How do you brew from Start to Finish?

[Guest]

Hi guys.

 

I know I've only been on the forum a relatively short time, but I do enjoy the conversations & responses from you all. We talk about recipes & ideas & do's & don'ts etc.. but I know very little about the equipment that each of us on the forum here uses to make their brews, control temperatures during brewing, bottling techniques, storage etc...etc...

 

I gave this a bit of thought, & decided on the following questions as being the most pertinent to ask. (If you are interested in answering this thread, please try to be as brief as you can).

 

1). What size Fermenter do you usually brew in?

 

2). How long is your usual primary ferment period?

 

3). Do you like to cook all of your fermentable ingredients? If not, which ones do you cook, & which ones do you purely add into your Fermenter?

 

4). Where do you cook ingredients? (On a stove or on a burner setup?)

 

5). Would you consider yourself primarily a "Mash Brewer", an "Extract Brewer", or a "Kit Brewer"? (Feel free to elaborate)

 

6). Do you believe in the benefits of "Dry Hopping" over completely cooking all of your hops? If so, a good example & why?

 

7). What device(s) do you use to temperature control your fermenting brews & why it works so well for you?

 

8). Are you a "Bottler", or a "Kegger"?

 

9). What is your absolute favourite style of beer (list only 1!) & your favourite/best recipe you have made of that style.

 

That'll do for now. [biggrin]

 

I'd enjoy reading everyone's replies. [cool]

 

Cheers,

 

Beer.

[Hairy]

1) I use the Coopers DIY fermenter, whatever size that is.

 

2) usually 2 weeks, sometimes 3 if I am lazy.

 

3) I don't boil the kit. If extract I do a 5-6 litre boil and a 12 litre boil for partials.

 

4) On the stove

 

5) I am currently a partial mash brewer.

 

6) I do both. Dry hop and boil hops. Although I always do a hop boil but don't always dry hop.

 

7) I have a fridge and a heat pad hooked up to a Tempmate controller.

 

8) I bottle.

 

9) probably American Pale Ales but have a thing for IPAs at the moment.

 

I also like pina coladas and taking walks in the rain [innocent]

[AdamH1525226084]

Hmmmm my wife would say I am hairy, and my answers are similar to Hairys.... [unsure]

 

 

1). The DIY one - I think it's 25 L

 

2). about 2 weeks

 

3). Only specialty grains

 

4). Stove

 

5). Extract and kit at the moment

 

6). Oh yeah. Weggl's Amber Yak I dry hopped with NS and it was oh-so-good. Also dry hopped the Coopers Steam beer recipe, and my just bottled IPA. I like to do a good mix of times to get every facet of the hops [happy]

 

7). The 10A one from Keg King hooked into a fridge. I have a heat belt in there which is around two terracotta pots to make it an even heat (works sweet as)

 

8). "Bottler"

 

9). Not possible as it changes every day. The three are Porter, Dunkelweizen and India Pale Ale. Have a Porter conditioning (and just bottled an IPA. Will do a dunkel soon, have done a hefeweizen and it was really good.

 

[DylanI]

Hey Beerlust (cool name by the way) here's my details:

 

1) old 25L Coopers fermenter, the one that has an airlock, for fermenting. I tap into a Coopers DIY one for bulk priming/bottling.

 

2) Usually 10-14 days (sooner in bottle, sooner in belly).

 

3) I boil what I've extracted from specialty grains + any dry malt. Typically 5L boils.

 

4) Stove (setting up for outside).

 

5) Extract/Kit/specialty grains (soon to be all grain).

 

6) Hop boils. I'm not convinced by dry hopping, but I occasionally test my hypothesis that it's not worth it.

 

7) I have a heat pad, but I rarely use it. In winter I wrap my fermenter with a blanket (trapping in some heat produced during fermentation). You can sit a hot water bottle inside the blanket if you're feeling generous. In summer , I sit the fermenter in the laundry sink 1/2 submerged in water, cover with a wet tea towel, and use a fan (evaporative cooling). You can rotate icepacks between sink and freezer if desired. Both winter/summer methods work well and cost next to nothing.

 

8) I bottle, but dream of having a keg setup.

 

9) I love hoppy, malty American beers. An example of a black IPA that I made can be found here. Recipe is a combination of post #2 and post #8 on this thread.

 

[Guest]

Hiya AdamH.

 

I just saw your "Poita Porta" label from your Porter link.

 

Bahahahahahahahahahaha! [lol]

[PhilboBaggins]

1.) 30L

 

2.) 14 Days

 

3.) All grain - Yes! Kits n bits - only the bits that need it (wort from steeped grains and hops. Cans of goo and powders go straight in.)

 

4.) Stove

 

5.) Mash brewer - haven't used a kit for a few months now [innocent] [love]

 

6.) Yes. Because you can make your beer as hoppy as you like without worrying about bitterness. ANY heat applied to hops will extract at least SOME bitterness. With dry hopping you can throw 100s of gs at your brew without making you go [pinched]

 

7.) Brew belt on a timer, but just got the father in law to wire up a controller for my fridge.

 

8.) Have bottled for years and won't be changing any time soon.

 

9.) Copy & Paste Hairy's response. Nicest APA was an AG with 10% wheat with Cascade, Citra & Amarillo (about 4 additions of each [w00t] [w00t] [w00t])

 

Glad you started the thread BL. You get a feel for everyone's preferences over the different posts, but it will be interesting to have a compilation all in one spot. Cheerz.

 

Phil.

[Jimmy]

1) I use the Coopers FV with the screw-on lid.

 

2) Between a week and two weeks, depending. I always try to give the yeast a few days to clean up after itself.

 

3) Not really. I mean, I always dissolve the ingredients in freshly boiled water or wort, but I don't really go out of my way to specifically boil stuff.

 

4) On a stove.

 

5) I almost always mash or steep grains and add hops to soup up my kits. I love to experiment.

 

6) My personal experience is that dry hopping does seem to add more aroma than boiled hops. I've yet to try adding hops at flameout, though.

 

7) None. I just try to keep the temperature in my bedroom at 20 degrees. Unfortunately this means that I can't brew in summer. [crying]

 

8) Bottler. I use both PET and glass bottles.

 

9) Probably a tie between Stout and IPA.

 

Thanks for starting the survey, I enjoy answering stuff like this. [cool]

[LordEoin]

1). 33l, closed, airlock

 

2). 14 days

 

3). all straight to FV

 

4). additional flavors boiled on the kitchen electric hob

 

5). Kit

 

6). depends on what you're going for. dry hop for aroma, boil for bittering.

if i buy commercial beer, i generally make a strong hop tea and add it to the bottle as i go.

 

7). my PC, it keeps my room at a steady 18-20 with the door closed, open window in summer

 

8). all 500ml brown glass bottles

 

9). Wheetbeer. rind of 2xorange and 1 tsp coriander boiled for 10 minutes.

[Silverthorn]

My needs are a little unique due to my work life and my consumption rate. (I do love my beer)

 

I travel very often for work frequently flying out on Mon and returning on Fri. But am always at home on a weekend so I prefer to spend that time with my family. I wanted a home brew setup that would allow me to have great beer on tap without it taking too much of my valuable time and it had to be ready to bottle/keg in 7 days EXACTLY, every time. I was after predictable, repeatable results that fitted my lifestyle and I am ever so happy with the outcome. I have a single fridge setup on the veranda next to the BBQ with the freezer maintaining 4deg for drinking beer and the fridge holding 22 to 24 deg for fermenting and ageing. My brewing routine takes about 15 min of a Sunday evening. The only exception to this is the occasional "Speciality Beer" that I brew and bottle when I have time. I allow these to age and sort of collect them for "Tasting Sessions" around the BBQ. For these very rare brews everything below goes out the door and I use more conventional methods.

 

1). What size Fermenter do you usually brew in?

 

The Coopers DIY and I brew APA to 25 litres.

 

2). How long is your usual primary ferment period?

 

Always 7 days. No Hydrometer or testing SG at all any more, I've never had a problem and the beer always comes out the same. Obviously I used a hydrometer during the period I was getting the routine down but have not used one for a long time. At some time either friday night or Saturday I give the sides of the FV a good wack to help settle any sediment in suspension. On a Sunday night while my wife cooks dinner I make beer. By the time she has dinner on the table I have washed and sterilised the kegs, filled the kegs, washed and sterilised the FV and set the next batch in motion. Usually in 15 to 20min. I also found that by keeping everything "wet" cleaning was a breeze. So when I finish a keg I just keep it sealed until brew day and I always start a fresh batch in the FV immediately. I also believe that by brewing in a fridge and keeping the door shut the CO2 fills the fridge extending it's protective envelope beyond the FV creating a better barrier against infection.

 

3). Do you like to cook all of your fermentable ingredients? If not, which ones do you cook, & which ones do you purely add into your Fermenter?

 

Never cook at all. It's kinda a wham bam thank you mam thing :)

 

5). Would you consider yourself primarily a "Mash Brewer", an "Extract Brewer", or a "Kit Brewer"? (Feel free to elaborate)

 

Kit and always the Australian Pail Ail with BE2

 

6). Do you believe in the benefits of "Dry Hopping" over completely cooking all of your hops? If so, a good example & why?

 

I do believe but I don't do :)

 

7). What device(s) do you use to temperature control your fermenting brews & why it works so well for you?

 

eBay temp controllers on fridge. I have the probe of the fridge controller in the freezer set at 4 deg to maintain the serving temp. This just happens to maintain the fridge section at 18 to 24 deg. I did try with the probe in the fridge but while I got better FV temps the serving beer was constantly freezing. Maintaining serving temp in the freezer gives me perfect serving temp with fermentation temps within an acceptable range for the style of beer. I thought at first that I may have needed a heat pad during winter but to date I've not had a problem year round.

 

8). Are you a "Bottler", or a "Kegger"?

 

Keg into 6 litre home made kegs that fit in my freezer. I have 12 of them to allow 1 batch ageing 1 batch drinking and 1 set of empty kegs ready for the next batch. I make my own CO2 in a three stage self regulating gizmo that runs off baking soda and white vinegar and costs less than a buck a keg to dispense the beer. First stage holds 6 litres of vinegar second stage the baking soda and the third stage holds activated carbon to remove any off tastes from the gas.

 

9). What is your absolute favourite style of beer (list only 1!) & your favourite/best recipe you have made of that style.

 

Coopers Australian Pale Ale with BE2 to 25 ltrs and secondary fermentation in the keg using malt. I can force carbonate if I need to but like the subtle enhanced flavour of a naturally carbonated beer (particularly with malt).

[Muddy Waters]

1). What size Fermenter do you usually brew in?

 

I think most of my fermentors are 25L - I also have an old 30L Coopers FV but it is too short and fat to fit in my brewing fridge so it doesn't get used (I may have even tossed it out???)

 

2). How long is your usual primary ferment period?

 

2 weeks as a general rule of thumb. 1 week for fermentation and 1 week for the yeast to spring clean and for the beer to clear. I usually CC during and maybe beyond this period up until about the day before bottling.

 

If you are bottling before say about day 10 you really aren't doing yourself any favours. With a bit of care and patience your beer can be excellent rather than just good or drinkable.

 

3). Do you like to cook all of your fermentable ingredients? If not, which ones do you cook, & which ones do you purely add into your Fermenter?

 

I boil whatever is necessary for my recipe and generally add the rest of my fermentables at the end of the boil and then strain the lot into my FV. Liquid malt I'd probably just add straight to the FV. Depends how I feel on the day really [biggrin]

 

4). Where do you cook ingredients? (On a stove or on a burner setup?)

 

On a gas cook top.

 

5). Would you consider yourself primarily a "Mash Brewer", an "Extract Brewer", or a "Kit Brewer"? (Feel free to elaborate)

 

Primarily extract.

 

6). Do you believe in the benefits of "Dry Hopping" over completely cooking all of your hops? If so, a good example & why?

 

Both of these methods are part of the process and I don't think one is better than the other as they serve different purposes. I'll boil hops for bitterness and some flavour and then I'll also make late hop additions and dry hop.

 

7). What device(s) do you use to temperature control your fermenting brews & why it works so well for you?

 

Brewing fridge and a TempMate which heats and cools - Fridge takes care of the cooling and a light globe in a terracotta cylinder takes care of the heating. Why does it work so well for me? Well, it keeps the beer at the temp I want.

 

8). Are you a "Bottler", or a "Kegger"?

 

Bottler with dreams of kegging. I haven't made the change due to space and I don't really drink enough to keg (and I have a sneaking suspicion that I may drink too much if I have a beer tap of goodness on hand. I know I would be forever topping up my glass when SWMBO leaves the room.

 

9). What is your absolute favourite style of beer (list only 1!) & your favourite/best recipe you have made of that style.

 

American Pale Ale - hands down [love]

[Guest]

I wanted a home brew setup that would allow me to have great beer on tap without it taking too much of my valuable time and it had to be ready to bottle/keg in 7 days EXACTLY, every time. I was after predictable, repeatable results that fitted my lifestyle and I am ever so happy with the outcome.

 

Always 7 days. No Hydrometer or testing SG at all any more, I've never had a problem and the beer always comes out the same.

 

oh my!!

 

Lucky you are a kegger then. This is rather poor practice and while it may work for you I wouldnt advise this sort of blanket approach (especially if bottling)

 

What if the yeast stalls? etc... there are so many variables even with the same simple recipe.

 

Hay, if it works for YOU, then congrats, not great practice in general though.

 

Yob

 

[Guest]

1). What size Fermenter do you usually brew in?

 

I brew in 4 x 30L FV and have a spare in case of bulk priming or the need to rack the beer. Usually not all are in use at once.

 

2). How long is your usual primary ferment period?

 

Usually 2-3 weeks for Ales and CC for a few days after. However, this also depends how lazy I am and what my life time table agrees with. At the moment I have 2 FV that has been finished for about 6 weeks now. Am hoping to keg them on Saturday.

 

3). Do you like to cook all of your fermentable ingredients? If not, which ones do you cook, & which ones do you purely add into your Fermenter?

 

Considering I now only do AG I "cook" everything.

 

4). Where do you cook ingredients? (On a stove or on a burner setup?)

 

In a Crown Urn

 

5). Would you consider yourself primarily a "Mash Brewer", an "Extract Brewer", or a "Kit Brewer"? (Feel free to elaborate)

 

"Mash Brewer" (AG - BIAB)

 

6). Do you believe in the benefits of "Dry Hopping" over completely cooking all of your hops? If so, a good example & why?

 

All methods you mentioned have their own purpose in any recipe. Depending on the recipe requirements as to what is warranted.

 

7). What device(s) do you use to temperature control your fermenting brews & why it works so well for you?

 

I have a couple of brew fridges with temperature control units I made up. In both fridges are Reptile Heat Cords to help regulate the heating.

 

8). Are you a "Bottler", or a "Kegger"?

 

I brew 26L at a time. I bottle 6-8 bottles and keg the remainder.

 

9). What is your absolute favourite style of beer (list only 1!) & your favourite/best recipe you have made of that style.

 

I agree with Muddy here. It is pretty hard to go past an American Pale Ale

 

[Guest]

1). What size Fermenter do you usually brew in?

 

25lt

 

2). How long is your usual primary ferment period?

 

Ales = 3 weeks, 1 to ferment, 1 to clean 1 to Cold Condition

 

3). Do you like to cook all of your fermentable ingredients? If not, which ones do you cook, & which ones do you purely add into your Fermenter?

 

AG Everything gets 'cooked'

 

4). Where do you cook ingredients? (On a stove or on a burner setup?)

 

3 ring Burner on a custom made Ford Rim Burner Stand [love]

 

5). Would you consider yourself primarily a "Mash Brewer", an "Extract Brewer", or a "Kit Brewer"? (Feel free to elaborate)

 

Mash nowdays but I was quite mad for Partials prior to AG

 

6). Do you believe in the benefits of "Dry Hopping" over completely cooking all of your hops? If so, a good example & why?

 

Dry hopping? Hell yes, it adds something that steeped hops cannot, volitiles are blown away in seconds of contact with boiling liquor. Hopping at different times allows for different compounds to be utilised.

 

7). What device(s) do you use to temperature control your fermenting brews & why it works so well for you?

 

4 fridges - 4 Temp Controllers (STC-1000) and Heat Pads

 

8). Are you a "Bottler", or a "Kegger"?

 

300+ 750ml bottles + 5 Kegs (as Yet Un-used)

 

9). What is your absolute favourite style of beer (list only 1!) & your favourite/best recipe you have made of that style.

 

APA - AIPA - IIPA

 

 

[Guest]

Gee Jesse, you really need to do something about those 5 kegs. Project for the very near future perhaps?

Could always knock over one of those fridges and bung a tap in it. Then when you get something more suited for what you want, plug the hole and convert back for fermenting [innocent]

[AdamH1525226084]

Hiya AdamH.

 

I just saw your "Poita Porta" label from your Porter link.

 

Bahahahahahahahahahaha! [lol]

 

[biggrin] am yet to actually print them out as it's not quite ready to drink yet. I must get onto that though

[Otto Von Blotto]

Hey Beerlust,

Interesting reading through the replies, pretty cool little survey too!

Anyway, for me it's:

 

1) I believe it's 30 litres

 

2) Usually I leave ales in primary for two weeks, 1 to ferment and another week to clear up etc. Lagers 3-4 weeks.

 

3) I boil hops when required with addition of some malt + crystal/other grains if used in about 7 litres of water. I don't boil kits.

 

4) On the stove in a 12 litre stock pot.

 

5) I brew from kits and also all extract recipes at the moment, but will be moving into all grain (Mashing) soon. I usually add specialty grains and always add hops.

 

6) I do believe it, but I rarely do it myself. I'm not a massive "hop head", so I don't really worry too much about dry hopping. I will steep them on occasions though. My beers are still a crapload more flavoursome than megaswill garbage though.[lol]

 

7) In summer, I sit my fermenter up on blocks in a pot plant saucer so the tap can sit over the edge, and simply wrap a towel around it, pour cold water over it, and then put cold water + ice into the saucer itself. In winter I use a heat belt overnight if brewing ales, otherwise I just brew lagers with no temp control.

 

8) Bottler. Glass all the way baby!

 

9) Well, my favourite style is Amber Ale, but as I haven't really made a decent one yet, I'd have to say my favourite/best recipe I've made is Neill's Centenarillo Ale. It's an American Pale Ale and it rocks! I've made a couple of variations since that aren't half bad either.

 

[biggrin]

[Guest]

Project for the very near future perhaps?

 

Sorry for the Off Topic:

 

The very near future mate, one of my 4 fridges was recently purchased so as to make one available for this purpose..

 

got myself 4 Andale taps (real cheap), all I need is the shanks QD's and lines... and the build [ninja]

 

[Guest]

Hiya guys.

 

Great posts so far. It's really fascinating to me, all the little differences we have, & the intricate ways we each go about our brewing. [cool]

 

Well it wouldn't be fair if I didn't add my own reply in here now would it? [roll]

 

1). I ferment in a 30 litre Fermenter.

 

2). Up until joining this forum, it was always 7 days at temps of 21-27\xb0C. I now intend to brew on a 2 week minimum cycle at temperatures primarily below 20\xb0C. (My current sub 20\xb0C brew is still bubbling today. Today being day 7 in primary ferment). [happy]

 

3). I currently only cook my hop additives. Everything else gets bunged straight in the fermenter.

 

4). As I'm only cooking hops at the moment with my brewing, a small 3 litre or so saucepan on my stove does the job.

 

5). I'm certainly only a 'Kit Brewer' at the moment, but will move onto extract & partial mash brews as soon as I feel my knowledge is at the right level.

 

6). I have dry hopped as well as completely cooking my added hops, but never the two together. I originally posed the question to see if there was a definite flavour/aroma distinction between dry hopping & "flame out" or late added hops into a cook.

 

But hey, if you're a self-confessed hop-head like AdamH, why take a chance that a certain timing entry of hops might actually fail, just cover them all! Hehehe! [lol]

 

7). As mentioned above, up until recently I've only ever brewed in the 21-27\xb0C range so a heat mat in winter is all I've ever needed equipment-wise. That's all about to change very soon though when I purchase my wine cooler/fridge. [biggrin]

 

8). I'm a bottler with ambitions to one day moving into kegging.

 

9). My favourite style of beer are Pale Ales of all descriptions, with a liking for a good Amber Ale in the winter time. [love]

 

I've really enjoyed reading the posts so far. A lot of good humor mixed in with a lot of sound knowledge to learn from.

 

Keep 'em comin'.

 

Beer.

[*****]

My needs are a little unique due to my work life and my consumption rate. (I do love my beer)

+1 for the straight kit and kilo Mr Silverthorn.

I'd love to see some pics of these kegs [cool] .

 

I work with a bloke who has been doing home brew for over 20 years. When I started and came to an understanding of the process I quickly believed his method, two cans Coopers Draught, 2 kilo of sugar, 46 litres H20, at 24'C, no hydrometer and keg after 7 days was flawed. I convinced him to go for the Pale Ale and he even used BE2 throughout the winter. When summer came around his Pale Ale didn't turn out so good and he reverted to Draught and home brand sugar. To appease me he throws in a different brew every third batch, eg Real Ale, Black & Tan but always with plain sugar. I convinced him two months ago to have a crack at an EB with all malt extract, he'll be tapping that keg soon I hope its good.

 

Anyway, to conclude, what I'm saying is after 20 years he obviously knows what he want's to brew and can recognise shite when he makes it. He always tells me he did a homebrew course with a former Cascade brewer and was told "you can get all fancy with your set-up but it\u2019s hard to beat the straight out Coopers kit"

 

[*****]

Having said all that, I must now confess.

 

1/ 2 Coopers DIY fermenters

 

2/ Now that I have a huge stock, minimum 2 weeks.

 

3/ Steep speciality grains then boil and add hops as per schedule.

Malt extracts and sugars into FV as well as dry hops.

 

4/ Steep in oven set at 60'C and boil flat out on the Missus' electric cooktop.

 

5/ Kit and Extract Brewer. At present the time and quality of the process are to my personal liking.

 

6/ I'm sceptical, but I still do it. I'm just unsure of the efficiency of say a 3 minute boil of 25g vs throwing 25g into an 18'C wort. But if you need more, like double that's not an issue as for me it's not about cheap beer.

 

7/ Copper Tun heat pad with a Hong Kong temp controller with probe, straight off the power point. Haven't got summer sorted yet, I have a fridge but it's in the shed and I like to brew inside. I use coke bottles full of ice to control temp at 18'C for the first 4 days.

 

8/ Keg mid strengths up to 4.2%, maybe the odd 4.6% but bottle (in glass) for everything above that up to 8% for the ESVA and the like.

 

9/ Even though winter has been dominated with English Bitters it has to be American Pale Ale, LCPA clone, Mornington Pale ale and even the Real Fat Yak.

 

10/ Why isn't there a ten [lol]. Well yes it should be about yeast. I am now using Wyeast smack packs and rinsing up to four times. Currently in rotation are 1275 and 1056. But I am about to put down two Aussie Pale Ales, one using the Coopers kit as a base and one full extract. For these I will be downing - few Coopers Pale Ales and re-culturing that commercial yeast.

[GrahamB8]

 

1). What size Fermenter do you usually brew in?

 

30l usually

 

2). How long is your usual primary ferment period?

 

3 weeks minimum

 

3). Do you like to cook all of your fermentable ingredients? If not, which ones do you cook, & which ones do you purely add into your Fermenter?

 

I cook all un-canned fermentables

 

4). Where do you cook ingredients? (On a stove or on a burner setup?)

 

HP burner for full boils, stove for everything else

 

5). Would you consider yourself primarily a "Mash Brewer", an "Extract Brewer", or a "Kit Brewer"? (Feel free to elaborate)

 

Mash 80% of the time, I still like throwing down extracts

 

6). Do you believe in the benefits of "Dry Hopping" over completely cooking all of your hops? If so, a good example & why?

 

Yes, because dry hopping adds hop aroma

 

7). What device(s) do you use to temperature control your fermenting brews & why it works so well for you?

 

Reptile thermostat and a large chest freezer - I like the size of it and I can also lager in it. I like the thermostat because its cheap and no wiring involved

 

8). Are you a "Bottler", or a "Kegger"?

 

Kegs but also bottle excess beer that wont fit in the keg

 

9). What is your absolute favourite style of beer (list only 1!) & your favourite/best recipe you have made of that style.

 

Dubbel - 1.070 wort, 250g Special B, 250g dark crystal, 100g Victory, 500g candi sugar, 40g Hallertau, WPL500.