Virgin brewer (wannabe) from northern MI

[rollinred]

Well my fiance (or SWMBO, if you prefer me using that term) got me a cheap starters brewing kit for x-mas day. Obviously with me bribing her to let me get one for about a year... and she actually went out and bought it without me knowing!!!! I think I now like this woman even more, but thats for another topic.

Anyway, I started drinking beer only about two years ago and quickly became the "beer man" among my friends who had been drinking for many years before me. So its only fit that I became completely wrapped up in Gods single best gift to man... BEER. Women are great for some things, but lets be honest, they can be a hastle, and even beer can aleviate that situation.

I decided to start out on somthing easier, so I picked up a can of coopers real ale just to get started. Now I dont really care to much to have the best brew ever for the first many years, I actually want to learn what ingredients cause what flavors and perfect my brews as needed, But that is for months if not years down the road when I pick up better equipment and exprerience. So as with all newbies I know you all will treat me well and help me to one day be sharing recipies that all will want to brew.

I know its a far cry from now, but with my passion for beer, some day (with all of your help) I will one day be brewing some great beer with the rest of you. Hey, maybe even make seveal friends that will one day meet up and and share life stories over a keg of our own making.

 

[Yooper]

Welcome to HBT!

Look around and ask whatever questions you'd like! A good resource is our wiki (link just above) and also howtobrew.com.

I'm glad you feel women are useful for some things- I agree with you!

Again, welcome!

 

[eriktlupus]

welcome to the club!!


where at in michigan?

 

[RichBrewer]

Welcome to HBT!
Add 2 or 3 pounds of light dried malt extract to that can of Coopers for a 5 gallon batch and you will make some good beer!

 

[BrianP]

Welcome to HBT from another Michigander (there are a bunch of us here). Where abouts in Michigan are you? Chances are there is someone else nearby.

Good luck with your brewing. You'll find it is a fun and rewarding hobby.

 

[capcrnch]

Welcome!

+1 for the Michigan crew!

 

[rollinred]

I am in Lake Leelanau, MI. Or if you would prefer... a few miles North of Traverse City.

I have been looking and I think I may buy a secondary fermenter with a spigot to make bottleing a little bit easier. I get payed in a week so I will have about $300 to play with. I might get an autosyphon to make primary to secondary easier but I am not to worried about that. Speaking of which, is it ok to use those copper siphon starters or is that not a good idea to use in brewing applications?

Well I am at work right now but I look forward to sharing crazy brewing stories and making friends on the site.

 

[Revvy]

I am in Lake Leelanau, MI. Or if you would prefer... a few miles North of Traverse City.

I have been looking and I think I may buy a secondary fermenter with a spigot to make bottleing a little bit easier. I get payed in a week so I will have about $300 to play with. I might get an autosyphon to make primary to secondary easier but I am not to worried about that. Speaking of which, is it ok to use those copper siphon starters or is that not a good idea to use in brewing applications?

Well I am at work right now but I look forward to sharing crazy brewing stories and making friends on the site.

Welcome from the other end of the state.

I love Lake Leelanau...Was up that way over the summer. Drove through Cedar up to Sutton's Bay.

 

[Joker]

Welcome to HBT

 

[BrianP]

I'd suggest getting an autosiphon because come in handy and fairly cheap. It does a good job racking out of your fermenter (and in my case, cooled wort from my boil kettle). A spigot works fine too.

 

[Revvy]

I'd suggest getting an autosiphon because come in handy and fairly cheap. It does a good job racking out of your fermenter (and in my case, cooled wort from my boil kettle). A spigot works fine too.

I've been thinking of using mine for the same thing, but was wondering about the temp of the wort. How cool do you take it down too when you use the autosiphon?

 

[Yooper]

I've been thinking of using mine for the same thing, but was wondering about the temp of the wort. How cool do you take it down too when you use the autosiphon?

The autosiphon is a a great way to start a siphon, but you do it with cooled wort (it's plastic). You don't want to siphon hot wort.

 

[Revvy]

The autosiphon is a a great way to start a siphon, but you do it with cooled wort (it's plastic). You don't want to siphon hot wort.

Yeah, I know... I was just wondering how cool was cool enough? 80? 70?

I think someowhere on the long since gone packaging it actually gave an do not use in liquid over "x temp" but I cant recall what it said.

 

[Melana]

Welcome aboard!

 

[RICLARK]

Welcome from another Michigan Brewer, Usually you get your Wort down to Fermentation Temp before you transfer to your Primary, around 68 Degrees for an Ale. To get the temp down I suggest an Ice Bath in the Kitchen Sink or a large RubberMaid Storage Tub depending on your Kettle Size. Good Luck and Happy Brewing!

 

[northbound]

I am in Lake Leelanau, MI. Or if you would prefer... a few miles North of Traverse City.
.

Welcome!

There is a home brewer’s guild in Bellaire, a number of members are from TC.

The group ranges from first time HB to advanced all grain brewers. Good place to meet and talk with other HB from the area.

The next meeting is Saturday February 9th , 2:00 PM at Short’s Brewing Co.

For more info check out the website and Northern Michigan Homebrewers Guild’s Goggle group link. http://www.shortsbrewing.com/

 

[MriswitH]

Welcome to the club!

As mentioned, tons of Michiganders here and quite a few Traverse City folk, me being one of them.

Got quite a few buddies in town that just received kits for Christmas as well and have been turning 'em on to the site!

 

[cd2448]

Yeah, I know... I was just wondering how cool was cool enough? 80? 70?

I think someowhere on the long since gone packaging it actually gave an do not use in liquid over "x temp" but I cant recall what it said.

Your wort is chilled down to about 60-70 before you start fermenting it. When you move from primary to secondary (or to the bottling bucket) it'll be that sort of temperature. Autosiphon can deal with that no problem. Some people siphon from the brew kettle into the fermentor, I don't do that myself (i use a strainer to get gunk out), I can only imagine they cool in the kettle before siphoning, again wouldn't be a problem for the autosiphon

 

[rollinred]

Again I know that the autosiphon would be a great purchase But I already have like 4 of the copper siphon starters, but I dont know if the copper would have and adverse affect on the beer. I know copper disolves with some acidic affects so I dont want to use them if they would cause problems.

 

[BrianP]

Yeah, I know... I was just wondering how cool was cool enough? 80? 70?

I'm not sure what the max temp would be, but probably less than 100. Since I brew all grain, I use an immersion chiller to get the wort down to pitching temperature (70F or so) before I siphon.

In a recent thread, someone put a picture of their autosiphon after they used it on hot wort. It now has a nice bend to it, but he said that it still works.

 

[rollinred]

Well I got the first brew in the fermenter now. I did all the sanatizing, boiling, and pitching yeast in about 2 hours last night. I was a little nervous that this hobby would be extremely time consuming and a PITA to accomplish a seemingly minimal amount of beer. But man I was shocked at how simple it really was.

Now like I said I was using a coopers real ale but deviated in the directions a bit. Instead of boiling just the can of coopers and throwing it in like the directions said, I added about 3 cups of corn sugar... Sorry I dont have a scale yet to tell you the exact weight added. But I got that recommendation from a local brewer who has been brewing with the coopers kits for like 10 years. So I trust his advise. And then I also boiled for a bit longer than coopers says is neccesary.

But I woke up this morning to see the airlock showing very good fermentation activity and it has continued through tonight. I actually feel like this brew is going exactly as it should. In a couple of days I expect I will see everything stopped at which point I will let it sit for a couple more days to clear a bit and then the bottling fun begins; however, I dont yet have enough bottles to put all the brew in. So that actually gives me an excuse to start drinking more in the next 7 days!

But I have already decided that my next paycheck is going to buy me another fermenter and a couple cans of brew. Being that this is only my second day as an attemping home brewer I am already addicted to the whole process and cant wait to start brewing a lot more often. One fermenter just isnt enough.

 

[Yooper]

sounds great! What I would recommend doing in the next batch is completely skipping that corn sugar and comparing the difference. I think you'll be be pleased with not putting in that sugar. And since you're not using hops, I wouldn't boil it longer than you have to. If you want something a little better, you could always buy some hops and add them. Or, buy plain extract and add your own hops.