Another Noob from PA!

[Vespa]

Hello everyone. I have lurked your forums for a few weeks and found this to be a great community with excellent advice. I am starting my first batch tomorrow, I am very excited. I love beers of all characteristics, but my first batch will be a simple lager, Pennsylvanians can guess which one; followed by a Pumpkin Ale hopefully in time for Thanksgiving. (I am attempting to brew what my wife likes to keep her interested in my new hobby as well )

Thanks for all of the advice I've read so far and I look forward to reading more.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Lager for your first brew?

You are an an eager brewer to say the least, at least you have the temps required.

For a lager, pitch a ton!

Make sure you perform a diacetyl rest for a day at about 70°f, once fermentation is complete, then lager that bad boy afterwards for a minimum of a 2 weeks, the longer the better.

IMO, and take into consideration I haven't brewed a true lager yet, the closest has been a Kolsch. Regardless, lagers are a bit more work due to the yeast count required, and the temperatures to lager. FWIW, a good ale might bet he better way to go, but a Pumpkin will require some aging, 4-6 mos IMHO.

If you are looking for a quick turn-around on your first brew, brew a very lightly hopped ale of some sort, perhaps an amber on the low end of the IBU scale, or a pale ale of some sort.

Stouts are awesome for a first brew, hard to completely fudge, and the style is fairly easy to brew which will produce a drinkable beer that will familiarize you with the process first hand, rather than reading a ton of info and trying to apply it on your first attempt.

Good luck! BTW, are you brewing AG or Extract?

 

[Misfit]

What part of pa are you from

 

[AnOldUR]

Welcome and good luck on your first brewday today.

I agree with Schnitzengiggle. You're a brave man going for a lager the first time out.

You're real close to Keystone Homebrew in Montgomerville. Great people, well stocked.

 

[Vespa]

Thanks everyone, I'm from Skippack, pa just 25 miles north of Philly. Brewing today was a load of fun. I have to admit I stared for minutes (ok hours) waiting for each airlock bubble. As AnOLDUr mentioned, I am close to Keystone and got my supplies there. They were great there. Brewing really seems to be a 'practice makes perfect' art. It reminds me of golf, easy to learn, difficult to perfect. After your post on a Diacetyl rest Schnitzengiggle I wish I had waited a day before diving head first in. With the colder months coming, this won't be my last lager, so no harm done! Thanks everyone and cheers!

 

[Vespa]

OK re-reading your post, the diacetyl rest takes place AFTER fermentation. For some reason I read it as prior to pitching. Good, I can still do that. I did not make a starter, I just activated the smack pack 4 hours in advance. I'm guessing fermentation will just take longer? The Palmer book suggests racking to a secondary after fermentation to get the beer off the trub. Forum responses seem mixed on this. If I go this way, should it be before or after the rest - or just skip it! Logistically speaking, racking to secondary is attractive to me as it frees the pipeline for the next batch!

 

[bkirkland]

OK re-reading your post, the diacetyl rest takes place AFTER fermentation. For some reason I read it as prior to pitching. Good, I can still do that. I did not make a starter, I just activated the smack pack 4 hours in advance. I'm guessing fermentation will just take longer? The Palmer book suggests racking to a secondary after fermentation to get the beer off the trub. Forum responses seem mixed on this. If I go this way, should it be before or after the rest - or just skip it! Logistically speaking, racking to secondary is attractive to me as it frees the pipeline for the next batch!

I just did my first lager ands I asked a million questions... The D rest is mandatory I did it after the beer reached 1020 I want it around 1014-1016 so by the time I did a rest my beer had the right FG.. no need for you to rack off unless your at warmer fermentation temps .. I would suggest doing a starter, it's faster and from what I've read lagers need lots of yeast!!!

HB on IPhone

 

[Veritas]

Hey Vespa, welcome to HBT! Although I'm up here in State College, PA; my mother is from Skippack. Been there many times. When I visit the area, I mention that my mother, prior to marrying, was a Scattergood; of the Skippack Scattergoods. That always gets a strange look from people.