Any homebrewers here?

[eighteight325is]

All bottle aged beer will have a fine sediment on the bottom. The best way to avoid it is to pour the beer into a glass leaving the last little bit in the bottle.

I second what MarshallM is saying regarding secondary fermentation...it definitely creates a beer with a cleaner, crisper finish, but you will still get some sediment. I use a food grade bucket for primary fermentation, allow the majority of activity to subside and then rack the beer to a glass carboy for the longer secondary fermentation cycle.

Of course, you could invest in a kegging system and avoid the bottles all together :) That is coming.

[AndrewBird]

God I'm such a geek. When I first read the thread title, I thought you were talking about homebrew applications on a PSP or something.

[CarsSuck]

Update

I am retarded.

In my excitement I mistook priming malt for malto-dextrin and added to the wort. They were both in zip-lock bags and look similar. me = n00b.

I also boiled the brew over not once, but twice.

I have a 6 gal bucket for primary and a 5 gal carb for secondary. So my questions to the experienced brewers are: When should I start seeing bubbles in the waterlock? In regards to my priming malt fuckup, is this going to effect the taste much, or am i just going to get a little bit more alcohol? Do you boil lid on or off? Does it matter if a lot of water boils out, I just add more when I put it in the bucket before i pitch the yeast right?

[MarshallM]

Eh boiling over isn't that bad. Told you so ahaha. Most of the boiling stuff is just releasing the sugars from the malt to make yeast food. Your probably going to have some low alcohol crappy tasting beer. The worst part is your going to have to wait a month to enjoy your bad beer. If it makes you feel better your next batch will be much better.

Oh BTW i boil with the lid off to make sure it keeps at a rolling boil (important to get the most sugars out of the malt) and keep track of the water level. I know it sucks you gotta watch that pot for an hour or so but it will always boil over right when you leave the room. And then when your cleaning from the first boil over and not paying attention it will boil over again.

You should see bubbles within 24hrs. Probably depends on the brew and yeast.

[318isbmw]

Secondary fermentation will go along way toward getting the old yeast away from your beer improving the taste. For cleaning the bottles and carb get a bottle sprayer and a carb brush. the bottle sprayer skrews onto your faucet and when you shove a bottle/carb up to it it sprays high pressure water out and then the water can drain cause the bottle is upside down. Really handy little tool.

Those bottle sprayers are awesome, the one we have, has great pressure for spraying the cat from across the deck, oh ya, and also for cleaning out bottles.

[LINUS]

I'm building outdoor propane fired all grain setup, time to sit at the 'adult' table finally. I might still mini-mash on occasion, but just at friends' houses if I'm over for a brew session.

You really will appreciate getting a 2nd carboy, as it will add mucho flexibility to your setup. 2 carboys and a bottling bucket (clean food-grade 5 gal pail & lild). With these 3 containers, you can even have a lager going in the garage, and make another batch around it.

One thing I started doing when I was still early on was to use a infra-red temp gun, and stay on top of my temp for the wort. I was able to get even better repeatable results too because I'd write down my exact temps in a log book. I got the gun cheap at the pawn shop, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

Get yourself a spiral binder, and Papazian's book. Use the spiral binder like a recipe book, and record everything - it will help you repeat good beers that much easier. If I'm starting with a printed recipe, I tape it in the book and make all sorts of notes about what I changed, S.G. readings, whatever else I think is important. I'll also cut out all sorts of articles, and they are taped to the last dozen pages or so. Sort of a 1 stop encyclopedia of stuff I care about.

If you haven't found the Northern Brewer forums yet, they are a good start & you get good advice without any attitude.

Sanitation is paramount. I really like PBW - Northern sells it. It really does a great job on glass carboys, especially if you can let them soak for a day. Hop resin comes off with a shot from the bottle washer spigot. I use Northern for everything my local guy doesn't carry, they are great to deal with, and their mailorder catalog is good toilet reading.

Don't buy into any of the fancy crap (refractometers, etc.) until you bought a basic kegging setup. I wasted a lot of time on those bottles, and once you do it you'll laugh at how simple it is. Use the bottle method at least 3-4 times, but after that convert and you will truely appreciate kegged beer, plus you get great clarity. Also, good, used corny kegs are becoming harder to find, so at least buy those if you can find decent ones for < $30 each.

And most importantly, you need to be drinking while you brew. I've been on my 2nd or 3rd pint before 10am before, it's part of the tradition. Don't think you know more than Charlie - as he said - don't worry, have a homebrew. Even if it's 9am on a Sunday.

I've done a few wine kits too - those are excellent value per bottle cost. A good kit will cost you $4-5 per bottle, and those bottles with 6 months age will hold their own against $20-25 bottles. In fact, I have a merlot I just started last week getting close to its' first transfer.

If you get a hot tub & homebrew some chardonnay, you'll be a chick killer. Trust me. It's like fishing with a barbed treble hook, it's so easy.

[Eric Giles]

I have been wanting to get into some home brewing lately, so I am glad this thread popped up. From you experts out there-I see the book that is mentioned to use as a guide, but what about the materials that you need? Is there is 'kit' that is of high quality to start off with? Any particular website to purchase from, get more pointers, etc?

If I can brew something that will taste similar to Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan, I will be in heaven!

[CarsSuck]

Eric, buy the dabmn book. I bought it a month before I bought any equipment. It will tell you everything you need to know, except obviously what you learn from experience. I bought my whole outfit from a local shop. You can find them on the internet, but shipping may be pricey, its bulky stuff and heavy and fragile.

Kegging will be my first priority when I have a house with space and a refrigerator and a bar. I'll build the bar myself and post a how-to in the OT forum.

[MarshallM]

I guess living in Portland makes this brew stuff easy. There is probably 5 brewstores in the area. They brew a bunch of different beers in the store so you can taste for your favorite recipe.

[LINUS]

I have been wanting to get into some home brewing lately, so I am glad this thread popped up. From you experts out there-I see the book that is mentioned to use as a guide, but what about the materials that you need? Is there is 'kit' that is of high quality to start off with? Any particular website to purchase from, get more pointers, etc?

If I can brew something that will taste similar to Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan, I will be in heaven!

Eric-

I'd start at northernbrewer.com , and use their guidelines for your kit - either order from them (they have great prices, and I've never had a broken item with them), or go to a local shop. Be sure to stop by the Northern forum, TONS of info there.

The very best way to get into brewing is to brew with an experienced friend your 1st time, as a beer kit seems confusing if you've never done it - but in reality it's far from rocket science (until you want to make it as complex as that). A good friend to watch and learn is worth as much as the beginning section in Papazian's book IMO. Really pretty straight forward stuff.

If you need any Q's answered after looking at the Northern site, PM me. It's a more simple than the equipment makes it appear.

[LINUS]

Kegging will be my first priority when I have a house with space and a refrigerator and a bar. I'll build the bar myself and post a how-to in the OT forum.

I'd be a little more realistic and just either buy a mini-fridge & tower, or drill holes in a garage fridge and hang taps. If you wait until you build a bar, you'll wait so long you'll realistically never get there. Keg now, pitch the bottles. Seriously. It's so worth it.

[trent]

I'm building outdoor propane fired all grain setup, time to sit at the 'adult' table finally. I might still mini-mash on occasion, but just at friends' houses if I'm over for a brew session.

You an I are way to fucking similar. I am also working on building a fullly automated all-grain single teir keggle system. I am currently sourcing parts for my HLT and MT.

[cholyoke]

I'd be a little more realistic and just either buy a mini-fridge & tower, or drill holes in a garage fridge and hang taps. If you wait until you build a bar, you'll wait so long you'll realistically never get there. Keg now, pitch the bottles. Seriously. It's so worth it.

Just get rid of all of your refrigerator shelves except the top one. That is enough for food. I always had two kegs + 5lb CO2 tank in my fridge in grad school. Those 5 gallon kegs are the best. From secondary fermenter to drinking in less than an hour.

[LINUS]

You an I are way to fucking similar. I am also working on building a fullly automated all-grain single teir keggle system. I am currently sourcing parts for my HLT and MT.

Hey - I'll email you.