Question for home brewers?!
But for the sake of comparison and an overall better level or preparation, I wanted to ask the experienced home brewers here the basic, day one rules and steps to for first timers to follow when making their first batch.
A complete run through with as much specificity as possible would be greatly appreciated. All the do's and don'ts, both major and minor. Thanks!
Answers: Using only what I can find on the Internet and what comes in the kit I got from the liquor store, I will be attempting to brew my first batch of beer this weekend. Fortunately, when acquiring all the necessary equipment and ingredients, I ran into an experienced home brewer who gave me some tips.
But for the sake of comparison and an overall better level or preparation, I wanted to ask the experienced home brewers here the basic, day one rules and steps to for first timers to follow when making their first batch.
A complete run through with as much specificity as possible would be greatly appreciated. All the do's and don'ts, both major and minor. Thanks!
It really depends on what kind of ingredients you have. Are you doing extracts, partial mash or all grain?
Basically clean everything, you don't have to go overkill on the sanitation. I used to, but now I just use regular dish soap and water and rinse everything real well. No infections in about 10 years and I still make great brews.
If you're doing extract stick your cans in some hot water to get the syrup warmed up...this will help it pour out better.
Boil your water and get it to the temp you want....(are you using grains...if so this is where we need to know what you're using....if you are doing a partial mash...go about 150 for about 20 minutes. If you are use a base grain as well...I pour about 3 gallons of 175 degree water over a bag of grain in an insulated cooler and shut the thing for a couple hours. Why 175? Well I find the grains cool the water down to the 150 range. if the water is too hot...I throw in some ice to cool it down.
Ok...which ever way you go...pour your stuff into the boiling pot ...if you have extract syrup add a gallon or three of water to it and bring to a boil... stir this when you heat it and keep an eye on it because it will foam up bad when it hits that first boil and that can be real messy.
When you do hit that boiling point throw in some hops....what kind of hops schedule you have in mind...This really depends on your recipe. If you are using a prehopped extract you might not want to use any hops...if you are making an IPA...you will want to boil this for an hour...using bittering and flavoring hops. with several additions.
Anyway...when you are done...stick your pot in a place where you can cool it down as fast as possible. since you are new to this you probably don't have a wort chiller....I've used things like a bathtub full of water and ice....what ever you do...put in a place to chill and go get your fermenter ready....(what...you already cleaned this....excellent...all the same I like to give mine one at least a rinse of two prior to adding the wort. Then make sure your airlock and funnel are clean (if you are using a carboy you will need a funnel don't worry about the funnel if you have a fermenting bucket.
When the wort is cool add it to the fermenter, then add your yeast, (I know someone posted something about getting only liquid yeast and making a culture. this is not necessary. just sprinkle the yeast you have on top of the cooled wort and it'll work....I do think liquid is better...but it's not that big a deal for a beginner.)
Then cover this (attach the airlock) and leave it alone in a dark place for 2 weeks.
I don't have time for a complete run-through but a few tips are:
Keep all equipment (hoses, spoons, fermenters, etc) that will come in contact with your beer AFTER boiling completely sanitized.
The quality of the yeast you use is a HUGE factor in the quality of the finished product. DON'T use any dry yeast . Only use pure liquid cultures designed for the style of beer you are brewing. If possible, get at least a 12 oz. of yeast slurry from a local brewpub. Brewers are normally pretty cool and will give it to you just for asking (and maybe a bottle of good whisky or wine).
Don't worry (have a homebrew). Brewing is as easy as making chicken soup and more rewarding. Enjoy it.
Cheers
Sanitation is the biggest thing that any homebrewer has to do, you can ruin a batch of beer completely if you don't keep your brewing equipment clean and properly sanitized. All you really need to do is to follow your recipe carefully, you will find that brewing beer is actually quite easy. When you use a good recipe and good ingredients it is almost assured that you will end up with a good beer.
Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation, and sanitation. Once you have that down, it's just a matter of practicing. Don't expect to get it spot-on perfect the first time...just be careful and follow the directions by the book. Once you go through it once, re-read the instructions. They become less like words on paper, and begin to relate to something that you have actually touched. Then, the more advanced recipes start making more sense.
So...do it again, only this time you have a first hand feel for what each step means. Here's where it's easy to miss or skip steps...remember to be methodical. You might even catch something you missed the first time around.
Repetition is good...make more beer (how do you lose?).
After a few batches you'll find more specific things to ask about or try. Don't worry about those for your first batch...they'll come naturally.
Either way, jump right into it. As mentioned before, it's not any harder than chicken soup. It's also no more dangerous, so don't sweat making a mistake or blowing up your kitchen/garage.