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...

[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?????

[Kilted Jeeper]

I can't add anything better than what was previously said above. I'll just add that I brewed a Scotch Ale yesterday and it's an all new form of Jonesing.

[biblemonkey]

I would love to brew my own scotch ale (or any beer) but it all looks terribly complicated.

[Mipi]

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

I second that. That's the reason my bear stays in perfect condition for very long time (without pasteurization).

Happy (kilted) brewing.

[AKScott]

I would encourage you to keep your gear purchases minimal.

Once I was serious and realized I could do it, I went to Cornelius kegs only and ditched all my glass and plastic fermenters. I have one plastic bucket I use (with a big mesh bag) for straining the grain out of my wort.

Primary fermentation, Corny keg.

Secondary fermentation, Corny keg.

Bottling? I don't need no steenking bottles.

Haven't been to the fur store yet for the pictures I owe you. We have had break-=ins in the neighborhood, I am installing new deadbolts and window locks.