Newbie brewer who is super confused

[dad_of_jon]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I haven't seen many recipes that are for partial mash so I will have to look into this a bit further, as only really seem to see stuff about All Grain or Extract! Maybe the book will help me on that front when it arrives.

I would ideally like to go to a higher volume of brew but am very space and time limited, with a one year old doing his best to trash the house on a daily basis. We have a small larder that I can keep the Bubbler in OK but a larger FV I would struggle to store as any other space is taken up with toys! Guess I would also need a bigger kettle as well, and this current one fills up the stove top as it is, so I wonder if I could even get a kettle that would fit on the stove and be able to maintain heat from the bottom properly for an hour.

Oh and I have looked at that guide to All Grain and it makes it sound very simple indeed, compared to other descriptions/recipes I have read, so I intend to give that a go, in a few brews time.

I am space and time limited, so I do a reduced size boil and do extract with a partial mash (sometimes).

here's the recipe for risky business - brewdog liked it

Malt & Sugar:
2kg very dark dme
2kg medium dme
500g dwe
250g dark candi sugar

Grains:

250g choc
250g carafa special III
250g roasted barley
500g dark crystal


steeping in 2 litres chase spring water
strike temp 76.8 - mash/steep temp 65
rinsed with 2 litres water at 50 degrees
added 4 litres to boil
and 4kg dme and candi sugar boiled for 15 min
50g mandarina bavaria in 1 litre of water separate 15 min boil
all pitched into fv and final 500g DWE stirred in.
topped up to 22 litres(determined to end up with 20 litres of beer) = 60 x 33cl bottles!

Mj belgian ale yeast rehydrated in 150ml 30deg water
pitched at 29 degrees - fermenting at 22
og 1090 - fg 1011.
10.37%

tastes very drinkable out of the sample jar, rich chocolate hints with dark fruits and sherry hints. Super now!
fabulous level of sweetness - not sickly balanced with a light bitterness. superb.
what a fantastic dessert beer :-)
primed with 150g sugar

also you can substitute pale malt with extra light or light dried malt extract to only have to steep specialty grians.

 

[Herman Bloom]

I think I am going to come back with multiple questions on that recipe, as still learning the lingo! So the actual boil was eight litres (two for the steeping, two for rinsing and then added four litres after that)?

 

[GerritT]

About the foaming and the boil-over: it's the foam that causes the boil-over. I carefully spoon the foam off into a cup or whatever lies around until it boils (without the dreaded boil-over), then I feed the foam back, carefully. Works every time, wish I'd think of it every time though

Keep on brewing lads, a brew mistake is not really a mistake if you learn from it!

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

There are some great books out there. Greg Hughes, Palmer how to Brew and many many more. At least for me brewing has almost become an obsession. I'm so happy that we have these forums to talk and give and learn because if not I'd be driving my girlfriend nuts (already am a little bit)

 

[dan125]

I stir the foam back into the brew but some Forum members apparently:

• Spray the foam with plain water to keep the level below the "boil-over" level.
• Lift the foam off with a spoon for the same reason and throw it away.

I looked up the last three words to see what they meant and will continue to stir it in.

I've never tried the spraying thing but have always skimmed the foam off - just doesn't look like the type of stuff I want in my beer. I felt somewhat justified when I read Gordon Strong's book - Mastering Homebrew, as he likens it to a chef skimming the impurities off a stock as it comes to the boil.
It probably makes no noticable different, but I hope that if I make enough small improvements....

 

[Herman Bloom]

First brew success!

Hi guys, cracked open a bottle of my first brew at the weekend. it was a Chinook IPA recipe and despite my (and my friend's) trepidation and expectation that it would be total garbage, it tasted pretty good. "Bit blown away by this mate, I thought it would be awful" was the quote I am taking from my friend and using on all marketing materials going forward....

Only got four and a half bottles of it, so already half gone as shared another bottle yesterday with family members who actually got me the starter kit a few months back, so it really is a limited run, but it is nice that it turned out well despite me floundering around throughout the brew and siphoning.

Second brew is looking pretty good at this stage. Just over a week gone and the yeasy substance (i know there is a technical name for it) at the top of the brew that was there in the first brew for almost 14 days, is pretty much gone on this one. Because I messed up with the gravity reading it is all a bit of a "look and hope" system though! Soaking the oak chips in the Bourbon tonight and add that to the mixture. Then bottling on Sunday with a bit of luck.

Will do more reading this week and start to work on ideas for the third brew. Also wondering about some kind of Christmas Ale that I can brew early/mid November.

 

[Zephyr259]

Always great when the first beer exceeds expectations, I still remember that too. Word you're looking for is krausen. :-)

Hope the next one is better than the first.

 

[Herman Bloom]

Thanks very much. I will try and log that name as well, as it will come up for each brew!

How do people log their brew day activities? Just a notebook? Both these brews have had different things happen to them so thinking I should get organised before I forget about what happened!

 

[Dutto]

I keep running Diaries on the computer - one for Beer and a second one for Wine and Cider.

I also keep a File for Recipes and keep a record of "reality" alongside each recipe. This is because in many (most?) instances what I set out to achieve is like trying to knit fog so I log "reality" just in case it turns out better than expected!

 

[Herman Bloom]

That sounds like a plan, will see if I can find a good file system for Android as will have my phone on me whilst doing brews so maybe best to have it on that. Then I can add the details as they happen.

 

[Zephyr259]

I use the grainfather recipe builder online, I'll go back and edit the recipe's efficiency and the yeast's average attenuation to match what I got. It also keeps a log of your brew sessions.

But my go to for info is my handwritten brew log in an A4+ hardback notebook, all brew info is in there along with a log of what happened during the brew and then tasting notes and thoughts for how to change if I re-brewed it. Now that I'm starting to build my own recipes and trying to hit various targets I'm referring to previous data a lot and it's very helpful. Also a good improvement exercise as if the info isn't there in an old brew and it would have been helpful I'll start recording it for future brews.

 

[GerritT]

Spreadsheet in google docs online. Same sheet where I keep track of inventory. I haven't built own recipes really, mostly replicated from books and the like.

 

[Herman Bloom]

Thanks guys, I will look into Google Docs and if not I will just go get a notebook. Only worry I have with the notebook is I leave it on the bench and then, like the recipe with the last brew, a boilover means it is wrecked!

 

[GerritT]

Thanks guys, I will look into Google Docs and if not I will just go get a notebook. Only worry I have with the notebook is I leave it on the bench and then, like the recipe with the last brew, a boilover means it is wrecked!

The advantage is, the formulas for calculating ABV, IBU and SRM are wellknown, and can be easily implemented.
Spreadsheets are not databases but can be used as such in a friendlier way.

 

[Dutto]

........... Only worry I have with the notebook is I leave it on the bench and then, like the recipe with the last brew, a boilover means it is wrecked!

I use two Files on the computer:

1. Recipes by Year.
2. Diary of Brews by Year.

I only ever print off the Recipe, take that into the garage with me and fill out the "reality" wherever it differs from "the plan".

After I've done the Brew I modify the Recipe page with the "reality" of what happened in the brew and enter the basics into the Diary.

I use Apache Open Office which is a free programme off the Internet. It's available here ...

https://www.openoffice.org

I've been using it for many years and it does everything I need it to do since I retired and stopped buying Microsoft programmes!

Enjoy!

 

[Zephyr259]

I have my love book with never goes near a brew, during brew day I'll either have the print off from my water adjustments of a working notebook where I take rough notes that can then only be deciphered by me. I try and keep it away from the Grainfather but it does have the odd crispy page which has been dried.

Google docs and open office are probably a better plan but I'm old-fashioned and like hand writing things down. I've even started using fountain pens in the last couple of months.

 

[Herman Bloom]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I will look into Apache program and at the same time I am going to get a notebook. Seems prudent!

 

[stan.distortion]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I will look into Apache program and at the same time I am going to get a notebook. Seems prudent!

Lol, maybe a used toughbook, the more recent models are waterproof!

 

[DCBC]

Hi guys,

Forgive the large text dump here. I have been reading around on forums/reddit/websites and for each positions I see, I then see a different angle 30 minutes later! I am easily confused though. Anyway, here goes!

I was given a starter kit, small batch, for my 40th a little while ago. The kit was the following:

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/go-pro-small-batch-beer-brewing-kit

It come in US size 1.4 Gallon "Bubbler", which seems to be a specific trademarked bit of kit. Alongside it I was given a kettle that boils 7-ish litres (closer to 7.5 I guess) of liquid.

The kit came with all the ingredients to make a Chinook IPA. I struggled in a few places (not enough liquid in at the start, my fault, and had real trouble siphoning from kettle to Bubbler and then into bottles, myself, wife and father-in-law all struggled so not just on me there! Got a smaller auto siphon and that worked slightly better, I think there was just too little liquid in the Bubbler to get a good siphon going for the bottling). There are now five bottles in the larder a week or so away from tasting. So at this stage I have no idea if the beer is good or not, but gave it a taste prior to bottling and it seemed OK!

I followed the below recipe:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2...451427-1526674241535.pdf?13487688943730896590

Looking into my next brew I got myself very confused. US gallons seem different to UK ones, most recipes were for 5 gallon batches and I don't have the space/money for a bigger kettle to boil the liquid. Also the recipe had me steep the grains, but not mash, and I used Malt extract. So I am actually not sure if it was a Partial Mash, BiaB or Extract? I have asked the brew shop and online and received conflicting answers.

So, all in all, I got myself a bit worked up and just went for this for my second brew:

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/bourbon-barrel-porter-1-gallon-recipe-kit

It arrives later today and I plan to spend Saturday afternoon brewing. I have purchased a hydrometer as the kit didn't come with one, and a thermometer as well. Hopefully I will have better luck with the siphon and I will end up with a full one gallon batch. One that tastes good!

I have been reading How to Brew online and I get the fundamentals of what is going on, but then I look at recipes via the link here for Brewers Friend and I get a bit lost. So, I guess I am looking for general advice and also answers to the following:

1. What do you think my started kit is? BiaB? Extract? Something else?

2. If I stick with this kit (the Bubbler seemed very easy to use) and I want something other than the pre-prepared kits from Beerhawk like the one I have just bought. Do I go to Brewers Friend, search for one Gallon recipes and just pick something? (Not many of the one gallon recipes on there have any reviews, so I am not sure how to tell the "good" ones) I have also got a download from www.beercraftr.com which I assume works in a similar way.

3. I have a Bubbler, is that the same as a Carboy, Demijohn, Fermentor or are they all different (and if so is it based on size)?

4. Is Home Brew Beer by Hughes a good book on all this? I have about six websites and forums now bookmarked, plus here, plus Reddit. I think maybe a sit down with several cups of tea and a good book may stop me getting so confused?

5. When I was asking in a different place about siphoning, a couple of comments came back that I could just pour direct from Kettler into the Bubbler, no siphoning. Is seemed very odd to me but as a couple came back saying the same thing it is now another area I am confused about!

I have other questions, but this is getting silly so I will stop there. I actually really enjoyed the process of brewing, am a patient guy so the 2+2+2 thing I have seen a lot on here I am fine with (hence one week to go before I taste the beer properly), I think I have just had an overload on info from looking in too many places, and with the kit I have being a bit different to the norm, I have got confused when really the answers are simple? Maybe!

Anyway, any help you can give me would be great. And just shout if I have left out some important info.

Thanks

Hello Herman!

I am cherry-picking which bit to reply to as I haven't done kit brewing for a while, but in terms of book recommendations, I am well and truly down the all-grain brewing rabbit hole two years after starting and have numerous books and podcast subscriptions, but you honestly couldn't go wrong with the excellent 'Brew' by James Morton of Bake-Off fame (!). I still refer to it.

You will eventually graduate to 'How to Brew' by John Palmer which has a fairly new edition out (and is the bible of homebrewing). But 'Brew' is the perfect beginner-intermediate book.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I think I am going to come back with multiple questions on that recipe, as still learning the lingo! So the actual boil was eight litres (two for the steeping, two for rinsing and then added four litres after that)?

yes 8 litres. if the steep is a bit thick you could add up to a litre of additional water as long at the final amount in the fv is 22 litres it shouldn't make much difference.