Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

No matter what see it through...and remember it will still be beer. Keep us posted on your next brew and how it goes.

The wife just bought me three kits for Christmas; Baltic Porter, Maibock, and a Triple Abbey. I will be very busy over the next month! :D

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I know the quality of this kit isn't really comparable to the better stuff out there. I wanted to see first if I'd actually go through the whole process enough to decide I'd continue with it before getting something better. I didn't want to invest the money and everything if I decided it was too much of a pain in the rear for a nice setup.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Single hop best bitter turned out pretty well for my first solo brew. It's a little cloudy, but it tastes pretty darn good.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

From everything I've read you need to just let them sit in the bottles and give it time. Give them a few weeks and give it a try and it should get a lot better. This is all advice pertaining to all grain or extract brewing, but I'm sure it holds true for Mr. Beer as well.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Yeah im going to try one in a week to see how the bottling went and let the rest sit for a bit to see what happens. Im interested to see what happens but im not holding out much hope. Ive heard the base Mr beer recipies are not all that great but you can get some good stuff by playing around with some of their better stuff. My wife also got me an Oktoberfest kit that im going to tweek with and brew next.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Ugh, I was hoping to be able to brew my first batch this coming weekend, but my stuff from Midwest was supposed to ship last Friday and still hasn't been picked up by Fedex yet. I guess maybe next weekend I'll get started.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just bottled a hoppy mild that sat on some oak chips for a few days. I call it Privateer. I'm cautiously optimistic :)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Anybody have experience with Northern Brewer? On-line I typically buy from Midwest, but I found a bunch of hops that I liked and placed a pretty good sized order a few weeks ago. Wide variety of mostly pellets, in multiples of 1oz. They did have Centennial leaf, which I really like, so I bought a pound (~$21, I think.)

Order arrived in good time, everything was there except they shipped Centennial pellets (~$16) instead of leaf. I called, and the guy said, "Sorry, we'll send you the correct item, keep the pellets though, it's not worth it to ship back." Great customer service!

Except when the order arrived--it's another pound of Centennial pellets! And the invoice was even checked off as leaf, and verified by some quality control checker person :bh

Now, I could call them up again and complain, maybe send pictures to show them that I'm not pulling a fast one. But I figure I'll just keep the pellets. At this point, I'm ahead in the count and I guess they really, really wanted me to have pellets.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I have gone to their local store. Extremely helpful, and when I got a kit missing something, they took care of me, knowing I didn't realize I was screwed mid boil and had to go somewhere else to get a component to finish properly.
VERY good customer relations, I can tolerate a few bobbles when they bend over backwards to make sure you are happy.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The pal I brew with only orders through them, I tend to spread my orders out a bit.

At the point you're at I'd be happy with the pellets I guess. I might call and just say hey somethings going on with fulfillment to give them a heads up, but my guess is if there is really an issue there they are moving enough stuff that they are hearing about it.

I'm guessing you'll be putting some hoppy IPA's into fermenters in the near future eh?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Surly Furious clone in primary...


You could make this - which I've been eyeing since Ruination is so darn good!

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/ston...-clone-155771/

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

:tu

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

If I'm looking to brew some hefeweizen, any suggestions for a retailer online to make my first batch? Thanks!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Do you have a local homebrew shop you could pick a kit up from? Might help to have someone to toss questions at with the first brew.

I checked out northern brewers bavarian hefe kit and it would be around the same price as a kit from morebeer. If you go with the northern brewer kit I'd recommend paying the little bit extra for the wyeast weihenstephan yeast.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I would try the Bavarian Hefeweizen at Austin Homebrew Supply. Use either WLP300 or Wyeast 3068.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produc...roducts_id=318

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I'm making something hoppy saturday, but haven't decided on the hop schedule yet. I've got some centennial, Amarillo and Falconer's Flight to play around with along with a couple bittering hops. I just finished a keg of an all-Amarillo IPA that was really good, but will probably change it up a bit.

Monday evening my girlfriend is having some friends over for some kind of party - kitchen stuff, candles, cleaning products, who knows?!?!?

I'll probably head to Northern Brewer this weekend and pick up some kind of extract kit to brew Monday after work. It will keep me in the garage during the party, but won't take as long as the usual all-grain brew so I'm not up until midnight.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Making a smaller beer based on the ruination recipe. Realized I didn't have Magnum, or even a decent sub (thought I had columbus in the freezer). Decided I needed something that will be done in a few weeks so I came up with this recipe. I didn't consider the lag time with lagers and noticed I might run out of kegged beer shortly. Hopefully with a good yeast cake I can get this thing to glass in 3-4 weeks.

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
86% 11 0 Two-Row
8% 1 0 Weyermann Munich Type I
4% 0 8 Carastan 30-37L
2% 0 4 Flaked Barley

use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 1.25 Northern Brewer leaf 10.0
boil 30 mins 0.5 Centennial leaf 12.7
boil 10 mins 0.5 Centennial leaf 12.7
boil 1 min 1.0 Centennial leaf 12.7
dry 7 days 1.5 Centennial leaf 12.7

We'll see how she goes... 9SRM, 68IBU

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I brewed a Milk Stout last night. I hope it turns out anywhere close to LeftHands

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I did my first brew yesterday. The Mr Beer kit I got came with the west coast pale ale. Not too ba I guess to get the entire kit w/ a first brew for $25 shipped. Now I only have to wait another 13 days.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Dumb question-I'm looking at some of these kits that make 5 gallons. My Mr Beer keg does 2 gallons. Am I limited to using their kits due to the size or what should I know if I used a 5 gallon kit and used it for multiple brews? Not so much a measuring standpoint but the shelf life so to speak?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

You got a 2 gallon kit for 25 bucks? While unfamiliar with the Mr. Beer kits, that is REAAALLLY expensive.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I wouldn't split them like that, though you probably could. I'd invest in a 6 gallon bucket and an airlock and just start doing 5 gallon batches. Even if you don't have a big pot you can boil 2.5 gallons or so and top up to 5 gallons. It'll take a similar amount of time and you'll have twice the beer.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Really? My wife got my Mr.Beer kit for around $30. Yeah it only brews 2 1/2 gal. but it came with 8 liter bottles, everything to brew with, and 2 complete ingredient kits. I didnt think that was to bad for $30. Its not the best but its great for newbies like myself.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

This is the kit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00007G2IX

Keg, 8 bottles, and ingredients kit. Hell, the ingredients kit is $15 by itself, so $10 for the bottles/keg ain't too shabby.

I have a tendency to buy stuff and then it sits, so I want to make sure it's something I'll continue before getting splurging on a nice kit.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Not horrible, then, I thought the 25 was just for a refill kit.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Im right there with you . Didnt want to spend all that money and not enjoy it. Now that im into it i'll probably fall off the deep end and go crazy with it .

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Ok, got all my stuff from Midwest today and got my first batch brewed and into the fermenter. It's definitely a learning experience and next time I know what to watch out for and do differently.

Made my local Brew Supply's "Colorado Blvd Pale Ale"

6lbs Pale LME

Steep grains for 30 min:
8oz Caramel 10L
8oz Caramel 40L

Boil 60 minutes 0.6oz Columbus
Boil 15 minutes 0.7oz Cascade
Add at 0 min 1.0oz Cascade

Original gravity should have been 1.045, I measured 1.040, but that may have been because I agitated it right before taking the reading.

Now the hard part: letting it just sit there and do its thing.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Just bottled my Surly Furious clone. Somewhere, I lost like a gallon. Oh well. Taste is good right out of the fermenter. I am never bottling again. Straight to kegs on the next batch.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Black IPA into the keg for secondary, and freshly boiled dry Irish Stout into the fermenter today.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I guess if you drink a whole gallon, you might not remember where it went. :r

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r...id/photo-9.jpg 21 oz of hops ;o)

We did a 10 gal mini mash using the Citra Pale Ale grain bill and added all Zythos™ Pellet Hops and one extra oz will go into the dryhop kegs. Also did 10 gal of a (Ninkasi) Tricerahops Double IPA clone kit.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thats a lottta hops. I love it!

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed the 2012 version of my Hopslam clone yesterday:

http://hopville.com/recipe/1078202/i...m-2012-version

Pitched it last night and the thing is bubbling away, smells great. :noon

Remember, most gravity readings are based on 60 degree temps so you'd have to adjust:

http://www.brew365.com/technique_hyd...correction.php

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Yeah, it was about 70-75 degrees when I checked, so that brings it up to 1.041-1.042 and I did a partial boil so it probably wasn't completely mixed with the clean water at that point. I'm not too concerned about it, just letting it do its thing in the fermenter now. The airlock is bubbling like crazy and it's starting to smell like beer, so I'm completely stoked...and already trying to figure out what to brew for batch #2.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Brewed a Falconer's Flight IPA on Saturday that went fairly well until the bag I use for brew-in-a-bag sprung a leak along the seam when I was dunk-sparging it in another pot ...

After some straining I got the grains cleaned up and proceeded as usual. I don't think it should have much of an affect on the beer. The sample I took before going into the fermenter tasted great!

Tonight a cream stout gets kegged.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Newbie question here. I tried one of the blonde ales i bottled last week to see how everything was going. It had great carbonation and clairity but had an odd sweetness to it. It wasnt noticably sweet when it came out of the fermenter. Its not cidery but it is sweet. Will that fade with bottle conditioning or is that just how its going to taste?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

If it's only been a week you may still have some sweetness from the corn sugar and that may fade as bottle conditioning finishes. What was your final gravity?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Thats what i was thinking but im still figuring all this out. It came out just around 3.8% which is about right on where it says it should be.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I just brewed up a Abbey Ale that has a great deal of potential. I'll be brewing again on the 21st and now I have to go recipe hunting.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Whats up Jon? Havent seen you around in a while. That Abbey Ale sounds good.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

So, if buying from Midwest Supplies, could you tell me exactly what I'd need? (Obviously I'd need more bottles-I'd probably brew the hefeweissen the next time around).

Could I get by with just a 6.5 gal bucket w/ lid and an airlock as long as I had a pot big enough to burn 2.5 gallons?

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

As an absolute minimum you should be able to.

Here's what I would do

1. Sanitize bucket and add 2.5 gallons of boiled water (this is anal, but I don't like to worry about my tap water having bugs in it) - let cool overnight while covered

2. Do an extract boil to finish up with 2.5 gallons of wort

3. Add wort to bucket and cover

4. Pitch yeast when you get to temp

So basically doing this you need a bucket, an airlock, and something big enough to boil 3 gallons of water in. Keep in mind with the pot that you'll have a hot break so you'll want a 5 gallon pot at least.

How did you bottle from the mr beer kit? I don't know how those kits work. Bottling using the method outlined above would require some additional equipment.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

This kit has everything you would need except the pot and ingredients to do an extract batch. I'd recommend getting a grain bag also so that you can do partial mash kits.

There's really nothing in the kit that I wouldn't want to have around except the instructional DVD. You can get that info for free online :D

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

What do you think of this pot? Is it worth the money?

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/for/2723991745.html

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

I haven't bottled yet. It's still about 10 days away. The kit came with (8) plastic 1 liter bottles. The Mr. Beer fermenter has a spigot at least for easy pouring into each bottle. I haven't looked at it in much detail yet, but I have to put a bit of sugar into each bottle I think.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Those look like a lot more kettle than you'd need for doing extract batches. You won't need the fittings to move 2.5 gallons of water around. Just lift the pot. I bet the $95 is for the smallest pot he's offering without fittings also. I've seen that posting on my local craigslist also, which is odd.

I'd buy a pot like this 1, 2, 3.

I list 8 gallon pots there so you have room to go to full boils without buying a new pot if you decide to boil 5 gallon batches.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Duane. Go on BedBathBeyond.com and sign up for their newsletter. They will then send you a 20% coupon that you can use for a very nice high quality pot.
Thats what I did. I think I got a 3 gallon pot for around $40 and its heavy duty.
I have been using it for 4 years now.

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

Another thing he could do with the pre boil 2.5 gal is to freeze it (after boil) and then add this to help the other 2.5 boil mash come down to pitch temp quicker. I hate waiting ;o)

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

If it's the 15 gallon pot as stated in the keywords, that's an awesome deal. I just got one similar to it for use as my hot liquor tank, but that's all grain. As Brendan says, it's much more than you'd need for extract.

(although, following other advice in these forums: you might as well go bigger--you'll eventually need the room!) :noon

Re: Homebrewers - Whats in the fermeter?
 

The guy posting those is http://www.spikebrewing.com/

He posts all over craig's list in different cities.