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I'm looking at getting into homebrewing my own beer. Who else is doing it? I'm looking for some beginner tips, supplies, suppliers, etc... I tried googling a bit, and haven't seen too many beginner setups and stuff....

I've got a set-up, but have gotten around to messing with it yet.

Bubba,

I have been homebrewing for many years.

Step One:  Buy "The Joy of Homebrewing" by Papazian

This book has many good recipes and the first several chapters give great advice on everything from homebrewing from extract syrups through full grain brewing.  Try a recipe that uses a pilsner yeast first.  The lager yeast require cooler temperatures for proper fermentation.  Also, if you can use fresh hops--they are better than the pellets.

HINT:   When you are boiling the wort do not take your eyes off the pot for too long.  A boil over onto your cooktop will create a carmelized mess that will be worse than any soda machine mess you have ever cleaned up!  :veryangry: Been there, done that!  :censored:

Step Two:  Buy a gallon of bleach

Everything that comes in contact with your beer during the brewing, fermentation and bottling process must be absolutely clean.   :down: I thought that it was no big deal when I first got started and I ended up dumping 10 gallons of beer down the drain.  :darn:

The good news is that there is nothing that can grow in beer that can kill you but bacteria will foul the taste of the beer even if it looks like perfect brew--that is what happened to me.  When I am working with my homebrew brewing, fermenting or bottling; I always keep one side of the kitchen sink filled with a bleach water solution.  Anything that touches the beer should be sanitized and rinsed first.

Step Three:  Buy two or three 5 or 6 gallon carboys.

The carboy's work better than the buckets although both will work.  The glass is easier to keep clean and it allows you to see what is happening in your beer during fermentation.  If you watch the classifieds for beer making or wine making equipment you can usually find them cheap.

Step Four:  Start collecting bottles that are not screw off tops.

Sam Adams bottles work well and the long necks will fit a lot of soda machines.  If you live in a state that requires bottle/can deposits you can exchange your pop cans for the glass bottles that you need.  There is no reason to buy new bottles if you don't mind cleaning them.  Bottling can be a time consuming process when you figure that a five gallon batch will result in 60 twelve oz. bottles of beer.  What I have resorted to is using the 22 oz. Sam Adams bottles.  Fewer bottles to fill when bottling and lets face it--you are going to have more than one beer!  :drinking:

Step Five:  Always keep your bottles clean.

If you are going to empty those Sam Adams bottles for your home brew--make sure to rinse them out very well immediately after consumption.  You can soak them in the laundry tub overnight to get the labels and glue off.  A plastic scouring pad works well to get everything off.  Then you can run the bottles through the dishwasher on high heat.  Stand them on end on the posts in the bottom rack.  You can time the cleaning of the bottles for when you are bottling but make sure that bottles cool before bottling.

Step Six--this one is the hardest:  Avoid the temptation to drink your home brew too soon.

You need to allow the beer time to carbonate and finish in the bottles--at least 6 weeks--8 to ten weeks is even better.  If you drink it too soon it will taste okay but not as good as it will if you wait.  Plus, your home brew will keep for a long time if you store it away from sunlight and in a cool place like your basement.

Step Seven--lather, rinse, repeat!

Have fun with the hobby.  The hardest thing about homebrewing is all of the cleaning and the amount of time it takes.   :happydrinkers: :drinking: :happydrinkers:

Let me know if you have any questions.  I am happy to assist if I can!

Tim

I used to do this and got all my stuff from Williams Brewing.  One thing I was glad I bought was a wort chiller.  It cooled down the mixture quickly, using circulated water through a coil.  The thing hooked up to your sink faucet.

www.williamsbrewing.com

Thanks for the info Tim.... I was wondering about all the cleaning.... I saw a kit on line that had the carboys.... I was looking at getting a starter kit...

You can't crimp caps onto a twist off bottle? What color bottles do you use?? I guess brown if its Sam Adams...

What is the blowoff?? I've seen a few different types...


Thanks for the link Wayne...

OK... I got my goodies to start making beer. I got this starter kit...

I was doing some reading, and got a few questions... I got a kit for brewing American Ale... all ingredients included...

This brewing kit came with a fermenting bucket and a carboy.... All the instructions they sent all involve the pail. Does the carboy get used the same way instead of the bucket? I don't want to create a bottle bomb...

Storage-- During fermentation, it should be in a cool dark place away from sunlight and florescent... I guess a closet is a better place? I probably have to move this 40 feet to the kitchen each time for transferring.

What comes out of the blowoff? Liquid or gas? How strong is the smell? The closet I'm thinking of is in the bedroom..

I think the cleaning has been burned into my head. I also think I can make one of those wort chillers at work for a whole lot less...

Hopefully, I'll be starting my first batch by the weekend..  :hopefull:

Bubba,

The blow-off that they are referring to is the initial fermentation "boil".  About 24 hours after you pitch the yeast into the wort, the yeast will begin multiplying and fermenting the beer.  The first few days the "activity" of the process will be very vigorous and the wort will almost look like it is boiling.  During this process, the yeast is releasing a lot of CO2 as it consumes the sugars in the wort and converts them to alcohol.  If you are using the carboy for your primary fermentation vessel it will be important to install a blow-off tube during the first few days as a heavy layer of foam will appear on top of the wort and depending on the level of the liquid in the carboy--it can boil over.  During the first few days of fermentation, I keep the carboy on the kitchen counter near the sink.  I usually run a blow-off tube through the hole in the stopper and connect a length of clear hose to the tube.  I then place the other end of the hose in a container of water in the sink.  This will allow the CO2 to escape without allowing outside air back into the carboy.  The container of water will also catch any liquid that might bubble out of the hose.  Once the fermentation settles down and the foam layer shrinks, you can remove the blow-off hose, install the air-lock and move the carboy out of the way of the "War Department".

Being that the kit only has one carboy, I would use that for the secondary fermentation stage (I will explain later).  It sounds like the bucket has a lid with a center hole in the top.  If that is correct, you should be able to fashion a blow-off tube that will work for that.  After the fermentation settles down a bit you should be able to install the air-lock on the bucket.  The CO2 that is released does have a slight odor of hops but it is not overbearing.

I usually do a secondary fermentation stage after about two weeks.  At that time the fermentation in the bucket will have settled down quite a bit but the air lock will be releasing CO2 bubbles several times a minute.  The main reason that I like to do a secondary fermentation is to transfer the wort and remove the large layer of spent yeast that will have accumulated at the bottom of the bucket.  This will not hurt your beer if you don't do it but it will eliminate some of the clean-up after bottling.   After I transfer the liquid over to the carboy, I usually place the bung in the top and give the carboy a few good shakes.  Don't drop it or you will have one hell of a mess!  This will stimulate the wort a bit and get the fermentation going again.  Do not bottle the beer until the air-lock stops bubbling or at least until it is 3 to 5 minutes between bubbles.  Your beer will be sweet if you do not allow for full fermentation of the sugars.

A good trick to keep sunlight from getting to the carboy is to take a brown paper grocery bag and cut a hole in the center of the bottom that will allow the air-lock and neck of the carboy to pass through.  The bag will jacket the carboy and prevent exposure to sunlight.  You can do the same thing with the bucket as well.

If you are going to place the bucket/carboy in the closet, just make sure that the air-lock has water in it and that the fermentation has settled down so you don't have any boil over.  I don't know that I would recommend a clothes closet as the hops scent may cling to clothing.  If the bucket/carboy is covered with a brown paper grocery bag you will just need to find a cool place that is out of the way.  Also, the place should not be too cool.  You are brewing an ale.  Ale yeasts will stop fermenting if the temperature gets much below 60 degrees.  This is called stuck fermentation--it will start up again when the temp of the liquid gets back up over 60 degrees.

To answer the question on your previous post--you can not place a new crown on the twist off bottles.  Sam Adams bottles or other micro-brew bottles are usually the old style bottles.  I like brown bottles.

Hope this helps.  PM me if you have any other questions.

Tim  :drinking: :drinking: :drinking:

PS--I might just run out an pick up a batch of ingredients to make some beer this week now that you got me thinking about it!

Bubba,

Here is a link to a post I made about re-filling bottles.  This may be helpful when you get ready to bottle.

http://soda-machines.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,29/topic,8738.msg65415/#msg65415

Tim

Thanks for the info Tim... I guess I'll do the primary fermenting in the bucket and transfer into the carboy. The bucket did come with a blowoff setup for the bucket as well. I'll prepare to start it this weekend. I need to get a wash tub still and thats about it I think.

I'll let you know when the brew has started....

Tim,

Your answers are interesting.  I couldn't stop reading it. 

If you make a batch, maybe you should take a few still shots of the process and post them or have them to P.M. someone later.  It seems there is always a post on brewing poping up now and then. 

I'll stick to the mass produced store bought brew for now.

Larry

I found this site a guy posted with steps on brewing.. decent info in here..

http://cruisenews.net/brewing/partial_mash/page1.php

Very nice site.

Bubba,

That is a good site and the instructions are pretty good.  I have never used a wort chiller as I typically brew in the winter and I can just take the covered wort pot and set it out side in a snow bank until it cools.

I also do not like the hop pellets.  Your kit is probably pre-hopped grain extract.  If you want to use more hops spring for the leaf hops--they are fresher and give better taste.  You can also place them in little gauze bags (available at your brewing supply store) so they can be placed in the wort for the correct amount of time and then easily removed.

Have fun and remember--"The best beer in the world is the one you are holding in your hand!"

Tim  :happydrinkers: :drinking: :happydrinkers:

My kit does have some pellets in it. I haven't read through all the kit instructions yet. It came with the gauze bag to float everything it.. Would it help to crush the pellets?

OK.. Today is brew day... Gotta run out and get some last minute things, then its cooking time... One last thing I haven't seen clarified. Does the airlock or blow off get sanitized water or regular water?

Hops question--the pellets will dissolve once they hit the brewing pot.

The air-lock and or blow-off hose should be sanitized but regular tap water will work.  Some people actually use vodka in the airlock but I think that is overkill.  The blow-off end of the blow-off hose can be placed in tupperware (or similar container) filled with tap water.  I do that because the foam and other stuff that usually blows off will make a mess of the sink when it dries.  The water container just traps all of that so you can dump it down the drain!

Good luck--watch the stove when you are brewing--it is one helluva mess if you have a boil over.  Similar to cleaning up an old pop machine with a lot of spilled Coke in it!

Well, I made my first batch today, and unfortunately, I got a big "F".

I got all done cooking, cooled it down, poured it into the carboy and just as I was taking a hydrometer reading, I broke the glass on the hydrometer. It fell into my carboy, and I couldn't read it. I was able to fish it out with a piece of hose, and I figured I'd push it into the hose a bit so I could pull it out after reading it. The hydrometer broke and the bits of glass fell into the beer. I ended up dumping my whole batch since I didn't want to risk a small piece of glass getting into a bottle. :darn: I was soo pissed that I almost put my fist through a wall. I was smart enough to realize I'd have to patch the hole, so I stopped myself. There was a whole lot of cursing and I went outside and kicked my garbage can across the back yard... That was 8hrs ago, and I've kinda cooled off a bit. I don't have any local supply houses around here, so now I have to order more supplies and try again. I guess it could have been worse.. I could have fermented a few weeks and realized I had screwed up somewhere else.. At least it was only 4 hrs I wasted...  :censored: :censored:

Hey Ken,
Well at least you learned something. So you going to call the first batch "Kick the can"?
It will sort out!!
Creighton

Not to beat a dead horse (or get you kicking the can again), but couldn't you have strained it through cheesecloth or strainer or combination of the two?

Bubba,

I think all homebrewers have been there before and you did the right thing.  You can't take the risk of straining the beer because you never know.  You don't want that first taste of homebrew to send you to the hospital!  Sorry about the loss :down: That is a lot of work to have to go through for no reward!

When I was in college my roommate, a chemical engineering student, had a job in the QC lab at Stroh's.  One night he came home from work and was just shaking his head.  When I asked him what was wrong he said, "The crowner on one of the bottling lines was using too much force on the bottles and was causing the tops of the bottles to chip.  We had to dump an entire shift of bottled beer down the drain!"  :jawdrop:

It almost brought a tear to my eye!

You will want to look into getting one of these:

Hydrometer Test Jar

http://store.homebrewheaven.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=hombre&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=809337794&Count2=726478219&CategoryID=56&Target=products.asp&OVRAW=homebrewing+supplies

and/or

Beer Thief

http://store.homebrewheaven.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=hombre&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=809337794&Count2=726478219&CategoryID=56&Target=products.asp&OVRAW=homebrewing+supplies

I have both.  The beer thief is great for pulling a sample from the carboy.  Make sure that it is sanitized and rinsed before you use it.  Also, I don't recommend putting the sample back into the carboy when you are done.  It is good to see that you were planning on taking specific gravity readings of the brew though.  That is the best way to tell when the beer is ready to bottle.

"Kick the Can Ale" sounds like a great idea for the name of your first batch.  Maybe somebody could take your picture kicking the garbage can for the label!   :tounge:

Tim

Kick the Can Ale... I like that. I was trying to decide what flavor to buy for this 2nd try... I think I'll buy the same one and make some labels...

I thought about straining it all kinds of ways, but I just couldn't be comfortable enough to serve it to someone knowing that there may be a sliver of glass in it. The tube is a very thin glass and broke into even smaller pieces. I saw a few of the slivers in my hand..


I'm going to look into the beer thief. I think its one of the better tools to have. I did notice a few things I should get to make the next batch easier.

Glass is just sand!
I used to know a guy in college that would take bites out of glasses and chew it up and swallow it.
I never tried, but I saw him successfully do it many times.
Kitchen equipment, like the strainers used to remove even the smallest of impurities (bones) from stocks, should be sufficient.
But I can understand your concern!

Well, round 2 was a success (so far). Mixed up another batch today (**cough cough**- I took a sick day today). The next challenging thing for me was to find a spot to let if ferment in that remained a good 68-72 degrees. I ended up putting it in the tub in one bathroom and putting a small electric heater in with it. My house is usually 68 max.

Can the sanitizer be saved for a week or so if I cap it off?

Ken,

Good to hear that your first minor mishap did not deter you from becoming a brewmaster!  Not sure what you mean by "Can the sanitizer be saved"?

On the temp, it should be alright as long as it stays above 60.  If it goes below that and it stops bubbling, just move it to a warmer area and the fermentation will start right back up.

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Glad it is going well!! Need to try that one of these days. When SMC Stout and Kick the Can Ale are released I'm up for a couple of bottles each :-)
Creighton

 

I'll take a picture of my  bathtub... its kinda funny looking. My son also stayed home from school sick, so we made root beer also.. Thats fermenting in the tub as well. . :laugh:   :help:   :happydrinkers:

I mixed up a few gallons of the no rinse sanitizer. Can I just seal the bucket and use it again when I get ready to go into stage 2 or just dump it and start over.

The yeast said to maintain 68-72 degrees... It would probably get down about 66-67.. I decided to brew in the pail for stage 1 then go into the carboy for the rest. The bucket has much more bubbling room. I used an airlock instead of a tube into a bucket. No problem with foaming?


LOL at Creighton.. we'll see how this batch turns out..

Ken,

Not familiar with that product as I usually use bleach water as my sanitizer and then rinse with hot water.  I would suspect that if there is sanitizer in there it should still be good.  If the stuff is not too expensive, I'm not sure I would take the risk!

Bacteria + Fermenting Beer =  :darn: :veryangry:

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Its more for the convenience than the money. I need to check the hydro in a week and didn't want to mix up a batch for that. I guess I could just mix some bleach to to that. I'd hate to screw it up now.. after all, I've got bubbles!  :biggrin:

well, stage one is complete I think. Bubbles have all but stopped. I thought it was supposed to be 8-10 days, but re-reading the paperwork that came with the kit says 3-7 days. I'll take a hydrometer reading tonight and see where we are at. It says to go right into the bottles using a fermenting sugar, but it also mentions other options and to talk to my local brew supplier for info. Should I go to bottles now, or a 2nd stage fermenting? Will it hurt anything if I leave it in the stage 1 fermenter for a few more days? I don't have a few hours at night to spend on bottling until the weekend, but I could spend an hour or 2 transferring to another container. Going into stage 2, do I need to add anything?

Ken,

If it is not too late, I would suggest going to a secondary fermentation.  I would be very surprised if the fermentation is complete.  It may have slowed way down, but I can't believe it is done.  What was the initial specific gravity reading?  And where are you today?

If you have not already bottled, transfer to the carboy, place the stopper in it, cover the hole with your thumb and give the carboy a couple of vigorous shakes.  Allow, CO2 to escape from the carboy and then place the airlock and let it set for another week or two.  I don't usually bottle until the bubbles are coming through the air lock at a rate of less than 1 per five minutes.  Don't forget the paper bag trick and do not let the carboy get too cool.

Let me know when you are ready to botltle and I can give you a few short cuts.

Tim

I haven't touched it yet. I didn't have a whole lot of time, and I talked with a few people who also said to leave it in primary for 10 days at least before opening it up to take a SG reading. I started at 1.042. I'll pop it open this week and see what it looks like. I turned down the heat to see what that will do. I was able to maintain 70, but I'll just let it alone for now. This weekend I'll get it into stage 2. The timing actually works better for me anyway. I don't want to rush it.

Good idea!  The biggest problem with getting into homebrewing is that you have a tendency to rush the first batch.  When you grab a sample for the SG reading, you can also taste that sample.  It obviously will not be carbonated but it will taste like beer.  If you can taste a sweetness at all, it is not done fermenting.

One thing that I forgot to mention is to keep a log of notes on each batch including the type, amounts and brands of the ingredients.  That way if you like the way it turned out you can make it again.  I just looked back at a few of the batches that I have made over the years and the final SG's were all around 1.01 or lower.

The last batch that I brewed was in primary fermentation for 12 days and in secondary fermentation for about 6 weeks.  On that batch, the starting SG was 1.076 and the final SG was 1.015.  Approx. 6.4% alcohol!  :tounge:

You will also want to give the beer at least 6 to 8 weeks to finish in the bottles before you start cracking them out for all of your friends!  This batch should be a prime drinkability around Kentucky Derby time!

Patience is a very important ingredient to beer!

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

This first batch was in a kit with all ingredients. I wrote the starting sg and date and I'll keep track of the major events. I plan on sampling it when I take my reading this weekend. Depending on how it tastes so far, I may gear up to start a 2nd batch. That should give me enough time in the secondary before bottling. I was kinda hoping to start drinking at the end of Feb. Maybe not? Once its bottled, does it get chilled immediately, or still maintain the same temps? I need to plan my storage for that. To easy to reach will probably be a bad thing.

I like the thought of the high alcohol content.. Thats something to look forward to. I really want to do a lager, but hear they are a bit tricky. I'll probably do a few more ales before I start moving up.

If you got any good beginner recipes, lemme know. I'd like to give some others a shot.

Once it is bottled, you will want to keep it in an area where it will stay above 60 for a bit.  If it is a five gallon batch and you are using 12 oz. bottles you will end up with about 2.5 cases of beer at the most so it won't take up too much space.  The reason that you want to keep the temp at fermenting level is to carbonate the beer.  Before you bottle you will add a bit of priming sugar to restart the fermentation in the bottles.  That creates the carbonation.  After about a week or so, I usually move the bottled beer down to the basement.  I only refrigerate my beer prior to drinking.

What kind of beers do you like?  I can recommend a few that have turned out well for me.

 :drinking: Tim  :drinking:

I like most lagers. My favorite store beer is Molson Canadian.... I also like some IPA.. not sure what to expect from the American Ale I'm brewing...

I've got the priming sugar. I thought my package said to just pour into the bottom of the bucket, then rack into it. This will mix it without adding too much oxygen from stirring.. I also read somewhere about mixing it with water and boiling it first. As far as bottle storage, my basement is mostly climate controlled, so it would be around 68, but has fluorescent lights.. I read thats a bad thing..

Excuse my ignorance - but if the light is a problem, couldn't you just put a blanket or tarp over the cases of bottles?

The lights should not be a problem if the beer is in brown bottles.  Of course, covering it up would not hurt either.

I am going to use brown bottles. I didn't know how serious the florescent lights were.. I guess I am being overly cautious. 

Getting a step closer.. Took my FG reading this morning... 1.009 @68 degrees. The range was supposed to be 1.010-1.014. I racked into the carboy and filled the air lock with Vodka... not sure if that was a good idea, but I read others doing that. I also sampled it, and it tasted pretty good.. seemed a bit on the watered down side, but that could be no carbonation.. I'm going to get another brew going... Thinking about a blonde Ale.. Do you have anything in your recipe book for that?

Well, I went ahead and ordered another kit today... They didn't have anything blonde, but I did get a red..  :biggrin: Hoepfully I'll have it in time to brew this weekend.

I also am getting ready to bottle the first batch. Don't know if I'll have time this weekend, but next weekend for sure. What kind of tips do you have? I have a bottling bucket, a filler tube and a load of bottles.. I've seen people saying yes and no to sanitzing the bottle caps... what do you recommend?

Bottling time has come... Sat is the day. I plan on loading the dishwasher tonight with my bottles and run the high temp cycle to sanitize the bottles. Hopefully that will be good enough. You said you had some extra tips to help speed things along... Here is my equipment list..

Bottling bucket with spigot.
Bottle filler tube
Racking tube
winged hand capper

Here is the process I think I need to do..

1. Sanitize everything

2. Boil sugar and cool.

3. Pour sugar mix into bottling bucket.

4. Rack from carboy into bottling bucket, leaving as much funk behind as possible. Racking into the bottling bucket is supposed to mix the sugar without having to add too much oxygen.

5. put hose on spigot and filling tube.

6. start filling bottles.

Questions...

Do you fill all then cap or do it in a batch? do you put the caps on the bottles after filling each bottle or just leave them open till ready to cap.

Do you sanitize the caps? I've read comments on both ways...

How far do you fill the bottles?



I also plan on brewing the next batch. Is it advisable to have both going at the same time, or do one then the other? I don't think I'll have a helper..

On the subject of brewing. I don't have gas burner, so it takes forever to heat the water and keep the boil going... In this case, is it better to brew it a bit longer or is it not that critical. 

 

Bubba,

Sorry I did not respond last night.  Your process looks good.  I would advise against having a batch going and bottling at the same time because you are going to have to get the carboy and everything else cleaned up for the next batch and that will take a bit of time.  Plus you don't want to have a boil over while you are bottling or you will have a real mess on your hands.

Your process looks good and one of the tips I was going to give was boiling the priming sugar in a quart of water and adding it to the beer--as you are doing.  Some kits tell you to put a small amount of priming sugar in each bottle and that takes too much time.  I would suggest that you gently stir the beer once it is combined with the priming mix in the bucket.  This will evenly distribute the priming sugar throughout the batch.

To the questions:

1.  I usually place all  of the clean bottles in the beer case-keeps the bottles from moving around.  I then fill all of the bottles before capping.  There is enough alcohol in the beer at this point that there is less risk of contamination plus all of the bottles have been cleaned.

2.  I usually sanitize the caps by dropping them in a tub of bleach water and then rinsing with cold water.  Then I lay them out on some paper towels to dry while I am filling the bottles.  Better safe than sorry.

3.  Assuming that you are using long-neck bottles 12 or 22 oz.  I usually fill the bottles up to about 1.5 inches from the top.  It is good to have some overhead lighting when filling the bottles because the beer rises quick when the filling gets to the neck.  That amount of air space will give the beer room to release some carbonation when it is opened without bubbling over.

Another tip--if you end up with enough beer to only partially fill a bottle at the end go ahead and cap that bottle as well.  I usually use that bottle as the test bottle about 8 weeks after bottling to see if the beer is ready to drink.

On the burner question--I have an electric stove top as well.  I prefer gas but the "War Department" vetoed that when we were building the house.  The length of the boil is not that critical, it is just important to make sure that all of the sugars are completely dissolved.

And remember--you have to have a beer or two while bottling!!! :drinking: :happydrinkers:

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Well, my bottling was successful...  I think.. I got everything capped,and nothing leaked.... But I only ended up with 47 bottles... I know I was pretty generous when disposing of the trub, but didn't think I was that generous. Of course I sampled, and it did taste pretty good. Much better than 2 weeks ago... For the amount that wouldn't fill a complete bottle, I ended up drinking it..  :happydrinkers: my FG was a bit lower than it should have been.. not sure why, but it was 2 points less.

I completed the bottling, then started the next brew. It was much better doing it that way...When I was done, OG was right on the money.. As far as not having enough time for cleaning,  I have 2 fermenters.. I am using the bucket for the primary again. Its got more headroom.. My carboy is only 5 gal and my bucket is 6.5 gal at least.

I don't think I can wait 8 weeks for bottle conditioning... I think in another 8 weeks, I'm going to have 2 cases of empties..

Well, the first batch (american ale) has been a success!... Its been in the bottle for 3 weeks, and it tastes pretty damn good.. I'm really impressed. Batch 2 (red ale) is a week into the secondary and looking pretty. Batch 3 (Belgian Triple)  just got cooked today.. The first 2 batches were made on the electric stove with a 2 gal boil. Todays batch was made in the garage with a turkey fryer and a 4 gal boil. It was interesting to do this batch today with a big boil, but it went well. It was a high gravity (1.088) OG. Luckily, I made a starter batch of yeast, so I should be good. This time I'm using a blowoff tube instead of the airlock. I'm expecting a big fermenting to take place.

WOW--Sounds like you are really into the new hobby!

If the first batch taste good as 3 weeks it will be even better in about 5 more!

 :drinking: Tim  :drinking:

Yeah.... I'm loving it.. unfortunately, everyone wants to taste it and it goes quick.. I wish there was a local HBS so I didn't have to mail order everything.. Its an expensive hobby to try to keep ahead of.. I've been warned by the war department to slow down a bit..

I just went to the fridge to grab a Molson and the fridge was bare--but I did find a 22 oz bottle of my last batch of homebrew.   :drinking: A Czech Pilsner modeled after Pilsner Urquell. :drinking:  Still good but I overcarbonated this batch so it is very hard to pour without a foam over.

It got me thinking--

Bubba--How is the first batch now that is has had time to finish?  Or did you finish it before it finished?  :biggrin: :laugh: 8)

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Well, its almost gone.  :drinking: I'm trying really hard to hold onto a 6 pack for a while. I think I'm down to 9 left.. For the most part, it tastes really good and consistent. I've had one or 2 that tasted a bit different, but all in all I'm very satisfied with the first batch. I've got batch 2 going into bottles on Sat I hope. If I'm ambitious enough, I'll rack batch 3 to secondary, but I may leave it another week in primary.. It started out as a 1.09 and after 2 weeks, still getting a bubble here and there.. I am really looking forward to the Belgian Tripple, so I don't want to rush it. I'm thinking of getting 2 more batches going so I can leave this one with plenty of time to cure.. Right now, it smells awesome.

Do you have any good extract Kolsch recipes? I've got a buddy that loves Alaskan Summer Ale, but he can't get it in NJ...

Well, the homebrewing is still moving along... Just bought another 2 kits to cook when I get a chance.. I ended up making a logo. I have a bunch that I will be giving out on Sat and thought a label would dress it up nicely... I found a template for some hang tags.... I made this logo in photoshop.. not bad for a rookie I think...

I have it in layers, so depending on what type of beer I'm hanging it on, I can change the bottom that says homebrew..

That is great!!
Creighton

Excellent Label!

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Nice label Ken, but doesn't ATF prohibit the use of cartoon characters on alcohol or tobacco products.
You trying to appeal to the kids?  :tounge:  :Oo:  :biggrin:

I know they banned Joe Camel, but I didn't know Franklin was banned also.. I guess if I ever go commercial I'll have to change it..  :biggrin:  till then...  :happydrinkers: