Homebrew Necessities

[LeeNetworX]

For those who care, here's the Alton Brown episode on beer making:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlv1wBy7Z5w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7jQ...eature=related

[LeeNetworX]

I finally got the e-mail I've been waiting for. 40% off brew kits from Northern Brewer. Buying this kit right now. If anyone is interested, use coupon code BrewNow.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewin...ter-kit-1.html

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

I haven't done it in a while because of my living situation and never got the best results. We'll be in a bigger house soon so I'll be back into it

The countdown is on... Weather permitting, they break ground in 2 weeks....

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

The countdown is on... Weather permitting, they break ground in 2 weeks....

Nice!

[Method]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

I finally got the e-mail I've been waiting for. 40% off brew kits from Northern Brewer. Buying this kit right now. If anyone is interested, use coupon code BrewNow.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewin...ter-kit-1.html

Forgot to mention - few weeks back I used this code and picked up the deluxe starter kit. Picked up a wort chiller and a few other bits (including a Northwestern IPA recipe kit) and brewed my first batch yesterday!

It's been in the fermenter for about 13 hours now and looks like it's getting some activity started so hopefully it's on it's road to being some great beer.

I'm planning on moving it to a secondary after about a week and a half (or whenever it looks like the fermentation stops) and doing a dry hop with about a 2 wk secondary ferment.

What do you guys use to bring the wort down to room temp quickly? Using just the wort chiller it took a good hour and a half to get it down to ~70 degrees. I'm thinking next time maybe an ice bath and the wort chiller to get it down as fast as possible.

I may also need to buy a chest freezer that I can set at an exact temp instead of keeping my house regulated to exactly 70 degrees (temp prescribed for the IPA recipe).

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by Method

Forgot to mention - few weeks back I used this code and picked up the deluxe starter kit. Picked up a wort chiller and a few other bits (including a Northwestern IPA recipe kit) and brewed my first batch yesterday!

It's been in the fermenter for about 13 hours now and looks like it's getting some activity started so hopefully it's on it's road to being some great beer.

I'm planning on moving it to a secondary after about a week and a half (or whenever it looks like the fermentation stops) and doing a dry hop with about a 2 wk secondary ferment.

What do you guys use to bring the wort down to room temp quickly? Using just the wort chiller it took a good hour and a half to get it down to ~70 degrees. I'm thinking next time maybe an ice bath and the wort chiller to get it down as fast as possible.

I may also need to buy a chest freezer that I can set at an exact temp instead of keeping my house regulated to exactly 70 degrees (temp prescribed for the IPA recipe).

My "rule of thumb" is 1,2,3.

One week in the primary, two weeks in the secondary, three weeks in the bottle and drink. IPA's and Pales do best, if you can cold condition them in the bottle for a couple of weeks, (put them in the fridge at 38 degrees or so).

The wort chiller is about the best way to go for quick chilling. My typical chilling time is about 45 minutes, but then my water temp from the tap may be colder than yours. Still, an hour and a half isn't terrible, unless you're in a hurry.

You could try an aquarium pump submerged in a cooler of ice. You'd attach one end of the wort chiller line to the pump, and run fresh water over the ice, as your supply.

I found putting the kettle in an ice bath to be ineffective. Takes way to much ice to make a difference.

Also, I would not recommend Alton Browns method of dropping a bag of ice into the wort. Bagged ice can carry an awful lot of beer killing nasties with it, and it's just not worth the risk of contamination.

JC

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by Method

Forgot to mention - few weeks back I used this code and picked up the deluxe starter kit. Picked up a wort chiller and a few other bits (including a Northwestern IPA recipe kit) and brewed my first batch yesterday!

It's been in the fermenter for about 13 hours now and looks like it's getting some activity started so hopefully it's on it's road to being some great beer.

I'm planning on moving it to a secondary after about a week and a half (or whenever it looks like the fermentation stops) and doing a dry hop with about a 2 wk secondary ferment.

What do you guys use to bring the wort down to room temp quickly? Using just the wort chiller it took a good hour and a half to get it down to ~70 degrees. I'm thinking next time maybe an ice bath and the wort chiller to get it down as fast as possible.

I may also need to buy a chest freezer that I can set at an exact temp instead of keeping my house regulated to exactly 70 degrees (temp prescribed for the IPA recipe).

I'm going to be trying my first batch in a couple of weeks, our basement temp is almost down to the desired range.

[VatorMan]

An hour and a half WITH a wort chiller ? OK-A little lesson in thermodynamics. The larger the area you expose to the cool coils of the chiller will enhance the cooling effect. In other words, the chiller MUST be totally immersed in the wort to work effectively. Water flow is next. The higher the volume of water, the greater the heat transfer. turn that shit on man ! Don't bogart the water during chilling.

[Method]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

My "rule of thumb" is 1,2,3.

One week in the primary, two weeks in the secondary, three weeks in the bottle and drink. IPA's and Pales do best, if you can cold condition them in the bottle for a couple of weeks, (put them in the fridge at 38 degrees or so).

The wort chiller is about the best way to go for quick chilling. My typical chilling time is about 45 minutes, but then my water temp from the tap may be colder than yours. Still, an hour and a half isn't terrible, unless you're in a hurry.

You could try an aquarium pump submerged in a cooler of ice. You'd attach one end of the wort chiller line to the pump, and run fresh water over the ice, as your supply.

I found putting the kettle in an ice bath to be ineffective. Takes way to much ice to make a difference.

Also, I would not recommend Alton Browns method of dropping a bag of ice into the wort. Bagged ice can carry an awful lot of beer killing nasties with it, and it's just not worth the risk of contamination.

JC

All excellent advice (thank you) and I agree - dumping a bunch of ice into the wort is a terrible idea. You're just asking to spoil your batch of brew.

The next go-round batch that I will brew will be in another 6 weeks or so where the outside temps and subsequently the tap water should have cooled significantly. I'm betting that will help quite a bit.

Originally Posted by VatorMan

An hour and a half WITH a wort chiller ? OK-A little lesson in thermodynamics. The larger the area you expose to the cool coils of the chiller will enhance the cooling effect. In other words, the chiller MUST be totally immersed in the wort to work effectively. Water flow is next. The higher the volume of water, the greater the heat transfer. turn that shit on man ! Don't bogart the water during chilling.

I should give you a little more detail on what was happening while I was cooling it:

- It was 90 degrees outside, and my running water temp was probably around ~75.
- Pot was kept covered to lessen the chance of airborne nasties getting in.

The wort chiller was fully immersed with high water flow - the water coming out of the wort chiller was cold so there was definitely enough flow. The temp came down from 200+ boiling to 140 very quickly. The 140 to about 75 is what took a long time.

Do you guys not cover the pot when you're cooling the wort? That would speed things up a bit but I'm worried about anything airborne getting in.




ETA: There is a nice layer of foam in the carboy with quite a bit of co2 coming out of the airlock, so fermentation is going well it appears!

[Method]

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

I'm going to be trying my first batch in a couple of weeks, our basement temp is almost down to the desired range.

Right on - it's a bit harder with it being so hot outside - it's much easier to regulate temps with the heat on as opposed to the AC.