82 replies to this topic

[EWW]

Well, I think I will start with How To Brew and Brewing Classic Styles. After reading the how to on the keggle conversion I do have a slight question. The keg that I am pretty sure is in my storage is from my kegerator and is pretty much beyond ancient now. I think I had it for about two months before I deployed and now it is sitting in storage for an additional year. Will the place I got it from even want it back? I have no problems getting a keg the legitimate way, especially if it costs the same or less than buying one of those big old brew pots.Is there any difference in the amber ales and normal ales as far as brewing goes? Would it be easier to start with an amber than a hefe? Thank you again!

good call on those books. Another book I would suggest is Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing. In my opinion it gives you the spirit of homebrewing without the out of date info that The Joy of Homwbrewing has in it (although I started with the joy).Kegs are a sticky issue with homebrewers. They belong to the brewery no matter how long you've had it. However, a lot of places will not give you back a deposit after xyz time period. It's really your decision what you want to do with that keg you have, but it is really the proper of the brewery.An Amber ale is just like brewing any other ale (like a hefe) except that the ingredients are slightly different ... kind of like if you were baking a wheat bread or a white bread. The only major difference is ale vs lager, otherwise it's a matter of ingredients. The lager yeasts work better a different temps, but as long as you stay within ales the same rules apply (although I wouldn't recommend a really high alcohol beer for your first few beers because they can cause fermentation issues and create overly sweet beers while you are learning the process).For the record you are asking a lot better questions then a lot of new brewers, so I think you'll be just fine when you finally get the chance to try it for your self.

[Deerslyr]

First off, welcome to the board and thanks for your service!I think that you will find that if you can read and follow instructions, you will be able to brew some really good beer. That being said, I would suggest starting with an extract only batch (as opposed to one that would use extract and additional grains) just so that you get an idea of how the process actually goes. I think most of us started that way. A hefe kit would get you going pretty quickly, and most don't have grains as an added step. And on the plus side, every homebrewer will tell you that they weren't patient and the first beer was bottled too soon or didn't fully carbonate. With a hefe, you can go from brewday to first bottle opening pretty quickly. And fermenting a bit on the warm side isn't fatal to a hefe.George is great for advice. When he harps on sanitation... listen to him. Guys... one thing I didn't see in all the responses, and it has to do with the larger pot, which means a full boil... but no one addressed methods of chilling the wort. Might want to invest in an Immersion Chiller that will fit in whatever pot he ends up getting. Snail, we all have different methods and styles... but I think you will find common themes in the advice. Keep asking questions. You are probably going to read a lot, and some of what you will read may lead to more questions.Good luck in your brewing adventure, even if it is 6 months down the road.

[DuncanDad]

Hey, Welcome to the Blue Board!I can say, start with an extract kit to get to know the ingredients you are working with. You might be tempted to alter the list but, don't do it until you get to know what each part of the kit does and how it affects the final product.As for the actual brewing process, many books have been suggested so, I really don't need to flog the deceased equine on that front.Keep everything clean and store everything away clean.Once you have your wort, (not beer yet) you will need to cool it down as quickly as possible. There are a number of ways to do this. The tried and true method is to use 25' or so of copper tubing to run cold water through. There are other ways to do this, (counter flow, plate chillers) but, just starting out, this will probably the way you will start out.When you get back to the states, PM me and I'll send you my phone number and email contact info. I'll be glad to host you for a brewing session one weekend.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

First off, welcome to the board and thanks for your service!I think that you will find that if you can read and follow instructions, you will be able to brew some really good beer. That being said, I would suggest starting with an extract only batch (as opposed to one that would use extract and additional grains) just so that you get an idea of how the process actually goes. I think most of us started that way. A hefe kit would get you going pretty quickly, and most don't have grains as an added step. And on the plus side, every homebrewer will tell you that they weren't patient and the first beer was bottled too soon or didn't fully carbonate. With a hefe, you can go from brewday to first bottle opening pretty quickly. And fermenting a bit on the warm side isn't fatal to a hefe.George is great for advice. When he harps on sanitation... listen to him. Guys... one thing I didn't see in all the responses, and it has to do with the larger pot, which means a full boil... but no one addressed methods of chilling the wort. Might want to invest in an Immersion Chiller that will fit in whatever pot he ends up getting. Snail, we all have different methods and styles... but I think you will find common themes in the advice. Keep asking questions. You are probably going to read a lot, and some of what you will read may lead to more questions.Good luck in your brewing adventure, even if it is 6 months down the road.

I think this is something that can wait a batch or two. If possible I think minimal investment should be made until he decides this is a hobby he wants to stick with.

[Deerslyr]

I think this is something that can wait a batch or two. If possible I think minimal investment should be made until he decides this is a hobby he wants to stick with.

If he's going to do a full wort boil how should he chill the wort? FWIW, when I started in extract, it was a partial boil and then the wort was "topped off" with cold water to bring the temp down. I'm not sure I would have chilled my first full wort boil without a chiller of some sort.{edit} I'm not trying to sound difficult... it's just been so long that I don't recall what method he should use... Cheers!

Edited by Deerslyr, 23 May 2010 - 09:14 AM.

[BrewerGeorge]

I think this is something that can wait a batch or two. If possible I think minimal investment should be made until he decides this is a hobby he wants to stick with.

Deerslyr is right on this point, though. Several people have suggested full boils right from the start. That's okay, but the resulting equipment requirements are higher, and some kind of chiller would be required. Smaller partial boils can use the sink ice bath or put ice directly in the wort to chill it. Full boil cannot to that and must use at least an IM chiller to get to pitchable temps. (That is excepting the far-out non chill methods some of you guys use...)

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

If he's going to do a full wort boil how should he chill the wort? FWIW, when I started in extract, it was a partial boil and then the wort was "topped off" with cold water to bring the temp down. I'm not sure I would have chilled my first full wort boil without a chiller of some sort.{edit} I'm not trying to sound difficult... it's just been so long that I don't recall what method he should use... Cheers!

Ice bath is pretty much the only other cheap option. It takes a while but he'll appreciate the chiller if he decides to stick with the hobby (I think I made a chiller for my third batch). Just my 2 cents. It would have been great if I had known I would have loved this hobby right from the start b/c I could have bought all of the stuff I would have really wanted first thing but if I hadn't loved it it would have been a lot of investment. Who knows - maybe he'll like it so much he'll decide to skip the IC and go straight to a CFC. As for now I'm pretty happy with my very low tech setup

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Deerslyr is right on this point, though. Several people have suggested full boils right from the start. That's okay, but the resulting equipment requirements are higher, and some kind of chiller would be required. Smaller partial boils can use the sink ice bath or put ice directly in the wort to chill it. Full boil cannot to that and must use at least an IM chiller to get to pitchable temps. (That is excepting the far-out non chill methods some of you guys use...)

That's a good point - if he were to go that path I would say try to get the cheapest BK that he can. Even one of those lobster boiler things with the enamel would work well for that. I know guys who use those so they can straddle two burners on their kitchen stove.

[BrewerGeorge]

BTW, Snail, when you get ready to start, ask me about my ice-in-wort method. It's kind of controversial around here, but every new brewer I've ever personally taught has used it successfully the first few batches. One guy used it a dozen times or more. Basically, it's boiling 4 gallons of wort down to 3 gallons and adding two gallons of ice (roughly 16 lbs) to chill it. There is more to it, but no point going into it now.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

BTW, Snail, when you get ready to start, ask me about my ice-in-wort method. It's kind of controversial around here, but every new brewer I've ever personally taught has used it successfully the first few batches. One guy used it a dozen times or more. Basically, it's boiling 4 gallons of wort down to 3 gallons and adding two gallons of ice (roughly 16 lbs) to chill it. There is more to it, but no point going into it now.

Just depends how much you trust the ice company :frank:Pitch enough yeast and I'm sure it's fine.

[realbeerguy]

First, thanks for your service, & thank you for joining this board (as a patron no less!)A Hefe or a Wit, since you like Blue Moon would be a great start. Doing a partial boil in a 4 gal pot is ok, but as rcemech said boilovers are a bitch. You could pick up a 10 gal pot in a resturant supply in Savannah. The best way to start is to pick some simple brews like a wit or pale ale to get your technique down. Then go to the more challenging brews. The suggestion to read Palmer is spot on.When you get back, PM me. It's a little ride from Ft Stewart, but we have a Brew Club in Savannah, the Savannah Brewers League. 1st Wed every month at Moon River. We get together time to time to group brew. You're more than welcome to stop by. For those times you may run out of supplies, there is also a LHBS on Skidaway Rd.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

First, thanks for your service, & thank you for joining this board (as a patron no less!)A Hefe or a Wit, since you like Blue Moon would be a great start. Doing a partial boil in a 4 gal pot is ok, but as rcemech said boilovers are a bitch. You could pick up a 10 gal pot in a resturant supply in Savannah. The best way to start is to pick some simple brews like a wit or pale ale to get your technique down. Then go to the more challenging brews. The suggestion to read Palmer is spot on.When you get back, PM me. It's a little ride from Ft Stewart, but we have a Brew Club in Savannah, the Savannah Brewers League. 1st Wed every month at Moon River. We get together time to time to group brew. You're more than welcome to stop by. For those times you may run out of supplies, there is also a LHBS on Skidaway Rd.

I really wish I had a club or someone to show me the ropes when I started. I think it would have helped me realize right off the bat I was going to really get into this and it would have relieved some of the first brew stress that I was experiencing

[SnailPowered]

Once again thank you all for the advice! I actually signed up as a member without paying, read a couple posts, liked what I was seeing and then paid the measly $5. For the information that I have gained so far I am sure that I will save far more than $5 on my first purchase of equipment! I planned on jumping in full steam ahead with every intention of doing this for the rest of my life. I really enjoy DIY things (I reload for all my center fire firearms, I maintain my own vehicles, and I plan on building an aquarium) so it seems pretty natural that I would enjoy brewing my favorite drink! As far as when I get back I will certainly contact the people close to me and attend a brew club meeting and a brew day! I figure it will probably be best to see it done before I order my equipment.Another question, how does the wort chiller work? Is it just normal tap water passing through the wort? I know tap water will be cooler than the wort it just seems that an ice bath would be better to me. How much is copper tubing generally? I have seen the chillers premade go for about $50. That doesn't seem like that bad of a price for 25' of copper tubing, but I have never bought copper tubing either.Well, off to purchase some books. Thanks again for all the advice!!

[BrewerGeorge]

IM chilers work by running tap water or ice water through them while they sit in wort. Even if your tap water is 75F, you'll still get a huge cool down of wort starting from boiling. The limiting factor is that the wort won't be able to go lower than the chill water, so you may need to switch to ice water after first using tap water. Talk to some of the GA brewers for more localized info. $50 is pretty good for a wort chiller. It's slightly cheaper to make your own, but you gain a lot of sophistication for the $10 or so you pay to have it done for you. I made my own, and I regret it a bit. It's a little uneven and slightly hill-billy.

[passlaku]

Check out this guy's website: https://donosborn.com/He has put together some really nice videos and pics of the brewing process. https://www.donosbor...ewbasics.htmlHe even has a video of him trying to build an immersion chiller. https://www.donosbor...r2010.htmPretty informative sight with lots of good instruction.

[SnailPowered]

Is there an advantage to stainless over copper or vice versa? The immersion cooler I was looking at is SS and it's $54, which is a pretty decent price compared to the copper tubes.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Is there an advantage to stainless over copper or vice versa? The immersion cooler I was looking at is SS and it's $54, which is a pretty decent price compared to the copper tubes.

I think they are fairly comparable. The SS doesn't transmit heat quite as well but they are close. With relation to use - method is to use my IC to get the wort down to around 80F and then I use a ice bath to get me the rest of the way. I don't own a pump so I can't readily pump ice water into the chiller. The only way I could pull this off was if I had a pre-chiller (basically just another IC) to cool the water down prior to going into my IC.

[realbeerguy]

Copper is better than s/s due to copper is a better at heat transfer. Typically in Winter, tap water will get you to pitching temp. Summer you need to knock the initial temp down with tap water, then pump ice water thru to get to piching temps. Some people use a pre-chiller in an ice bath to cool the tap water.

[EWW]

Copper is slightly better then ss at transfering heat, but ss is so much easier to care for. Copper oxidizes easily and if you neglect caring for it can be unhealthy because the acidity of the wort disolves the oxidation into the beer. It's not a huge deal to clean it with a little acid base sanitizer before placing it in your kettle, but you don't have to do that with ss. I use copper, but would buy ss if I was just starting out.

[CaptRon]

Welcome and thank you for your sacrifices and service! I can't add anything that hasn't already been discussed other than if you want a converted keg that is ready to go, has fittings welded already, and is legit, the SABCO universal kettle is an excellent choice. You can get them at https://www.kegs.com I LOVE mine.On another note, I think there should be a policy that service members be given Patron status for free. Just seems like something we should do. But i don't own the place, just a thought of mine. :blush:I look forward to seeing you around!