Me. Beer kit + more.

[rodwha]

I scrape everything I can get and still put hot wort in there and swirl it!!! I won't 99.99% of it!

I hope you still topped up to close enough to 5 gals.

The size of the pot does make a difference, though how much, I'm not exactly sure. My pot is a 5 gal pot so I can only boil 4 gals. But I use my LME, which is almost 1/2 of my beer, for the end. I still have to add about 2 or more gals to get to 6 for my total. And I want a bigger pot (7-8 gal) so I don't need any top off, though I do kinda like chilled top off water to help cool my wort down.

Do you have a siphon tube? You'll need one to transfer that to the bottling bucket.

Suggestions for your next? Well, what styles do you like? And what kind of alcohol content do you like? Hoppy flavors or no?

 

[mjwj12]

I scrape everything I can get and still put hot wort in there and swirl it!!! I won't 99.99% of it!

I hope you still topped up to close enough to 5 gals.

The size of the pot does make a difference, though how much, I'm not exactly sure. My pot is a 5 gal pot so I can only boil 4 gals. But I use my LME, which is almost 1/2 of my beer, for the end. I still have to add about 2 or more gals to get to 6 for my total. And I want a bigger pot (7-8 gal) so I don't need any top off, though I do kinda like chilled top off water to help cool my wort down.

Do you have a siphon tube? You'll need one to transfer that to the bottling bucket.

Suggestions for your next? Well, what styles do you like? And what kind of alcohol content do you like? Hoppy flavors or no?

I'm going to get a siphon tube. My fav beer is a shock top. But I wanna make a dark beer like the hazelnut rogue for my wife. I really want a 6 to 7% alch limit for the next batch
I'm going to

 

[rodwha]

Can you expound on the hazelnut rogue? Is Rogue the brand? I'm assuming it's a hazelnut brown ale?

A wheat beer is quite simple.

Did you top your last batch up to 5 gals or leave it at ~3?

 

[mjwj12]

Can you expound on the hazelnut rogue? Is Rogue the brand? I'm assuming it's a hazelnut brown ale?

A wheat beer is quite simple.

Did you top your last batch up to 5 gals or leave it at ~3?

Wheat beer is good. I like all beer honestly. I love trying something new! I didn't do quite 5 gallons because it's so close to the top and I wanted it to have some breathing room. But when I go but my next ingredients ya I'm going to buy a big glass 6 gallons fermenter.

 

[rodwha]

Glass is an iffy thing. Can't hardly mess one up, but they are heavier, and if dropped can hurt quite badly. There's a thread here on the damage done to a fellow who had to go to the ER. Nasty!

I'd do Better Bottles (or other plastic carboys) before i did glass. But I'm good with my buckets.

I'm like you in that I enjoy beer. There's only a few I don't care much for or are scared to try (lambics! Ahhh!).

Will you be looking to do another kit? If so an all extract or steeping grains? If you can watch your grain sack and temps for 20-30 mins (basically like making tea) you can improve your beer. If you can do that for an hour you can do BIAB (partial mash or full) and really open the doors.

You can likely save a few bucks by finding a recipe you like and buying the stuff yourself. Some kits are priced well, and the savings can be slim. Sometimes it's nice, especially if you don't have a local homebrew shop (LHBS) to get stuff, as it'll come with what you need (i.e. 1/2 lb of this, 1/4 lb of that, etc.) so you don't need to buy full pounds of stuff you may not use for a while.

 

[mjwj12]

Honestly, going to wait till these two batches are done before I start another batch. I want to test both of these first. One being a ingredients kit and one a easier kit. I'm really hoping that the one I made tonight works out well. I'm going to start buying equipment here and there for a few weeks so I don't have to buy it all at once.

 

[mjwj12]

Glass is an iffy thing. Can't hardly mess one up, but they are heavier, and if dropped can hurt quite badly. There's a thread here on the damage done to a fellow who had to go to the ER. Nasty!

I'd do Better Bottles (or other plastic carboys) before i did glass. But I'm good with my buckets.

I'm like you in that I enjoy beer. There's only a few I don't care much for or are scared to try (lambics! Ahhh!).

Will you be looking to do another kit? If so an all extract or steeping grains? If you can watch your grain sack and temps for 20-30 mins (basically like making tea) you can improve your beer. If you can do that for an hour you can do BIAB (partial mash or full) and really open the doors.

You can likely save a few bucks by finding a recipe you like and buying the stuff yourself. Some kits are priced well, and the savings can be slim. Sometimes it's nice, especially if you don't have a local homebrew shop (LHBS) to get stuff, as it'll come with what you need (i.e. 1/2 lb of this, 1/4 lb of that, etc.) so you don't need to buy full pounds of stuff you may not use for a while.

It bothers me that I can't see my first batch doing much. It looks like it did do something for a lil while but when I look it's just sitting there. I'm going to get a brewing book and see if I learn something.

 

[boydster]

How to Brew and The Complete Joy of Home Brewing are great books to get you started. You won't regret taking the time to read either of them.

 

[rodwha]

The first one, being such a low gravity beer, won't take too long to work through.

 

[mjwj12]

The first one, being such a low gravity beer, won't take too long to work through.

I would love to get a clear fermenter to watch it! Seems fun!

 

[rodwha]

The bad side would be ensuring no light gets to it. I've wondered myself though. I hear it's mesmerizing!

 

[mjwj12]

So this morning i looked at the fermenter and it looks like its doing something.

 

[rodwha]

 

[Mandog]

Glass carboys are great, they don't scratch, are easy to clean and sanitize, you can see what yer beers doin, all around a good investment. I use my six gal for primary to give the krausen room to grow, then rack to one of my 5 gal for secondary, dry hopping, vanilla beans, etc.

Check out Morebeer.com, orders over $59 ship free, their ingredient kits come with great directions, make really good beer, and their customer service is unbeatable.

 

[rodwha]

I second MoreBeer!

 

[mjwj12]

Question. My airlock seems to be working because I see it bubble every so many seconds. No foam or anything though. Does it take a while for that to happen?

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[rodwha]

It can a few weeks to completely ferment out. Usually it takes at least 8-14 days, but are given 3 as it allows the yeast to clean up the byproducts too.

I don't even bother with mine for 4 weeks. I just check the temp and smell the airlocks while they're bubbling!

 

[mjwj12]

It can a few weeks to completely ferment out. Usually it takes at least 8-14 days, but are given 3 as it allows the yeast to clean up the byproducts too.

I don't even bother with mine for 4 weeks. I just check the temp and smell the airlocks while they're bubbling!

Thanks for making sense of it for me. For some reason I'm just really worried something is going wrong lol. Picked up bottles tonight!!!

 

[rodwha]

Does Shock Top, or any of the others, have twist off type caps? If so these won't work well. You need pry off type bottles.

 

[rodwha]

An easy way to remove those labels is to make a solution of Oxyclean, fill the bottles with water so they'll stand upright, and soak 'em a few days (some get get results quickly - I don't). The labels will peel off easily and the glue will usually just rub off. If not, I use a scrubby dishwashing sponge to remove it.

 

[mjwj12]

Does Shock Top, or any of the others, have twist off type caps? If so these won't work well. You need pry off type bottles.

someone put a add up for free capable bottles so that's what I picked up this morning. I'm pretty sure I got enough

 

[rodwha]

You need to check that they aren't twist offs, and that they have been well rinsed. No yuckies in there.

 

[Devilsnight]

I'd wager modelo, shocktop and landshark are twist tops. What do I know though... Check em all out and qet them puppies soaking so you can get all the labels off!

 

[mjwj12]

I'd wager modelo, shocktop and landshark are twist tops. What do I know though... Check em all out and qet them puppies soaking so you can get all the labels off!

I think that will be my weeknd project. gotta get these babies ready for some White labels. haha.
I got a variety of bottles from 12oz to 24 oz.


On another note. Tomorrow will be 1 week for the Mr. Beer Kit. One more then i can bottle!

 

[mjwj12]

I'd wager modelo, shocktop and landshark are twist tops. What do I know though... Check em all out and qet them puppies soaking so you can get all the labels off!

Those are just boxes. All the bottles are capable

 

[mjwj12]

question. Assuming its normal for a brew to finally stop fermenting? I haven't heard anything from my airlock in a few days. It's almost been two weeks though.

 

[skitter]

Leave it alone Don't touch it for 2 weeks minimum if you don't have a Hydrometer. It lets it all clean up after itself.

 

[Devilsnight]

x2 Your first couple brews are the hardest, your impacient, you want it to be done so you can drink em. Wait it out, It gets easier. Also, take a taste test when bottling/checking FG. If its good flat and uncarbonated, you'll know it'l be good! Will give you piece of mind while waiting for it to carb up.

What I do, Take my FG reading with hydro./test tube then I put it in the freezer for 10 minutes. I feel if your taste testing a flat beer, better cold than warm. Makes a big difference to me

 

[mjwj12]

Leave it alone Don't touch it for 2 weeks minimum if you don't have a Hydrometer. It lets it all clean up after itself.

I dont have a hydrometer but i do plan on getting one tomorrow.

x2 Your first couple brews are the hardest, your impacient, you want it to be done so you can drink em. Wait it out, It gets easier. Also, take a taste test when bottling/checking FG. If its good flat and uncarbonated, you'll know it'l be good! Will give you piece of mind while waiting for it to carb up.

What I do, Take my FG reading with hydro./test tube then I put it in the freezer for 10 minutes. I feel if your taste testing a flat beer, better cold than warm. Makes a big difference to me

I tried my Mr. Beer brew last night while i was bottling it. It tasted flat. Im guess i did it right lol

 

[rodwha]

 

[mjwj12]

Just thought I'd let everyone know my brew came out pretty good! The mr beer American light has a great color and I'm on my third and I can feel it

 

[rodwha]

 

[skitter]

Awesome, that's about the color I gor in mine as well

 

[brew_heel66]

Nice. I have this one cold crashing at the moment and will be bottling it tomorrow. I did the primary for two weeks in the Mr. Beer then got a 3 gallon glass carboy and have used that as a secondary for the last 2-3 weeks (after pulling off two bomber bottles as testers). It has a gorgeous red color in the carboy but does indeed come out a similar golden color in the glass based on one of my early bottles. I hope I enjoy mine as much as you have enjoyed yours. I am a bit afraid after the first early bottle I tried. I stole a sip while transferring to my secondary and loved it but after carbonating it just tasted like it had been watered down. At this point I'm just hoping that I didn't let it bottle condition long enough or that the secondary will help out with some flavor development.

fwiw the american light is the one on the left in my avatar (taken about 2 weeks ago). Hard to see in such a small picture but you can catch some of that nice red hue. The one next to it is a belgian dubbel that was only a few days into fermenting.

 

[mjwj12]

I had put in my Oktoberfest in the fridge and tried it this morning. Superb! Got a very strong taste! Hoppppppy!

 

[mjwj12]

My third and fourth brew now.



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[skitter]

Traitor, stick to your Mr Beer kegs

 

[rodwha]

How are you maintaining the temp in those?

 

[mjwj12]

How are you maintaining the temp in those?

Keeping them in my laundry room where the temp never changes


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[rodwha]

It's cold in there? Or are you using a yeast that does well warmer?