Thanks for your reply. This is actually what I wanted to hear. It's not negative input if it prevents infection. That sounds positive to me.
I didn't know that slow yeast might result in infection. I also didn't know that infection can stay in equipment, so thanks for the info.
So...you've started the journey. If it's not fun, you're not doing it right, so enjoy.
My son, who is a microbiologist and also a homebrewer, says virtually all homebrews are "infected." What he means is it's impossible to keep at least a little dust out of your wort, and dust carries bacteria, ergo..."infected." Given this is the case, the way to battle that is to get the yeast to outcompete whatever nasties may have fallen into your wort post-boil. This is why
@ncbrewer is concerned about the expired yeast.
The only reason I would use the old kit is because I don't want to be wasteful, but it would be more wasteful to spend time and new yeast on something that will not turn out anyway. I also would prefer something that I'm going to enjoy the results of, because I've never done this before and don't want to get discouraged on a first try. If there are problems, it's better to know that it's because of my process and not just because the kit was old.
It's good not to be wasteful but also as you've concluded good to not waste your time or your process with poor equipment.
Here's a suggestion that if you can do it will ramp up your learning curve a lot: do you know anyone who homebrews who would let you watch a brew day? Or who would walk you through a brew day? Brewing isn't rocket science, but with all the moving parts, arcane language, etc. there's a learning curve. When I started I watched a friend do a brew day, and it allowed me to make sense of much of what I read. It's a fabulous way to accelerate the learning curve. Also, is there a local homebrew group? If so, same thing.
I originally wanted to make wine with this equipment, but when it came with a beer kit, I got interested in beer. I see that beer works better at lower fermentation temps than wine and this will be going in my basement in winter, which is heated, but not super warm, so I think I will still try beer first.
Most homebrewers will tell you that fermentation temperature control is THE single biggest leap forward they made in brewing. If, for example, I'm using Fermentis dry yeast S-05--a very common yeast used in brewing--after pitching the yeast (love that language--pitch means dump the yeast in the wort in the fermenter), I will typically maintain temps at 65 degrees. But that's not the temp of the area in which the fermenter sits, it's the temp of the actual fermenting wort. Yeast is exothermic so the temp of the fermenting wort can be 5-10 degrees higher than the ambient temperature.
Why this matters is when yeast ferments at too high a temperature, it can produce off-flavors. Fermentis says the recommended range for that yeast is 64-82 degrees, but I wouldn't go that high.
If the temp of the basement is 60 degrees, that might be just perfect; if it's 70 or higher, that would be higher than I'd prefer. To get around that I'd use a "swamp cooler" which means simply putting the fermenter in a turkey pan with about 2" of water in it, drape an old t-shirt over the fermenter with the shirt hanging down in the water so it wicks the water up into the shirt and as it evaporates, cools the fermenter. My basement is 65 degrees ambient; doing that offset the yeast temp rise about 5 degrees, so it was perfect for me.
But you'll want to know the recommended temp range for the specific yeast you're using, and go from that. The packet will tell you that.
Another question. I have windows in the basement, so there is some dim natural light, but not direct sunlight. Is this an issue? Should I put a blanket around the carboy to keep light out and heat in? I knit and could make a cover for it that fits, while leaving the airlock exposed, if this would be a good thing.
Yes, some way of keeping light from getting to the fermenter would be good. If it's very dim, probably not much of a problem, but I always try to keep the light away. Sunlight especially will react with hop compounds in the wort to create what's called a "light struck" beer, resulting in skunky smell and flavor. I used a big cardboard box over mine, also the dark t-shirt used with the swamp cooler solved that problem.
Good luck! And don't forget to enjoy.
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PS: I hate glass carboys. There's a thread on here somewhere showing the results of people breaking them. The injuries some have sustained are not pretty. To me, the only value to them is if you're doing a long, long-term aging of a beer, as glass is oxygen impermeable over that time frame. They're slippery, heavy, hard to clean through that narrow neck, you have to use a siphon to get the beer out, which I hate, and potentially dangerous.
Much better are some of the newer plastic fermenters, especially when they have a spigot. Light as a feather, big opening through which you can stick your arm to clean (soft cloths only, I use paper towel, you don't want to scratch them as the scratches then can harbor biological nasties).
The fermonster is a 7-gallon fermenter (good to have that headspace for krausen that's formed) which is the one I'd get if I were doing it over again. Light, big opening, has a spigot--even if I got a glass carboy for free, I'd sell it and buy the fermonster (or, alternatively, the bigmouth bubbler from northern brewer, which are the plastic fermenters I have).
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermonster-carboy-7-gal-spigot.html
One more idea: I know when people start brewing they don't know if they're going to like it or not, thus they focus on saving money on equipment in case they quit doing it. Been there, I get it. But if you're at all inclined to up your game a bit, which coincidentally can make it more enjoyable, consider purchasing this kit from Morebeer:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-home-brewing-kit.html
It comes with everything you need to begin brewing except bottles and a heat source. If I bought that, I'd ask Morebeer to upgrade the kettle to 10 gallons so later it would be possible to do all-grain brewing using the simple Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB) approach.
I had well in excess of $400 in my beginner's kit, then later I saw this one and was stunned. It has a kettle. An immersion chiller. (!) Hydrometer. Spoon. Star-San sanitizer (!). Cleaning tabs. And, an extract kit so you don't even have to source your first recipe.
Anyway, again, good luck and enjoy!
