Just wondering if we have any beer brewing members? I'm starting to get into it and just wanted to know if I posted questions here if anyone would be able to help.
Brewing
- Thread starter chevelleguy0
- Start date
I have a thread going on my journey into home brew, but most of it is me talking to myself haha. I'm shooting to brew my first batch 31 Jan!
- Thread starter
- #3
Well it's good to know there are at least two of us here. I just bottled my first batch ever so I will let you know how it turns out.
What did you do as your first batch? How did it go? Any thing not go according to plan? How are you fermenting?
- Thread starter
- #6
It's just an LBK kit from Mr beer I got as a gift. The beer it came with was their American Light. Not a big fan of light beer to begin with. As long as it doesn't taste like butt light our Coors it should be ok. With using their hopped malt extract it's really been idiot proof. I want to step into using just malt extract next and adding my own hops, that's when the questions and need for help will come in.
Nice! I hope it all goes well for you! Post up some pics!
Just noticed you're from Va, what part?
Just noticed you're from Va, what part?
- Thread starter
- #8
Thanks man. I'm from up around Winchester how bout you? I did do one little experiment with this batch I almost forgot about. To carbonate the beer after bottling your supposed to add sugar to the bottle to "prime" it. Well I only had 6 bottles either half liter or liter I don't remember off hand. So on half the bottles I used regular sugar and the other half I used raw sugar. I'm kinda anxious to see how they turn out and what the difference will be if any.
I've been brewing for about 6 years now. Almost started the journey to pro, until I hit a few setbacks that prevented it. I still plan to pursue it, it'll just be a longer journey. Take the jump into extracts now, instead of waiting. Mr. Beer is pricey for sub-par brews. You can make twice as much beer that tastes fantastic for just as much money. (After an initial investment.) The process is VERY easy and you'll have more flexibility for your brews. (Even more so if you go all-grain.)
I've been brewing for 21 years. Fire away with questions.
And, yes, leave that Mr. Beer behind as soon as you can!
And, yes, leave that Mr. Beer behind as soon as you can!
- Thread starter
- #11
Well there won't be any upgrading to any new equipment for quite some time. I'm lucky to have what I've got lol. The one thing I do like about the Mr. Beer though is it does 2 gallons. I don't need 53 bottles of beer and some change just sitting around let alone do I have room in the fridge for that. Now before someone says buy a dedicated beer fridge 
our house is not that large nor is a fridge in the budget. So on that note are there any nice setups that brew about one gallon? Honestly that's all I really need as I like my beer but don't drink enough to justify 2 gallons really let alone 5.
our house is not that large nor is a fridge in the budget. So on that note are there any nice setups that brew about one gallon? Honestly that's all I really need as I like my beer but don't drink enough to justify 2 gallons really let alone 5.If you use DME (dry malt extract), you can formulate your own recipes and use the equipment you currently have. You could do so with LME, but it's harder to portion off. About the bottles though. When I'm out of room for bottles, I let it carb, then toss them in the fridge a sick pack or so at a time. No need to keep them all in the fridge!
- Thread starter
- #13
That's good to know. So I got to thinking about the one gallon idea and found that there are a lot of one gallon brewers. So now my question I is does anyone here have a good recipe? I'm looking for something easy that will produce something like a lager.
I used to homebrew several years ago. Really enjoyed it and the variety of stuff I could make. Put it aside to focus on the children. Youngest of three is headed off to college this fall, so I hope to get back into it.
I thinlk you'll find a decent-sized homebrew community here.
Prost!
I thinlk you'll find a decent-sized homebrew community here.
Prost!
I made a cream ale when I was new to brewing that was nice and light, reminiscent of a lager, though an ale. Scaled down, it'd be:
1 lb Light Pilsen DME
1.37 AAU Willamette @ 45
1.37 AAU Willamette @ 5
1/2 pack of US-05
Make sure to aerated REALLY well before pitching the yeast, and rehydrate. Should end up dry and mildly hoppy.
1 lb Light Pilsen DME
1.37 AAU Willamette @ 45
1.37 AAU Willamette @ 5
1/2 pack of US-05
Make sure to aerated REALLY well before pitching the yeast, and rehydrate. Should end up dry and mildly hoppy.
- Thread starter
- #16
That sounds great. I'm really a noob at this. Could you please please explain all that about aerating and hydrating before pitching the yeast. I know what aerating is but I have no idea how to do it to wort or how to hydrate.
Sorry for the late response, I'm down in Richmond, too bad we don't live closer! If you haven't yet make your way over to Homebrewtalk, there is enough info over there to keep you reading for weeks! There are tons of 1gal recipes over there as well. If I was size restricted, I would be doing one gal extract brews. Do you have a home brew shop in the area?
BTW saw your posts over in thin blue smoke, if you ever need anything BBQ related, shoot me a PM.
BTW saw your posts over in thin blue smoke, if you ever need anything BBQ related, shoot me a PM.
I have been brewing for about 13 years, all grain for most of that. There are two recommendations I have that should not cost you anything but time, at least at first.
First, check out John Palmer's book: http://www.howtobrew.com. Single best starting book out there.
Second, download the free version of Beersmith or another reputable brewing software. I still think Promash is the best for home brewers, but it is no longer actively managed and updated. This should allow you to scale your recipes, adjust ingredients, etc.
Aeration is the process of dissolving air, specifically oxygen, into solution in your freshly cooled wort. Some use an O2 tank and stone or similar, but the easiest way is to shake the crap out of it in the fermenter for a few minutes. More important than hydrating dry yeast in my experience. You only want to do this with cool, unfermented wort, as at all other times O2 is the biggest enemy of the beer or wort, and CO2 is your friend.
Hydrating dried yeast is the process of introducing the dried yeast to a water to prepare it for pitching into the wort. Usually just warm water and time. Keep your hydration container sanitized, and follow the yeast producers instructions.
Another alternative is liquid yeast. For five gallon batches you may want a starter to increase the number of viable cells, but if a small batch, the vial or pouch will suffice. Again, just follow the manufacturer's instructions.
I am lazy when using dry yeast so I rarely hydrate. I just pitch an extra sachet. But I also reuse the yeast from batch to batch, so typically I can make 50-60 gallons over the course of 5-6 ten gallon batches with $8 of yeast.
Throw out any questions you have, and ditch the Mr Beer stuff. Cheers and good luck!
Matt
First, check out John Palmer's book: http://www.howtobrew.com. Single best starting book out there.
Second, download the free version of Beersmith or another reputable brewing software. I still think Promash is the best for home brewers, but it is no longer actively managed and updated. This should allow you to scale your recipes, adjust ingredients, etc.
Aeration is the process of dissolving air, specifically oxygen, into solution in your freshly cooled wort. Some use an O2 tank and stone or similar, but the easiest way is to shake the crap out of it in the fermenter for a few minutes. More important than hydrating dry yeast in my experience. You only want to do this with cool, unfermented wort, as at all other times O2 is the biggest enemy of the beer or wort, and CO2 is your friend.
Hydrating dried yeast is the process of introducing the dried yeast to a water to prepare it for pitching into the wort. Usually just warm water and time. Keep your hydration container sanitized, and follow the yeast producers instructions.
Another alternative is liquid yeast. For five gallon batches you may want a starter to increase the number of viable cells, but if a small batch, the vial or pouch will suffice. Again, just follow the manufacturer's instructions.
I am lazy when using dry yeast so I rarely hydrate. I just pitch an extra sachet. But I also reuse the yeast from batch to batch, so typically I can make 50-60 gallons over the course of 5-6 ten gallon batches with $8 of yeast.
Throw out any questions you have, and ditch the Mr Beer stuff. Cheers and good luck!
Matt
+1 to Steambeer's comment. Just cover the lid of your fermenter and shake for a minute or so. As for the yeast, hydration isn't necessary, but I DO see shorter lag times when I hydrate. To hydrate, I sanitize a tupperware container and lid, add water, and sprinkle the yeast into it. I generally wait about 15 minutes, seal the lead, shake, then pour into the cooled, aerated wort. You ARE overpitching by using half a pack of dry yeast (often packaged for a 5 gallon batch) so you could skip the step to keep things simpler.
If you are looking for recipes, there are loads of resources out there. The forums are OK, but I would take with a massive grain of salt in most cases. Homebrewtalk used to be derisively referred to as "The Green Board" by some. Northern Brewer's board is pretty good, and there are plenty of others. You might also check out the old Home Brew Digest's Brews and Views--not as active anymore, but some many homebrewer's in charge of homebrew clubs with national exposure, writers for home brewing magazines and others who have taken their beer to the professional level still go there. It's archives are immense and rich. For some of the older homebrewers, I believe the old "Cat's Meow" is still out there as well with lots of good extract recipes.
With all that said, start out by going to the websites of the big two homebrewing magazines: Brew Your Own (BYO) and Zymurgy. BYO has extensive archives and does all grain and extract versions off all their recipes, which are always solid: http://byo.com/stories/recipeindex. Zymurgy very often publishes the recipes of high place winners in the national homebrew competitions, so they have loads of tried and true recipes as well. With brewing software, these can be scaled to any size without effort. Lots of good articles to peruse there as well.
With all that said, start out by going to the websites of the big two homebrewing magazines: Brew Your Own (BYO) and Zymurgy. BYO has extensive archives and does all grain and extract versions off all their recipes, which are always solid: http://byo.com/stories/recipeindex. Zymurgy very often publishes the recipes of high place winners in the national homebrew competitions, so they have loads of tried and true recipes as well. With brewing software, these can be scaled to any size without effort. Lots of good articles to peruse there as well.
