What would you improve first?

[Craig George]

Hi Guys.
I have just brewed my first 1 gallon batch and have bought ingredients to make my second batch once this one is complete. My equipment consists of: 1 gallon carboy, airlock, syphon, measuring jug, 3 gallon kettle and a hydrometer. All the basics really.

I noticed a few things wrong during the brewing process but as a beginner, I don't know which to address first or which is most important. Firstly, my mash temp was all over the place, fluctuations of around 10c (50f). This is due to not having a mash tun and having to turn the gas on and off to keep bringing the temp back up. Secondly, I have no idea of the fermentation temperature. I pitched at 21c (70f) but from then on, the batch was just left at the back of my wardrobe. Bubbling stopped on the morning of the third day so fermentation happened but I don't know what the temperature was. Wort cooling was also a bit of an issue. I placed the kettle in cold water with some ice blocks and added fresh cold water every few minutes and moved the kettle around. Aswell as it taking a while to cool down, it was probably the most annoying/boring part of the process.

Pretty much every stage of the process could be improved but as a beginner, I don't know which is more important than the other. So my question is, what should I try to improve first and why?

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I was in your position after my first brew and decided that I needed a little more beer to make it worth it, so I bought another 1 gallon carboy so that I could make twice as much beer. Since then, I’ve bought a 4 gallon brew kettle and other little things like a wing capper and a refractometer. I feel like simplicity often equals elegance, but I’m sure you will be wooed by the sirens of E-Biab. For cooling wort in the sink it is important to fill the water to the level of the wort in the pot since the hottest wort is at the top. I fill the sink, wait 10 minutes, drain and re-fill. Wait 10 minutes and then drain and re-fill and add 10 lbs. of ice. I don’t stir during cooling. When the average temp from the top to the bottom of my pot is pitching temp, I rack the wort into my fermentors and pitch my yeast.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Firstly, my mash temp was all over the place, fluctuations of around 10c (50f). This is due to not having a mash tun and having to turn the gas on and off to keep bringing the temp back up.

Mash temp is an easy fix:
Insulate the kettle rather than heating it.
Heat your water to a little above the appropriate "strike" temperature (3-6°C over). Remove your kettle from the heat and put on the lid. Wrap it in a blanket. Seriously. Put a folded towel under it, a thick blanket around it, and another towel or blanket overtop if needed.
Let the kettle heat the blanket(s) for maybe 5-10 minutes. Then take the temperature. If it's still above your strike temperature, add ice a little bit at a time while stirring until it reaches the strike temp. Then add your grain, stir, and cover. Keep it covered and insulated throughout the mash. Maybe open briefly once or twice to stir.
Dropping a few degrees during the mash is NOT a significant problem.

Secondly, I have no idea of the fermentation temperature. I pitched at 21c (70f) but from then on, the batch was just left at the back of my wardrobe.

Fermentation temperature control is definitely an important area for improvement moving forward. Something as simple as a stick-on thermometer would help you monitor the temperature.
Fermentation generates heat. If the temperature gets above the preferred range for the particular yeast you're using, the beer will likely have off-flavors.
If you're on a tight budget you can use evaporative cooling to your advantage. Put the fermenter in a pan of water and a t-shirt over the fermenter so that the bottom rests in the water. It wicks up the shirt, and evaporates, cooling the fermenter. This is known as a "swamp cooler".
Many of us use a refrigerator or freezer as a fermentation chamber, and a digital temperature controller to maintain very tight temperature control. There are lots of options depending on your budget.

Wort cooling was also a bit of an issue. I placed the kettle in cold water with some ice blocks and added fresh cold water every few minutes and moved the kettle around. Aswell as it taking a while to cool down, it was probably the most annoying/boring part of the process.

Yes, an ice bath isn't the greatest, but it works. @AZCoolerBrewer gave good advice. Keeping the water bath and the kettle moving also helps a lot. Make sure water flows under the kettle too.
Wort chillers are much faster to use: immersion chillers, counterflow chillers, and plate chillers are all common. Make sure it fits with your setup before you buy, and plan for the future with expansion in mind!

Are you bottling? You're definitely going to want a bottling wand if you don't have it already.

Hopefully with these suggestions you can improve all those areas with the next batch.
Welcome to brewing; it's a lot of fun!

 

[RM-MN]

Good advice ^^^^ One thing many things a new brewer worries about is keeping the mash temperature steady for the full hour. With a reasonably well crushed grain the conversion can be done or mostly done in half an hour and with finely crushed grain will be done quicker yet. When you add heat to the kettle, unless you are stirring constantly and vigorously you are denaturing the very enzymes you need to do the conversion and can get a poor conversion efficiency from that.

Depending on the timing of the hop additions, quick cooling isn't as critical as many believe. If you have only bittering hops, the wort can be left in the kettle overnight if necessary to get to pitching temperature. If you have late addition (flavor hops) then you need to chill much quicker to keep those hops from becoming more bittering hops but the isomerization of the hop oils that causes bittering mostly stops by the time the wort has cooled past 170F. It is pretty easy to get the wort chilled that much quickly. Slower cooling from then on is not a problem.

 

[Soulshine2]

Hi Guys.
I have just brewed my first 1 gallon batch and have bought ingredients to make my second batch once this one is complete. My equipment consists of: 1 gallon carboy, airlock, syphon, measuring jug, 3 gallon kettle and a hydrometer. All the basics really.

I noticed a few things wrong during the brewing process but as a beginner, I don't know which to address first or which is most important. Firstly, my mash temp was all over the place, fluctuations of around 10c (50f). This is due to not having a mash tun and having to turn the gas on and off to keep bringing the temp back up. Secondly, I have no idea of the fermentation temperature. I pitched at 21c (70f) but from then on, the batch was just left at the back of my wardrobe. Bubbling stopped on the morning of the third day so fermentation happened but I don't know what the temperature was. Wort cooling was also a bit of an issue. I placed the kettle in cold water with some ice blocks and added fresh cold water every few minutes and moved the kettle around. Aswell as it taking a while to cool down, it was probably the most annoying/boring part of the process.

Pretty much every stage of the process could be improved but as a beginner, I don't know which is more important than the other. So my question is, what should I try to improve first and why?

first of all, welcome .
Are you ok with 1 gallon batches?
If you notice, most recipes or kits are geared towards 5 gallon batches. Build your equipment for that for now. Decide if you're going extract ,AG, old school conventional, BIAB, electric, propane,etc.
The Short list for AG- 8 and 10 gallon kettles, a heat source. convert a 10 gallon (Igloo,Rubbermade)cooler into a mash tun(search how to do that in this forum), get a glass floater thermometer and hydrometer(learn how to calibrate it and use it religiously). an immersion chiller ( 50 ft of 3/8" or 1/2" copper coiled tubing and a couple fittings is about as cheap and effective as you can get.) fermenter(5 or 6 gallon carboy, even a bottling bucket with a spigot *)bung and 2 airlocks,carboy brushes . Oxi-clean,Star-San SANITIZER, Bottles , caps, capper, racking cane,bottling wand, some clear tubing to fit the cane and wand and that spigot* I mentioned earlier...and a simple pre-packaged beer kit with printed instructions. 2 cases worth of brown 12 oz longnecks (NOT twist-off style) , a notebook to record EVERYTHING you do so you can go back and see what you did if a problem should arise, and it will.

 

[Redpappy]

For holding temps for mash, this is what I have done for small batches. I would warm up my oven ( lowest setting that it will go) I would turn the oven off before i put my grains in my kettle. once I got my grains in and have everything mixed well i placed kettle in the oven and mixed will, i would place my kettle in the oven and leave it alone for the hour.

 

[Leezer]

+1 to the warmed oven during mash. That’s what I did for one gal batches. I do 2.5 gal batches now and find wrapping in blankets and towels as advised above works really well too. Once the mash is underway I leave it alone, losing only a few degrees or so.
For cooling, things got much better when I took the advice of a friend and bought a couple bags of ice so that I could do several ice baths in sink with LOTS of ice. That reduced cooling time dramatically.

 

[balrog]

Cooling is thermodynamics, and the greater the diff between surrounding cooling and hot object, the quicker the heat transfer. Stirring with sanitized spoon keeps wort in contact with pot wall temp interface better. So stir while cooling. And move pot in cooling water. That will transfer heat between bulk of wort and bulk of sink bath quicker. I think it's better to do a cold tap water session and drain, then cold tap water with ice session to most effectively use the resources in the least time. But stir and move.

And yes, cooling can be a real pain. With enough money and water, you can make it quicker with more things to use and clean, so there are trade offs. Pumps and coils and ice chest prechillers or plate/counterflow chillers, etc. For 1-3 gallon batches, the sink works fine, and is often less expensive. But stir.

 

[IslandLizard]

You're improving already!
Doubling your batch size to 2 gallons is 100% worth it. Although 1 gallon beer batches can be fun, the yield is kinda minimal. For about the same amount of work you can brew 2-3 gallons. Fermentation and conditioning takes the same time, pretty much regardless of volume. That would be my minimum to make it worth the effort, and... while at it, 2 different batches, back to back, so there is only one prep and cleanup! They could be on consecutive days if that so works out.

For chilling the wort, make a simple immersion chiller from some copper or stainless coil. A one gallon batch can be chilled in a tub or sink with cold water, but it may take 30 minutes with constant agitation to an hour with 2 or 3 water changes and a few ice packs in the end. Chilling a 2 gallon batch in a tub would take about twice as long, etc.

 

[Jag75]

Welcome to the forum and new hobby. These guys pretty much nailed it . You will find good advice from people here. A couple questions , do you want to jump up to a bigger batch and how much can you spend? Check craigslist, the for sale section here on the forum. You will find some really good deals. You can find 5 gallon starter kits for cheap online as well. As far as improving first imo temp control of fermentation is right up there .

 

[Craig George]

Thanks for the answers.

I am only doing a 1 gallon batch because I was bought a kit for Christmas and that is what came with it. I can do larger batches with the kettle I have so I think i'll get a bigger or several more carboy(s) to maximize what I can make in one go.

For fermentation temp, ill get one of those stick on thermometers for now so at least I have an idea where I am at and can cool it down if needed. Heating is another issue which i'll have to address if I need to.

Immersion coil will be an easy one for me, i've got a coil lying around somewhere that used to be wrapped around a log burner flue to heat water.

I'll definitely try that oven idea when mashing, it seems a lot easier than wrapping a load of towels around the kettle.

I just want to get all of the basics down first before moving onto something substantial. I'm a mechanical engineer so there's a big temptation to build a large semi-automated system but I need to get a bit of experience under my belt first.

Thanks for all your help. Hopefully i'll be doing my next batch next week so i'll keep you updated with the progress.

 

[Soulshine2]

I have one of those stick on thermometers on my 6 gallon carboy. I bought it used and it came stuck on it already. It doesn't work . I use the old tried and true floater thermometer. Good luck in whatever level you take it to.

 

[Craig George]

Annoyingly, I've just ordered the stick on ones so i'll have try them out with some warm water and a thermometer to check for accuracy/if they work. At least I know there's another option if they are no good.

 

[z-bob]

Looks like the basics are already covered but I'll repeat them: increasing your batch size to 2 gallons will make it easier to maintain a steady temperature. Either insulate the mash tun with towels and blankets, or put it in a warm oven. You really only need a steady temperature for the first 15 or 20 minutes, by then most of the conversion is finished.

As far as the fermentation, you can either control the temperature to what the yeast likes, or you can pick a yeast that likes the temperature that you have. (I do a little of both, but more of the latter)

 

[IslandLizard]

I'd stay away from glass carboys, especially the larger, 5 and 6 gallon ones, because of the dangers of serious injury when unexpectedly breaking one.
1 gallon "carboys," (wine jugs) are fine, but basically too small for 1 gallon batches as you need to leave some headspace.

Plastic (PET) carboys like Better Bottles, or any of their knock-offs, are much safer to use. Or better yet, Fermonsters or something like that since they have a wide mouth and are easier to clean.

Or as many do, use plastic (brew) buckets for fermentation. They come with a built in handle. Easy to clean and sanitize too.
I scored a bunch of 3.5 gallon plastic buckets I use as "small batch" fermenters. The bakery at the Walmart or local grocery store may have free buckets used for icing.

Fermentation control becomes more important the larger the fermenter, as the interior of the vessel heats up due to the exothermic fermentation, but the surface to chill it down goes down exponentially. Swamp cooler or some sort of automated temp control is recommended. Aside from a temp controlled fermentation fridge, I often put 2 6.5 gallon buckets inside a large Igloo cooler, filled with cold water, in my lower level bathroom where temps are in the mid 60s. I control the temp of that water jacket with a few frozen water bottles once or twice a day, and an aquarium heater when it needs to be warmed up.

 

[kh54s10]

The oven part is great advice and will cover you until you go bigger.

Fermentation temperature control is the best area to work on to improve your beers. Most start with some form of "swamp cooler". A container with water in it and the fermenter sitting in the water. Ice or frozen water bottles added as needed to control the temperature. Fermentation creates heat and you want to counteract that.

Next comes decisions on what style of brewery you want. BIAB, 3 vessel, gas or electric etc. And size.

Try to educate yourself on the differences so that you don't buy equipment that you cannot use if you change course. For instance - getting a mash tun then deciding that you want to do BIAB. Or, buying a pot for 3 or 4 gallon batches, then deciding that you want to brew 5, 10 or even larger amounts.

 

[Gravity]

Hi Guys.
I have just brewed my first 1 gallon batch and have bought ingredients to make my second batch once this one is complete. My equipment consists of: 1 gallon carboy, airlock, syphon, measuring jug, 3 gallon kettle and a hydrometer. All the basics really.

I noticed a few things wrong during the brewing process but as a beginner, I don't know which to address first or which is most important. Firstly, my mash temp was all over the place, fluctuations of around 10c (50f). This is due to not having a mash tun and having to turn the gas on and off to keep bringing the temp back up. Secondly, I have no idea of the fermentation temperature. I pitched at 21c (70f) but from then on, the batch was just left at the back of my wardrobe. Bubbling stopped on the morning of the third day so fermentation happened but I don't know what the temperature was. Wort cooling was also a bit of an issue. I placed the kettle in cold water with some ice blocks and added fresh cold water every few minutes and moved the kettle around. Aswell as it taking a while to cool down, it was probably the most annoying/boring part of the process.

Pretty much every stage of the process could be improved but as a beginner, I don't know which is more important than the other. So my question is, what should I try to improve first and why?

So many areas of growth here:
a. controlling mashing temps is a must; get a small rubbermaid cooler - they hold temps really well
b. depending on the beer style you're making fermentations temps are also key - find the darkest coldest place of your house (60-70 degree range) and leave your fermenter there. If all else fails you're equipment is small enough to fit in a small fridge (think college dorm size)
c. the cooling sounds like its your strength - find something to do during the time the pot is cooling down - I'll suggest reading "how to brew" material; plenty online

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

After many years I can apply a bit of hindsight and say that one of the first things to consider if you expect better quality beer is improving the yeast environment. Give them a very tiny amount of zinc in the form of a mild zinc sulfate solution, and give them some Fermaid K (or similar) yeast nutrient. Happy (unstressed) yeast make better beer.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I have one of those stick on thermometers on my 6 gallon carboy. I bought it used and it came stuck on it already. It doesn't work

Mine work great.
I use a whole bunch of Fermometers.

Maybe yours is really old or was damaged by overheating.

Give them a very tiny amount of zinc in the form of a mild zinc sulfate solution

Why are you recommending this? I thought the loose consensus was that first and second generation cultures don't need added zinc. What did I miss?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Why are you recommending this? I thought the loose consensus was that first and second generation cultures don't need added zinc. What did I miss?

I can only suggest that you try it. I add about 4.5 mg of zinc to ~6.5 gallons of wort.

 

[Craig George]

I'm glad I posted on here now. I didn't know yeast caused an increase in temperature, I thought this would have to be done with a heat pad/belt heater. I have my 1 gallon batch at room temp at the minute and I did think the fermentation was over pretty quickly.

For the next batch, if I kept the fermenter in the garage which at its lowest temperature is probably around 3-4c (40f), would I move the fermenter indoors after a few days once bubbling slows down? I don't know if i'm along the right lines here but after a few days would there be less fermentation, therefore less heat, so the fermenter would no longer need to be cooled?

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I'm glad I posted on here now. I didn't know yeast caused an increase in temperature, I thought this would have to be done with a heat pad/belt heater. I have my 1 gallon batch at room temp at the minute and I did think the fermentation was over pretty quickly.

For the next batch, if I kept the fermenter in the garage which at its lowest temperature is probably around 3-4c (40f), would I move the fermenter indoors after a few days once bubbling slows down? I don't know if i'm along the right lines here but after a few days would there be less fermentation, therefore less heat, so the fermenter would no longer need to be cooled?

IMO, keep fermentation temps steady. Don't want higher in the day and cool (or colder) at night. Fermentation wants a nice steady temp. Of course, lagers, benefit from beverage center (controlled cooling) environment.

 

[RPh_Guy]

4°C is too cold for ales. Most ale yeasts are happy between 15-21°C (59-70°F), but it depends on the strain.

EDIT: Fermentation only increases temperature around 2-5°C above ambient... Enough to cause problems if your ambient is 20°C and the max temp of the yeast's preferred range is 21°C

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

4°C is too cold for ales. Most ale yeasts are happy between 15-21°C (59-70°F), but it depends on the strain.

Absolutely agree.

 

[jtrux]

To cool the wort, I use a homemade immersion chiller made out of copper tubing. I hook up a $20 fountain pump from Home Depot. I drop the pump in a 5 gallon bucket of ice water. Hook the pump to the line that goes to the bottom of the immersions coil and have the exit off the top of the coil lead to an empty bucket. Then have a third full bucket of water to refill the original ice water bucket. And keep rotating them. Can bring 5 gallons of boiling wort to 80f in 15-20 min.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

To cool the wort, I use a homemade immersion chiller made out of copper tubing. I hook up a $20 fountain pump from Home Depot. I drop the pump in a 5 gallon bucket of ice water. Hook the pump to the line that goes to the bottom of the immersions coil and have the exit off the top of the coil lead to an empty bucket. Then have a third full bucket of water to refill the original ice water bucket. And keep rotating them. Can bring 5 gallons of boiling wort to 80f in 15-20 min.

Man, that's great. I had no luck with same such setup.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

A great yeast to use is Fermentis Safale US-05. Says on the spec sheet 64-82 degrees F. That covers a lot of ground for room temperature.

 

[Soulshine2]

Mine work great.
I use a whole bunch of Fermometers.

Maybe yours is really old or was damaged by overheating.


Why are you recommending this? I thought the loose consensus was that first and second generation cultures don't need added zinc. What did I miss?

its on a glass carboy, I'd agree more with damaged but not overheated. I had aquariums in the past and its basically the same , those didnt work well either.

 

[kh54s10]

A great yeast to use is Fermentis Safale US-05. Says on the spec sheet 64-82 degrees F. That covers a lot of ground for room temperature.

I see that on the Fermentis website. Has that changed? I thought it used to say 59 - 75f. I would not let the temperature of US-05 come anywhere near 80. I ferment it at 66-68 with great success.