Need More Beer!

[zoidbergmerc]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker and first time poster. I'm pretty new to brewing so please excuse the newbie questions.

I've been making beer now for about 6 months and been having a blast just using kits, extracts and hop tea bags, plus I've either been doing it right or have been very lucky as I havn't had a bad batch yet . ATM I'm making an Amber Ale which is very sweet and has a very hard caramel hit in the first mouthful which is nice, plus it's nice and sweet so the Mrs likes it too. Also making a wheat beer, trying to copy Moo Brew's Hefeweizen (Don't know if you get that on the mainland) and while I'm ages away from the taste I'm after I'm still making a really nice beer.

But I recently obtained a new housemate and now my beer consumption rate has doubled, plus he drinks a few beers too, so the obvious thing to do is to brew more beer, so I got my self a couple of 60L fermenters, I just have to ask, if I'm making a 46L batch as opposed to a 23L batch, I simply double the ingredients and that's it? Do I double the yeast as well or is that unnessasary?

Also, I was talking to some yokel at the pub the other day who also makes his own beer with Kits and he was saying my method for brewing was totally wrong and he was suprised it works at all. What I do it just get 5L of hot (not boiling) water into my fermenter and then add the extracts into that and stir it around until it's all dissolved then fill the fermenter with cold filtered water untill it's up to 23L by this time it's at 24 degrees so I add the yeast to the top of the wort and then seal him up. Then come back when the fermentation is done and bottle it. Should I be doing something different? I'm at the moment under the mentality "If it aint broke don't fix it"

I'm looking to get into all grain but I don't know any one in tassie that does it so I can look at their set up, though I have been to seven sheds brewery and had a look around there, his setup is really good and he's a top bloke to boot, but apart from that I'm a little on my own and the local home brew shop guy isn't very approachable...

Thanks in advance for the help guys.

Cheers,

Zoid

 

[bum]

Also, I was talking to some yokel at the pub the other day who also makes his own beer with Kits and he was saying my method for brewing was totally wrong and he was suprised it works at all. What I do it just get 5L of hot (not boiling) water into my fermenter and then add the extracts into that and stir it around until it's all dissolved then fill the fermenter with cold filtered water untill it's up to 23L by this time it's at 24 degrees so I add the yeast to the top of the wort and then seal him up. Then come back when the fermentation is done and bottle it. Should I be doing something different? I'm at the moment under the mentality "If it aint broke don't fix it"

There's ways you could possibly refine this process but, as you say, if it is working for you then you must be doing something right (or close enough anyway). Did he mention how he does it? I'm just wondering how differently he does it that he can't see how your method would even work.

 

[zoidbergmerc]

There's ways you could possibly refine this process but, as you say, if it is working for you then you must be doing something right (or close enough anyway). Did he mention how he does it? I'm just wondering how differently he does it that he can't see how your method would even work.

He didn't elaborate on how he did his but I was under the impression he added his extracts to the water in a pot and added his hops and stuff in there then poured it into the fermenter, seemed just like extra washing up to me.

How would you recommend I refine this process?

 

[Nick JD]

You're doing it right.

 

[bum]

Did you tell him you use pre-bittered kits or did you just say extract as above - somewhat different processes for each. If he assumed you weren't using kits he'd have been quite right to think that.

I wouldn't suggest any improvements as it is working for you and nothing there that is inherently 'wrong'. We can all probably improve our methods in this forum, I'd say. The day I stop trying is probably the day I'll stop brewing. Anyway, there is plenty to read around here if you do want to find some ways you can do things differently.

 

[bum]

You're doing it right.

You're the last person I'd expect to imply there is only one way to do things.

 

[zoidbergmerc]

Right, well thanks for the heads up there, I use both the pre-bittered kits and LME.

But the big question I wanted answered was with the double batch, can I just double the ingredients and it'll all be fine just fine?

 

[thesunsettree]

Right, well thanks for the heads up there, I use both the pre-bittered kits and LME.

But the big question I wanted answered was with the double batch, can I just double the ingredients and it'll all be fine just fine?

hi mate,

in short, yes. doing kits, just double it all, refine recipe later after tasting end product - u may want to adjust hop balance blah blah, there maybe someone whole will dispute the yeast content but ur hardly gonna piss around with part pkts. chuck 2 in u'll be fine, when u build up the courage do yeast rehydration, u will notice the difference immediately. if u can't drink i'll give u ur money back (not really :beerbang: ). above all ask questions, this is an awesome forum where more knowlegble ppl than me will aid with great assistance

brew on
matt

 

[Bribie G]

Yes use the two packets. You might find an improvement in the quality of the beer if you try some 'better' yeasts. There's nothing basically wrong with the kit yeasts but they are really designed to be very flexible and hard to kill at the hands of total newbies. In your case, as you obviously have the procedure well under control, you could maybe look at buying in some US-05 or 1056 which make good ales and lager types as well, and keep the fermentation below 20 which shouldn't be too hard in the Apple Isle. Although that involves some $$ up front you can run the yeast on for a few brews to minimise the cost. Also you can get it in cheaper packs from some HB suppliers online - example (no affiliation). It travels ok by mail.

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

so the obvious thing to do is to brew more beer, so I got my self a couple of 60L fermenters, I just have to ask, if I'm making a 46L batch as opposed to a 23L batch, I simply double the ingredients and that's it? Do I double the yeast as well or is that unnessasary?
Zoid

I dont think anyone has answered ur question about scaling up (or down if wanted to) a recipe.

yes just scale it. so if the recipe is for 22L normally, for a 44L recipe just double it. thats assuming your beer is balanced in the first place (right hop to malt ratio ie not to bitter or not too sweet for the style of beer). and yes you'd use more yeast, so 2 packets. or if you trebeled the recipe then 3 packs of yeast etc etc

 

[thesunsettree]

hi mate,

in short, yes. doing kits, just double it all, refine recipe later after tasting end product - u may want to adjust hop balance blah blah, there maybe someone whole will dispute the yeast content but ur hardly gonna piss around with part pkts. chuck 2 in u'll be fine, when u build up the courage do yeast rehydration, u will notice the difference immediately. if u can't drink i'll give u ur money back (not really :beerbang: ). above all ask questions, this is an awesome forum where more knowlegble ppl than me will aid with great assistance

brew on
matt

sorry city,

thats what i thought i meant by - just double it
and - u may want to adjust
and - use 2 yeasts

maybe i mis-represented myself

cheers
matt

 

[brettprevans]

sorry city,

thats what i thought i meant by - just double it
and - u may want to adjust
and - use 2 yeasts

maybe i mis-represented myself

cheers
matt

nup your right, i read your post poorly.

 

[thesunsettree]

nup your right, i read your post poorly.

lol , all good

 

[Nick JD]

You're the last person I'd expect to imply there is only one way to do things.

There's plenty of ways to do it right.

It's taken me nearly forty years to learn how to wipe a bum.

 

[thesunsettree]

There's plenty of ways to do it right.

It's taken me nearly forty years to learn how to wipe a bum.

meow

 

[bum]

You're doing it wrong. You're scrunching when you should be folding.

 

[zoidbergmerc]

I fold for the first one and scrunch after that.

Thanks for all the heads up guys, I'll take the advice, esp about the speciality yeast and proboally invest in some next time I'm at the HBS.

I might be getting into AG sooner rather than later as I'm pretty handy with a welder and I can score a lot of the metal, pipes, fittings and pumps from work.

My dad is also the agronomist for a large hop farm and said he can get me some fresh hops when ever as well as some Barley, unmalted though, so how would I go about malting barley? Dad explained it to me so I know the science behind it all but I don't know the best way to do, I was thinking just spread it out on a large tray and put a few mm (read: not ML) of water in it and let the sun dry it out.

Also with the hops, if I get them fresh can I just put them in a bag and boil them in some water to extract the AA and add that to my brew (for my current kit\extracts setup), or do I have to dry them out?

 

[Hatchy]

Slightly off topic here but I've got a 60L fermenter but have only brewed 23L batches in it, I've only just discovered the beauty that is bulk priming & I'm not sure how to go about bulk priming it without aerating it. I've measured my fermenting fridge in anticipation of getting it here & it'll fit a 60L fermenter but not 2 30L. I've thought maybe having the fridge slightly elevated so I can bulk prime in cubes. I also thought about some sort of a block & tackle setup with another 60L fermenter but I'm not sure that would be the cheapest or easiest method.

I'm also wondering if anyone else has seen a question about how best to malt barley in the kits & extracts section.

 

[bum]

Slightly off topic here but I've got a 60L fermenter but have only brewed 23L batches in it, I've only just discovered the beauty that is bulk priming & I'm not sure how to go about bulk priming it without aerating it. I've measured my fermenting fridge in anticipation of getting it here & it'll fit a 60L fermenter but not 2 30L. I've thought maybe having the fridge slightly elevated so I can bulk prime in cubes. I also thought about some sort of a block & tackle setup with another 60L fermenter but I'm not sure that would be the cheapest or easiest method.

Bulk priming without aerating is dead easy. You just need to attach a length of suitable hose to the tap of your fermenter and run it to the bottom of your bottling bucket (bulk priming vessel). Don't forget to sanitise everything.

You don't need to keep you bulk priming vessel in your fermenting fridge so I'm not sure where those other concerns came from.

I'm also wondering if anyone else has seen a question about how best to malt barley in the kits & extracts section.

I'd suggest not since the use of malted barley would move you out of kit/extract brewing and into AG/Partials. There's a few threads on malting your own up in those sections, should be pretty easy to find with a search.

 

[Hatchy]

Bulk priming without aerating is dead easy. You just need to attach a length of suitable hose to the tap of your fermenter and run it to the bottom of your bottling bucket (bulk priming vessel). Don't forget to sanitise everything.

You don't need to keep you bulk priming vessel in your fermenting fridge so I'm not sure where those other concerns came from.

Sorry, I just reread my post (sober) & realised I worded it quite poorly. My problem is that I'm looking to do 46L batches in my fridge once I get it here. The tap on the fermenter will be too low to be able to get another 60L fermenter under it for bulk priming & I don't feel that I can lift 46L of beer to a suitable height to get another 60L fermenter under it without aerating the beer. I'm not sure if this post makes any more sense, I've got a mental picture of my problem, I'm just struggling to get it worded right.