First Brew in a long time. Advice or Recomendations Please

[andytambo]

hello all brewers.
Newby here so please be kind.

I am about to brew an American Pale Ale and would like some advice please. I live in Melbourne,so its quite chilly atm
Its an American Pale Ale, ESP kit 3.7kg. Have been told its a popular taste
Will chuck it in to make up 23 lts. I was also advised to throw in some Cascade hops straight into the wort (25 gm) and let it settle to the bottom for the entirety of the fermentation.
I have a heat pad base and a side heat pad. I intend to use the side pad as I have read its not ideal to heat the trub using a base heat pad.
Any thoughts ?
Cheers
ps. Love the forum. just brilliant.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

I'm brand new to, so just saying hi seeing as no one has responded to your post yet. Good luck with the beer, I'm sure it will be great. I'm drinking my first home brew now, a Belgium Triple. It's surprisingly good considering I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I cant believe how much I've learnt already with the help of some great people on here.

 

[kadmium]

Howdy and welcome to the forums!

I would not suggest adding the Cascade for so long. I would suggest adding them about 3 days before you plan on packaging your beer. Any longer than 5 days you may start to get a vegetative flavour.

Good luck, and see you in 2 weeks when you drop another grand on "essential stuff" lol

 

[YAPN]

Throwing loose hop pellets into the fermenter has never worked for me. I tie them into a length of nylon stocking, neutral colour, from the supermarket. Gently squeeze and remove from fermenter before bottling/kegging.

 

[planner]

Andytambo

I'm a big fan of Cascade. I generally wait a few days (3-4) after pitching yeast to put them in, but I have dropped them in at pitching with no real difference.
I agree with YAPN loose hops "can" cause drama later, get yourself a stocking, hop bag or hop bomb (I'm using these now and love them).

Sounds like it should be a good beer anyway.

Cheers
Planner

 

[Woong]

Could try steeping the hops. Boil a couple of litres of water, turn of heat, chuck hops in for 20 minutes then cool pot in icy water and strain into fermenter. Good luck

 

[andytambo]

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys. Decided to use a hop bag and throw in for three days before bottling. So many options

 

[kadmium]

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys. Decided to use a hop bag and throw in for three days before bottling. So many options

It's gonna be delicious man. Don't stress

 

[philrob]

You'll be fine. By the way, Cascade is a great hop, a classic for American style pale ales, and one of my favourites.
I have often dry hopped just by throwing them in loose, and not had any major problems.
However, one of my recent brews was an IIPA, so I had loads of hops to use. I used a hop bag, and that worked out great.

 

[andytambo]

Thanks guys. Getting a hop bag tomorrow and just purchased a temp controller and heat pad. Told the wife it’s worth it in the long run as will save lots of $$$$

 

[kadmium]

Thanks guys. Getting a hop bag tomorrow and just purchased a temp controller and heat pad. Told the wife it’s worth it in the long run as will save lots of $$$$

That's what I said, right after spending close to $2k on brewing equipment. Told her it cost around $500