Any home brewers out there?

[Cowher]

Hey guys I'm starting to buy parts of a home brew kit to make some beer. Any tips? Tricks? Guidance? experiences.

[Mule]

Not a pro by any means, but made some awesome beers over the years...

#1 rule, Everything that touches the wort after flame out must be cleaned and sanitized. If you think something MAY have been compromised, re-sanitize it. Period! Almost 99.9% of bad brews come from lack of proper sanitizing and handling. I have never had a bad brew.

Tips;
Get a couple of how to books, find at least one that is written to your style. There are several. I can't say which ones because I gave mine to a guy.
I recommend the Beersmith program, it makes figuring out recipes, tracking your brews and mixes easy. It's cheap and has a BBS to get info and recipes off of.

DO NOT BUY A BASIC KIT. You will wast money. I personally don't use anything that is for family use, you don't want to use anything which will make your brew go bad. If you have a friend to borrow stuff from, do it, if not just get the basics from the beer store.

I suggest the following;

1) Hardware Store; get two 5 gallon plastic buckets and sanitize them (I use Home Depot ones) and 4'-5' clear vinyl hose to fit inside the neck of your fermenting carboy.

2) Go to your favorite mega store and get the following; a glass measuring cup (4-6 Cups), some plastic stirring spoons and a large stainless strainer, Saran wrap, 3 to 5 gallon stock pot, hand spray bottle.

3) Brew store. Ale Pail, bottle filler, suction transfer pump, capper, carboy plug with air lock, thermometer, hydrometer, food grade cleaner, food grade sanitizer (I like Star-San). Again, don't get the Cadillac of parts until you are sure you will stick with it.

Personal opinions.
I use a 5 gallon plastic "bottled water" carboy for my primary fermenter. You will probably need good water to start with so you kill two birds with one stone. Get two water bottles from wherever you like, I got mine from Home Depot or a grocery store when I first started.
IF you do secondary fermentation (which I highly suggest) you will need a glass carboy and plug/air lock. I have 5 and 6 gallon ones, but just one 5 will be good.

Remember that hand spray bottle from above? Take that and fill it with some of your mixed sanitizer. I spray everything including my hands before I start, remember rule #1... Use the Saran wrap to set all of your utensils and such on, it's sanitary and will keep stuff clean. It's also good to cap off tubes, wrap tools and carboy necks with to keep stuff off them.

Lastly;
From there, you need to decide on what brew and if you will do all liquid malt or steeped grains and malt... A boxed kit will be OK for the first one. I actually told the guy what kind of beer I wanted to make and HE created the recipe for me. In my case, a honey wheat. It was amazing.... AND about 12% Alcohol... If you go the steeping rout, you will need a steeping bag... Cheap to get.



One last tip. For primary fermentation, do not use the air lock for about 5 days or the fermenting has settled down. Take one of the 5 gallon buckets and put about 2 gallons of sanitizer blend in it. Sanitize the hose from above and use it for your air lock.
Here is a pic of mine - yes I brew in my office...

[Cowher]

DO NOT BUY A BASIC KIT. You will wast money

I was thinking of getting every thing piece by piece. Do you know any cost effective brew kettles? What do you think about the copper coils used to cool the wort? Is that useless?

One last tip. For primary fermentation, do not use the air lock for about 5 days or the fermenting has settled down. Take one of the 5 gallon buckets and put about 2 gallons of sanitizer blend in it. Sanitize the hose from above and use it for your air lock.
Here is a pic of mine - yes I brew in my office...

So should I skip the airlock and use this set up?
Is this to vent the foam that builds up?

Thanks for the info. Huge help.

[Mickey]

I was thinking of getting every thing piece by piece. Do you know any cost effective brew kettles? What do you think about the copper coils used to cool the wort? Is that useless?

So should I skip the airlock and use this set up?
Is this to vent the foam that builds up?

I use a 42qt stock pot. Just find the biggest one you can afford. Some guys use a turkey frying setup (with burner) as a dedicated brew kettle. For a wort chiller, they really can't be beat. You get your wort chilled in minutes rather than hours, which helps prevent contamination. But do NOT buy one! You can spend less than half on parts. Go to the hardware store and get a box of 12 to 20 foot, 3/8" coiled copper tubing, some vinyl hose, a couple of hose clamps, and an adapter that will go onto your faucet and attach to the hose. The tubing is pre-coiled and if you have to bend the tubing, carefully do it around a bottle if you don't have a bender. Here is a pic of one of the ones I've made.



The hoses that mule uses are called blow-off tubes. It is basically a very large airlock, and yes, if you get a wild primary fermentation, things can get real messy, real fast. This setup doesn't allow that. For secondary fermenting, I use a standard airlock.

[Mule]

I bought my first setup as a package deal and ended up replacing most of it pretty quickly because it was so cheaply made. Some of the stuff I didn't use. My personal feeling is this. If you are going to do something, don't skimp on things that will waste your time and money later. Honestly, if you can find someone selling their gear on Craigslist, you will save so much money that it will pay for the first 6 or more batches of beer. If I did it again, that is what I would do. But, some people don't have CL, and I forgot to tell you about that earlier. Sorry, brain backfired.

I only use the "big honking hose" airlock for the first few days on primary when I am brewing with an Ale yeast. Those little guys get pretty out of hand and can make a big mess. Lagers and steams don't need it. So, get some normal airlocks, they are your friend.

I tried Corny's but I found three sizes of bottles were best for my activities. On a side note, the screw off top Monster cans will work great for beer cans. I've actually used them a couple of times before the seal goes flat.

IMO, Most equipment really falls into a taste category. It's really what you find you like and what works for you. I have a dedicated turkey fryer setup too, but will use the electric stove in our office most of the time. Depends on the day and weather.

I have found a big sink full of ice or a cooler full of ice will work if the copper tubing isn't in your budget yet. You just have to make sure nothing gets into the pot. I have always worried about not being able to get the coils clean enough. But, know guys that have great luck with it. That being said, I do like modified beer keg wort brew pots with the copper tubing for chilling and a drain spigot for wort. You can put a strainer in the bottom and do everything pretty fast and clean. That is some cash though.

My neighbor has been brewing for 25+ years. He is at the point of just using Corny's and carbonating that way. In fact, I should get to sample his newest batch by this weekend.

One other thing is you might see if the is a HB club in your area. Go hang out and watch/help. Someone would probably help you and even loan you gear.


Just saw your link post. That seems high to me, but that's because of the stainless pot and copper. The capper is the one I've been using and the book is a good one. Go check CL if you have it in your area....

[Mickey]

That's not a bad kit, but you can save cash on something more basic. This is all you really need to get started.
http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/shopstartkitbeer.asp
Go to any good store and you can pick up a good stockpot for about $25. And if you go with making your own chiller, that runs about the same. For a standard 5 gallon batch, as long as you can boil 2 gallons, you are okay. That's about the limit I recommend. More is better, but not really required.

I started with something similar and it did just fine for about 10 years, then I got into corny kegs and lots of other gadgets, just for fun. I like saving a buck whenever I can.

You'll enjoy it;)

[Mickey]

Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize. Everything. When you think a doctor can do surgery in the bucket, sanitize it again just to be safe. Then just follow the directions on your kit. You'll get a very drinkable beer. Then the fun starts, when you get into playing with different hops and yeasts. It's a lot like the kilt. The accessories will kill you

[Mickey]

By the way, have you gotten any of my PMs?

[Mickey]

Also, pick up a copy of Charlie Papazian's book, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Best introductory book you'll get. There are a lot of other great publications that are good should you stick with it and get more advanced. I will even send you my copy (if I can find it).

Mule's advice is very good. Only thing I can really add is that if you go get plastic buckets at a hardware store, make sure that they are "FOOD GRADE". This is important. Later on, if you really get going, you can invest in glass carboys.

[Mule]

Also, pick up a copy of Charlie Papazian's book, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Best introductory book you'll get. There are a lot of other great publications that are good should you stick with it and get more advanced. I will even send you my copy (if I can find it).

Thanks, couldn't remember the name of that one. It is the best IMO...
I will check my library on Wed and get back here. I have some other ones that I need to find. Also, very true on the buckets, they have to be new....


OH yeah, do a Hops test at some time and have all kinds of fun learning about them. Pick a basic Ale and pick 4-5 bittering hops to try out in one gallon batches. Learning shouldn't be that fun.


Can you tell I love brewing?????