'm more of a lager guy though. The lager recipes on northern Brewer's website says to keep the fermenter at low temperatures. This would be a problem for me though because I have no room in the fridge, & no real way to keep the fermenter cold. I've read that you can put the fermenter in the tub with some ice too.

 

[applescrap]

I like a Pilsner, & a good Vienna lager. I like some ales, as long as their not to bitter. I'm more of a lager guy though. The lager recipes on northern Brewer's website says to keep the fermenter at low temperatures. This would be a problem for me though because I have no room in the fridge, & no real way to keep the fermenter cold. I've read that you can put the fermenter in the tub with some ice too.

So umm, I started 2 threads worthy of consideration for you. The first is a debate on warm fermentation of lagers. And the other is a thread for those of us like myself, that ferment lagers warm. You will learn all kinds of awesome things about me by reading that thread. Like I have no palette and I'm schizophrenic. If you want to ferment lagers warm I'm probably your guy.

 

[jonny24]

Ice tub works pretty good, had to do it after my dad needed his freezer back. That was for ale temps though.

If you want to try a lager-like beer, but without temp control, I'd look at a cream ale.

14 of my 15 batches have used dry yeast, including the one lager. S-05, S-04, Nottingham, the Saflager yeast. Don't think you need to get into starters and all that, not sure if that's been said.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I've seen the cream ale recipe on northern Brewer's website. It sounds good. So you can ferment lager beers with ale yeast? I didn't know that, nor did know that you can ferment lagers warm. I was under the impression that lagers had to be fermented cold. I gotta check out that thread apple scrap.

 

[applescrap]

You can buy every Safeway in Town out of a chocolate vampire cereal and throw that in the mash too. A brewery in my hometown of Fort Collins has been known to do that every year around this time. For some reason I'm craving Fruit Loops in my next warm fermented lager, I'm going to do it.

 

[Dynachrome]

More like 2.5 ounces/5 Gallons if your using table sugar. Even that's been too much occasionally.

Yeah, I had started with 4-1/2 oz for 5 gallons. Now I generally use 2-3/4 oz, but the real thing to do is look for a style chart and do a ratio for the size of your fermented batch.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Fruit loops was one of my favorite cereals when I was a kid. Hey so apple scrap. What ale yeast strain would you recommend to ferment a lager at just room temperature? And where should I put the fermenter? This past summer I was putting it in the tub. ( No water or ice.) It's a little cooler in there. I think it got down to 72 in there. Which was cooler than the rest of the house. Since I don't have a/c. Before that I was using the bedroom closet. Which is usually between 68-75. ( Depending on the weather.)

 

[applescrap]

Fruit loops was one of my favorite cereals when I was a kid. Hey so apple scrap. What ale yeast strain would you recommend to ferment a lager at just room temperature? And where should I put the fermenter? This past summer I was putting it in the tub. ( No water or ice.) It's a little cooler in there. I think it got down to 72 in there. Which was cooler than the rest of the house. Since I don't have a/c. Before that I was using the bedroom closet. Which is usually between 68-75. ( Depending on the weather.)

I wouldn't recommend any ale yeast. I would recommend saf 34/70 lager yeast. Then put your keg in the darkest coldest most consistent temperature room in the house. Probably an outside wall corner. There are other steam lager California common yeasts if you don't want to trust the lager yeast.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

O, ok. I've read about that 34/70. They say it's a good yeast.

 

[passedpawn]

O, ok. I've read about that 34/70. They say it's a good yeast.

I had good and bad experiences with it. I've used it a bunch on lagers (@ lager temps) with expected results. I did have one beer that got pretty strong clove flavors from that yeast though. That was an exception, so maybe it was something else, but I do a pretty good job of controlling temps, and the flavors sure seemed to be yeast-derived.

Anyway, I don't use it any more. For German Pilsners, which I make a lot, I'm strictly using Wyeast Munich Lager 2308. This yeast, pilsner malt with an OG under 1.050, and tettnang hops, it's the perfect pilsner for me.

 

[Jim311]

I had good and bad experiences with it. I've used it a bunch on lagers (@ lager temps) with expected results. I did have one beer that got pretty strong clove flavors from that yeast though. That was an exception, so maybe it was something else, but I do a pretty good job of controlling temps, and the flavors sure seemed to be yeast-derived.

Anyway, I don't use it any more. For German Pilsners, which I make a lot, I'm strictly using Wyeast Munich Lager 2308. This yeast, pilsner malt with an OG under 1.050, and tettnang hops, it's the perfect pilsner for me.

Recipe plz!

 

[passedpawn]

Recipe plz!

http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/894144/passedpawn-perfect-pilsner

It's the best (for me). I follow pretty standard lager rules: ferment in low 50's about 2.5 wks, raise temperature to 60F for 3 or 4 days, cold crash with gelatin, keg/carbonate for several weeks, drink with gusto.

For me, the absolute key is to keep the OG under 1.050. I know as homebrewers, we like to push these things, but if you're looking for a crisp pilsner, don't, it's a mistake. With the right yeast, good attenuation and full carbonation, OG in the mid 40's is a winner.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

So I was reading about the various yeast used & I kept hearing about attenuation, & flocculation. I don't understand what that means. Can somebody please explain that to me? I'd like to start using the correct yeast for my brews. The ones that come with this brew demon kit says they use an all purpose ale yeast.

 

[meridianomrebel]

So I was reading about the various yeast used & I kept hearing about attenuation, & flocculation. I don't understand what that means. Can somebody please explain that to me? I'd like to start using the correct yeast for my brews. The ones that come with this brew demon kit says they use an all purpose ale yeast.

Here is a very good explanation:
http://www.whitelabs.com/resources/attenuation-and-flocculation

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Just checked my pet bottles which have been carbonating for a week. Their firm to the touch, but have a cloudy look to them, & there's a thick layer of trub on the bottom of the bottle. The wort fermented for 15 days, when I bottled.... the beer had a slight haze, but didn't taste sweet or wine like. ( Which resulted in a cider taste in all my previous beer's.) When I bottled the bubbler was still going. Not at regular intervals, but not to often either. Did I bottle to soon? I'm using a brew demon kit.

 

[Nihlbeer]

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.

 

[billl]

Just checked my pet bottles which have been carbonating for a week. Their firm to the touch, but have a cloudy look to them, & there's a thick layer of trub on the bottom of the bottle. The wort fermented for 15 days, when I bottled.... the beer had a slight haze, but didn't taste sweet or wine like. ( Which resulted in a cider taste in all my previous beer's.) When I bottled the bubbler was still going. Not at regular intervals, but not to often either. Did I bottle to soon? I'm using a brew demon kit.

Just be patient. Give it another week. Then put a bottle in the fridge for 2 days before opening. When you pour, just do it carefully and leave the sediment in the bottle. (You can drink all the yeast if you want, but most people want clear-ish beer)

For the next batch, you should get a hydrometer. They only cost a couple bucks and take all the guess work out of "is it done yet". You just take a measurement, wait 3 days, take another measurement. If the gravity hasn't changed, its done. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to bottle at that point. If its still cloudy, you can just let it settle out for a bit and clear up.

** you were probably done at 2 weeks, so don't worry. Just pointing out a cheap and easy way to know for sure.

 

[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.