Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?

[Ed21201]

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

[kaisersozei]

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

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.

[replicant_argent]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

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

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.

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.

[mmblz]

Surly Furious clone in primary...

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

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

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

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

[Salvelinus]

Originally Posted by mmblz

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

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

[Salvelinus]

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?

[forgop]

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

[rack04]

Originally Posted by forgop

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

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

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

[cricky101]

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.

[Salvelinus]

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.

[Salvelinus]

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

[BeerAdvocate]

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

[forgop]

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.

[forgop]

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?

[Salvelinus]

Originally Posted by forgop

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?

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.

[forgop]

Originally Posted by Salvelinus

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.

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?

[Salvelinus]

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.

[forgop]

Originally Posted by Salvelinus

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.

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.

[replicant_argent]

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

[cobra03]

Originally Posted by replicant_argent

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

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.