Trep! (AKA HomeBrew Guru)

[Rich D]

Well, I decided to give it a try. I went out over the weekend and bought a home brew starter kit. The guy at the shop was very helpful, but before I mix my first batch, I wanted to know if you had any hints/suggestions/warnings gained from your past experiences.



Rich D

 

[TrepMan]

Rich - Welcome to the world of Home Brew dude!!



Ok a few questions/suggestions:



1. have a beer!



2. What type of beer is the first one gonna be? Does it only extract? Any grains or Hops? What about the yeast - Liquid or dry?



3. have a beer!



4. Do you have a 4 gallon stainless pot? That's what you'll need to "cook" that batch on the stove.



5. have a beer!



6. Do you have 2 plastic spoons? 1 should be about 2-3ft long and big enought to stir w/in the 6 gallon primary fermentation bucket, the other should be about 1 - 1 1/2 feet long and for stiring the beer in the 4 gallon pot. Don't you Wooden spoons, they retain/keep germs.



7. have a beer!



8. Read ALL the directions thru a few times, make sure you bleach sanitize everything ahead of time.



9. Soak the malt can (assuming it's not powder or vacume sealed bags) in hot sink water to loosen it up BEFORE opening, makes it easier to pour.



10. When you add the liquid malt to the boiling water WATCH very carefuly as it comes to a boil. When it starts to grow, pull it off the stove, turn the burner down to medium, let it sit for 5 minutes then put it back on. After the initial growth (it bubbles/froths up and OVER if you are not careful) it should stabilise on a slow boil.



Let me know how it goes and any other q's!

 

[Rich D]

Trep,



The starter kit came with a "beer mix" American Ale, I think, the guy said it would be similar to Sam Adams. It has a can of extract, some powdered grains/malt and some that need to be steeped in the wort. There are also hop pellets - 2 kinds.



I bought a pot with the kit and planned on getting a 5 gallon paint stirrer from Home Depot.



How long does it take to make everything? I plan on doing it one night this week, but don't want to be up all night.



Rich D

 

[TrepMan]

A couple of things:



1. Go to walmart and buy a couple of dozen nude knee high pantyhose (they come in the little plastic eggs 2 in a package for like 33 cents) they are the BEST for keeing grain and hops OUT of the beer while letting the flavor in the beer. The traditional mesh bags let LOTs of stuff out that you will get into beer.



2. Did it come with a Raking bucket (5 gallons with a spigot, tubes and bottle filler?



First time will probably take you a little over 2 hours, i have it down to just 1 hour to brew and 1 hour to bottle, including prep and cleanup!!!

 

[Rich D]

Do you strain the beer when you dump it into the fermenter? I assume you don't have to sterilize the knee highs since they are going in the boiling pot.



It came with the bottling bucket, tubes, etc...



Do you use the mixes or do you buy the grains and hops seperately? Is the quality the same?

 

[Larry Harp]

OK, I've got one word for you guys.........7-11



Harpo



P.S. They've got jerkey there too.

 

[Rich D]

I also make jerky!



Rich D

 

[TrepMan]

Harpo - Yup you can go to 7-11, and you can drive a Ranger instead!!! LOL



Rich - Per direction remove all the knee high bags (grains typically right when it get's to the first boil AND Hops at the end of the boil, before transfering into the Primary Fermentation Vessel (bucket!!!) Remember on the primary fermenter it's typicaly a 6 gallon bucked and you'll need a tight seal lid with a hole and a fermentation lock.



I always use the knee highs for ANYTHING that get's added to the brew except for malt (power or liquid).



I use the mixes and add grains/hops to suit. SO I might decide to do my FAVORITE beer a American Pale Ale! SO i'll get like 8 lbs of dry or liquid light/amber malt and LOADS of Cascade hops!!



To do an All Grain you need much more experience and more equipment/time since you have to actualy MAKE the liquid Malt!

 

[Rich D]

Re: Cooling the wort.



I was watching the show Good Eats on Food Network and Alton Brown made beer. Instead of 5 gallons of water he used 4 gallons, 1 pt and 7lbs of ice. He used the three gallons as normal, and refrigerated the other gallon & pt. He put the ice and the cold water in the fermenter, then dumped the wort in. This cooled it right down.



Any thoughts?

 

[TrepMan]

Virginia Chris - I'd agred 100% with you. While the added sugar WILL (assuming it's pure cane sugar, e.g. priming sugar) add alcohol content, using extra liquid or powered malt is the to go for taste and higher alcohol!!!



I've been very succesfuly also with just adding a nice sized bucket of ice (like Rich mentions above) to the water prior to adding the Wort to the bottling bucked and prior to the yeast. Agree 100% also on if using powdered yeast doing a starter is best!! Get's those suckers moving and ready to go!!!



Either way, if you don't have a candy thermometer - get one so you can accuratly monitor the wort!!



Did your kit come with a Hydrometer?? I bought one after the fact and for the first few years used it religeously to check when to bottle and to BRAG of my alcholol content. Last few years haven't used it much.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I am a fan of "unfiltered" beer, so just what is floating around in there? I assumed since it is a wheat beer it was pieces of wheat, am I wrong?



Cool the wort?



Don't burn the beer?!?!



And you guys think I'm warped!!



TOXIC

 

[TrepMan]

Tox - If your talking about off the shelf "unfiltered" beer what you typicaly get is yeast not the wheat/grain. That allows it to naturaly carbonate, and continue to enhance/keep the flavor over time.

 

[David Jordan]

Real men do all grain



Dave

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Real men do Mezcal....and enjoy the worm!!



TOXIC

 

[Rich D]

O.k. Did the brew thing last night. Everything went fine until... I put the lid on the bucket and then went to push the air lock on. When I did this the little black gasket pushed thru the lid into the wort. It doesn't float. I tried spooning it out, but couldn't find it. I washed my arm and went in after it. I found it, but I am a little concerned about contamination, especially after everything I read about the importance of sterilization. I almost dumped the batch right then, but figured it won't hurt to wait and talk to some experts. At least it is fermenting, I checked this morning and it was bubbling away.



Rich D

 

[TrepMan]

I agree 100% with V.Chris, contanimation is usualy longer term exposure. heck i've don the SAME THING!! Watch the bubbling, usualy it will stop being very noticable around 5-7 days and then by 10 (depending on the beer, yeast...) will stop completely and your off to bottle. It's ALWAYS better to let it go a day/2 extra then early! I've had a few bottles EXPLODE in one bactch because I hastily bottled before a vacation trip (so I could have one when I got back) and the primarly fermentation had not completed. They you add the priming sugar (via boiled quart added to wort in the bottling bucket) and BAM too much carbination!!



You'll be fine...

 

[Rich D]

I was hoping that would be the case. When you bottle, does it matter if you fill all the bottles at once then cap or should I do a couple at a time. Also can I use the dishwasher to clean the bottles?



Thanks for all the advice guys!



Rich D

 

[TrepMan]

It doesn't matter if you cap one as you fill it or a bunch. I usualy do it by 12 packs since I have a lot of the 12 pack boxes that makes it easier to move.



I've used the dishwasher only for 10 years. Here are some hints for now and future:



1. When you finish a beer just put it in the bottom of the dishwasher with your normal load.

2. Before you bottle re-wash all your bottles in the dishwasher with NO SOAP!! you do NOT want any soapy residue on the bottles to effect the taste of the beer.



Remember when you pour a homebrew there is sediment (yeast and stuff) at the bottom so always pour a Homebrew into a glass (preferably a COLD glass mug or pilsner glass) and leave the last 1/2 - 1 inch in the bottle. It won't hurt you to drink the yeast (unless you're my wife and alergic!!). It just has a strong flavor.



Good luck!!

 

[Teri C.]

Holy cow! I just read this string and guys are nuts! I agree with Sooner, visit your local liquor store and save yourself more time to fish!



Cheers!

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Teri,

Have to agree with you ans Sooner there. I like the buy and drink method myself



Carlos

 

[TrepMan]

Ahh, but Teri, Harpo and Carlos - A cold/raining/snowy day/evening when the fishing is just NOT gonna happen! Grab a beer and brew a batch, HMMMM good!!

 

[Rich D]

I look at it this way. Would you rather eat a burger at McDonalds or homemade?



Wait til I grow my own tobacco and try rolling cigars!



Rich D

 

[TrepMan]

Rich - The real reason I got into it is because for the first 4 years I was married I travelled 5 days a week around the US and was on an expense account. So i got USED to eating and DRINKING very good stuff. When I got off the road and we started on the kids, it was not an easy sell to my wife to support my $8-12 a sixpack habit! I can brew the best beer in the world (my opinion of course) for the price of Bud on sale!!



Fun, tastes good and cheap!! What more can you ask for!!