Learning to Homebrew!

[SkinsFanLarry]

You should or could get a decent pot at a restaurant supply store too. Your other possibly cheaper option would be to buy form bayou classic. After my experience I would advise a 10gal pot to start because it gives you more options and prevents buying a second one too soon. I went from a 4gal doing extract kits to a 10gal to a 17gal. I do still use the 4gal pot a lot though so it wasn't a waste.

Justin, I don't have a dog in this fight just yet but I agree with Adam, if you have access to a restaurant supply store you can probably get a better price on your boiling pot and getting one that's bigger than you need won't hurt anything....just saying.

 

[twenty5]

The pots I have picked out are both 5 gallon, the one with the burner is 7 I think. I'm pretty sure any of those will be plenty big enough. I don't really have a good rest supply store around me but Amazon free shipping and no tax will have to do...

 

[BeerAdvocate]

You can go on BedBathBeyonds website and sign up for their newsletter, then they will send you a 20% coupon. I used it to be a very nice high quality 4 gallon pot.
I started out using this on the stove doing extract batches on the stove and they all turned out great.
For water, I would buy 5 x 1gallon jugs of distilled/spring water at the store. Boiled 3gallons and used 2 for top off.

 

[mthhurley]

One of the really good brewers in My local brew club just posted this:

If you are an extract brewer and a hop head, check out Northern Brewers Dead Ringer, a clone of Bells Two Hearted and as good as DFH 60 Minute. This kit is as good as extract gets.

 

[TravelingJ]

I'm sick and tired of all you home brewers.

What's it take to become a RV brewer? I think I have 2 questions that will make or break it for me. The first-how LONG from start to bottles? Our big issue will be when we move to a new job, I'm fairly certain we don't want a beer that is still 'in progress' to be subject to all the road movements. The second-how small of a batch can realistically be made? I literally have to live out of a 5.3 cubic foot fridge/freezer. While we do have some cabinet space, I don't need to be carting around 4 cases of beer.

 

[earnold25]

skip the pot and just get a used keg. google "keggle". its one of the best pots ever, cheap, and has plenty of room for when you jump up to 10 gallon batches.

 

[JRL]

Use starsan as your sanitizer and Oxyclean Free (free of perfumes that can transfer to your beer.) for your cleaner. Whenever you are cleaning your buckets never use an abrasive scrubber. It can leave scratches that can harbor bacteria. I use a soft sponge and hot water.

Either pot looks great. If your getting a wort chiller make sure you get one that fits into the pot using. Or you could chill in your bucket.

I do not use a bottle washer but seems like it would be handy. I soak my bottles in Oxyclean for 2 hours then scrub them. I then sanitize and put them upside down in the dishwasher right before bottling.

I would purchase another fermentor so you can get a pipe line going. I used to brew every two weeks or so and always had a beer fermenting. Then you never run dry.

When are you doing your first batch and what is it going to be?

 

[JRL]

I'm sick and tired of all you home brewers.

What's it take to become a RV brewer? I think I have 2 questions that will make or break it for me. The first-how LONG from start to bottles? Our big issue will be when we move to a new job, I'm fairly certain we don't want a beer that is still 'in progress' to be subject to all the road movements. The second-how small of a batch can realistically be made? I literally have to live out of a 5.3 cubic foot fridge/freezer. While we do have some cabinet space, I don't need to be carting around 4 cases of beer.

Start to bottles I usually do 3 weeks. Then 3 weeks in the bottles before drinking. You can cut it down but I think that is a good rule of thumb.

I have heard of guys doing 1 gallon batches for testing new recipes. It can be done just need to scale down recipes. There are plenty of programs for that.

 

[JRL]

OK, Thanks Mike.

Just thought of boiling.... Not going to be easy on an elec stove in an apartment lol. So I looked into turkey fryers... Anyone have any experience with them? Looking for something cheap turned this up:

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Grills-Accessories-Smokers-Fryers/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xgyZaq53/R-202038907/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&AID=10368321&PID=3925582&cj=true&cm_mmc=CJ-_-3925582-_-10368321

Seems cheap... Is it garbage? I think the pot comes with it, might be aluminum? I dont know..

My mom got me that for Christmas, mainly for the burner, needless to say I am returning it and going to purchase this.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYQ4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER"]Amazon.com: Bayou Classic SQ14 Single Burner Outdoor Patio Stove: Patio, Lawn & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419RNDRQF2L.@@AMEPARAM@@419RNDRQF2L[/ame]

I have keggles (converted kegs) for my water and wort and this has worked great for them. (I have been borrowing one from a friend). It will also work for the pots your looking to purchase. I used it with a smaller pot before I got my keggles.

 

[TravelingJ]

Start to bottles I usually do 3 weeks. Then 3 weeks in the bottles before drinking. You can cut it down but I think that is a good rule of thumb.

I have heard of guys doing 1 gallon batches for testing new recipes. It can be done just need to scale down recipes. There are plenty of programs for that.

Oh well. It was a fun thought, at least. I try my hardest to move much more frequently than that. 3 weeks in the same town = bullet to the head. Thanks!

 

[twenty5]

Use starsan as your sanitizer and Oxyclean Free (free of perfumes that can transfer to your beer.) for your cleaner. Whenever you are cleaning your buckets never use an abrasive scrubber. It can leave scratches that can harbor bacteria. I use a soft sponge and hot water.

Either pot looks great. If your getting a wort chiller make sure you get one that fits into the pot using. Or you could chill in your bucket.

I do not use a bottle washer but seems like it would be handy. I soak my bottles in Oxyclean for 2 hours then scrub them. I then sanitize and put them upside down in the dishwasher right before bottling.

I would purchase another fermentor so you can get a pipe line going. I used to brew every two weeks or so and always had a beer fermenting. Then you never run dry.

When are you doing your first batch and what is it going to be?

I am looking to take a day off around my birthday to give it a shot, so I will start in about a month. As for what I am making, I was limited pretty much to the 3 kits that are available with the groupon deal. My sister's boyfriend wants to be part of this as well so I let him pick the beer since he is a bit more picky than I. He chose the Irish Red/

 

[Mathen]

Well, I cooked up my first batch this morning. I'll let you know in about a month how it turned out.

 

[mthhurley]

Well, I cooked up my first batch this morning. I'll let you know in about a month how it turned out.

What'd ya make?

 

[Mathen]

A pale ale that came with the kit. Smelled pretty good.

I've sworn to myself that I'm going to make a few batches and make sure I like 'em before I do my typical complete-lack-of-moderation behavior and go blow like a ton of money turning my kitchen into a full blown micro-brewery.

 

[twenty5]

Using the water quality test I bought, I cam up with the following results

pH - Between 5 (Caution) and 6.5 (Safe) I dont think this is a very accurate number
Total Alkalinity - 80 (Ideal)
Total Chlorine - Either 0 (Safe) or 0.2 (Safe)
Total Hardness - Around 50 (Ideal)
Iron - 0 (Safe)
Copper - 0 (Safe)
Nitrate - Between 0 (Safe) and 2 (Safe)
Nitrite - 0 (Safe)

Dip a paper and compare to a color.... Not sure if these are good numbers or not lol.

Adam, what do you think of my water? Seems to me like the only possible problem is pH? I dont know.

 

[JRL]

Oh well. It was a fun thought, at least. I try my hardest to move much more frequently than that. 3 weeks in the same town = bullet to the head. Thanks!

You can cut your time down. If it is done fermenting then you can bottle it. Three weeks will help it settle and clear up a bit. Just have to make sure it is done fermenting before you put it in the bottles or else :timebomb:

 

[BesstR]

So I just redeemed my groupon coupon I picked the Autumn Amber Ale. I will not start my first batch until we move and settled in the new house. I have to purchase the thermometer and pot. This has been a good thread to help me pick both. Thank you

 

[smokinghole]

Using the water quality test I bought, I cam up with the following results

pH - Between 5 (Caution) and 6.5 (Safe) I dont think this is a very accurate number
Total Alkalinity - 80 (Ideal)
Total Chlorine - Either 0 (Safe) or 0.2 (Safe)
Total Hardness - Around 50 (Ideal)
Iron - 0 (Safe)
Copper - 0 (Safe)
Nitrate - Between 0 (Safe) and 2 (Safe)
Nitrite - 0 (Safe)

Dip a paper and compare to a color.... Not sure if these are good numbers or not lol.

Adam, what do you think of my water? Seems to me like the only possible problem is pH? I dont know.

Looks like you have fairly soft water. So with that being the case you should be fine. The pH shouldn't be a problem because pure water is close to 7ph which I would add some calcium chloride to lower the pH a bit. If it tastes good you'll be golden. It's easy to add stuff to water like what it seems you have compared to removing minerals.

 

[twenty5]

Anyones kit come in yet?

 

[mthhurley]

Got mine but I ordered it before the groupon said I could. But it worked