another first timer!

[jaymzica]

now im getting confused with all this boil and times to boil.
haha just as i think i understand a heaps of whats happening i keen reading and get even more confused :/

 

[wbosher]

If you're just going to do a kit beer (which I recommend), you don't need to worry about all that just yet. Concentrate on the basics first.

I'm not saying don't read about it, just don't worry too much about fully understanding it all just yet.

 

[jaymzica]

its all going well at the moment bubbling away. im going to dry hop it tomorrow night, the take OG sample on wed and then again on thurs and hopefully ready for bottling on friday

 

[wbosher]

You'd be better off waiting for the fermentaion to finish before dry hopping. Otherwise all the hop aroma will likely be farted out with the CO2.

 

[Nedasaurus1]

That's what I'm doing right now. I'm a big noob, this is my first brew, but so far it's stayed a stable 20°, sometimes slipping down to 18° when it's particularly cold. Then again it's inside, in my kitchen area, which presumably doesn't vary wildly. But the goose feather doonah is definitely doing the job.

yep works for me. Im not new to kit brewing but im new to making nice Kit beer. I bought an stc1000 but havent wired it up yet but will do very soon. I wrap an old doona round my fv and it sits pretty well at 20.....last winter i had an electric blanket under the doona...that worked ok too but i cant wait for the stc1000. I couldnt beleive the difference temperature made to a beer.....amazing to say the least. yes you guys are in the right place to learn to make beer, cheers Ned

 

[jaymzica]

mine is sitting between 22 and 24 and hasnt changed.
i must admit i can see how homebrew can become such an addiction. I have had so much fun learning and reading about so much stuff. I cant wait to bottle my first brew this weekend then the worst part is waiting 4 weeks to taste!

Im already starting to think about what style im going to brew next!

 

[wbosher]

You really know you're buggered when you start brewing in your sleep. :lol:

 

[Bribie G]

You should get away without heating for a month or so yet in Victoria. If you have a well insulated brick area (garage, laundry etc) you can brew at ambient temperature for a while longer.

 

[Degraves]

You should get away without heating for a month or so yet in Victoria. If you have a well insulated brick area (garage, laundry etc) you can brew at ambient temperature for a while longer.

Come and visit Vickie and I, its bloody cold!

 

[jaymzica]

ok going to bottle first batch on sun.

now for the second brew im using extract. Ill have to do some more reading on what to do but now i gotta do some boiling.
I got 2 cans of malt extract
1 250g bag of sugar
3 diff kinds of hops
and a bag of grains!

Hope to get an IPA out of it.
I think i need a bigger pot for the boil as i only have a 4lt one.

 

[wombil]

Lo JAYMZICA,
I used an old fridge,not going ,as a fermenting fridge.It avoids big temperature fluctuations.
You can leave the door open when outside temp is 18/20 deg. and close it at night time to keep constant temp.
Bit of mucking about,got a STC-1000 now.

 

[jaymzica]

as far as im aware so far
steps are as follows.

I steep the grains for 15 mins, drain them then use the water from the grains to start the boil. Do i then throw in the 2 cans of coopers malt and the sugar?
Then start the timer for 60 mins. adding hops along the way at different parts of the boil?

 

[thedragon]

Jaymazica

The bigger the pot you have, the easier it'll be (less mess, less stress worrying about a boil over, less time spent cleaning up after the boil over). Is there a big-w in Greensborough? The $19, 20L stock pot has been the first choice for many first-timers - me included. A 4L pot will be challenging for you, especially if wanting to do a 60 min boil with hop additions.

When I was extract brewing I wasn't all that precise in my approach so I won't comment on whether you should add both cans to the boil, 1/2 a can or none. Check out the thread started by carniebrew - I think that it was called "brewing with extract" - as it should have all the info that you need.

Good luck mate.

 

[wbosher]

Get yourself a big pot mate, at least 20L, but personally I'd go much bigger. You can use it for extract, and also BIAB, if you want to go down that road at a later date.

 

[jaymzica]

bottled my first brew on sun was great fun. Can see how u can get over it quickly though. After if tried my IPA then i look at keg set ups i think.

 

[Scottye]

Good to hear jaymzica
I persisted with bottles for about 6 months. all the while convincing myself that I enjoyed the flexibility of having quite a number of different brews bottled. Easily bored. What I am finding now that I have 6 kegs in rotation is that I am struggling to work my through my stockpile of bottes. I have over 300 full ones and their are plenty of giveaways to family and friends.

How did you go with your full extract brew? Did you check out carniebrews post? I oven steep my spec grains for 30 minutes at 65oC. Normally about 250g in 1.5 litre of water. I strain into a bigger pot, tip the grains back into the original pot rinse and stir with another 1.5 litre of 65 -70oC water in the original pot. Strain again and then make up the boil volume to 6 litres and add about 1/3 can of malt extract. Bring to the boil and start the hop additions. The rest of the Malt goes into the FV when I'm ready.

 

[jaymzica]

thanks for the post VonScott.

I have all my ingredients, just need to get a pot, went down to my local shops and coudlnt find one big enough!
My next problem is when i finish my next full extract brew i have no bottles so i need to drink more packaged beer or buy some more swing tops.

My other concern now is fermenter temp. It will prob get to 15deg during night and closer to 22 duriing the day.
Otherwise i need to find an old bar fridge to store the fermenter in and close it up at night and leave open during the day.
It is rather expensive to start up but i can see ther benifits.

Ive priced up a keg setup, gas bottle with gas, 20lt keg, regulator, hoses and a good quality gun is going to set me back about $500!

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

@jaymzica - have a look at this http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/60922-2-pot-stovetop-ag-with-lauter/?hl=%2Bbabbs+%2Bsystem+%2Bwars

It's what I did when I was in Brissie, and I brewed good beer with pretty ghetto cheap equipment.