New to brewing - I wish to master this Brew Master Practice

[Onebuck]

Hey All!
I have currently done my 1st 4 brews and am now wanting to better my skills. I have only started with the basic "Morgans home brew kit"and have been mixing the "Morgans Australian Lager" with "The Brew Shed Gemdex Beer Booster" which i enjoy but, i feel its not as clean and cripsy as i like. I'm not sure where to go from here, is there a different combination i can try or where do i go from here? I feel like im just Adding this and and adding that and waiting till its done, i feel like there is not much room for variation as i have seen with mashing and steeping ingredients which i still need to look into (unless someone can give me a quick TLDR on it)

Thanks in Advance,
Bucky

 

[Coalminer]

Be prepared to do a **** load of reading if you want to improve your beers
I'm afraid TLDR wont cut it

 

[Onebuck]

Haha yeah i figured that, have started looking into it a fair bit but i think im gunna need some more equipment then just the basic fermenter i have now.

 

[JDW81]

Hey Bucky,

Welcome aboard mate.

Firstly, mastering brewing takes a lifetime. I’ve been brewing all grain for over 10 years now and still consider myself a novice.

You can make improvements at nearly every step of the brewing process, with some more important than others.

Most important things early on are: good sanitisation processes, temperature controlled fermentation and good yeast health (throw away the stuff from under the lid of the can, and get some decent yeast like US-05 or some other good quality dry brewing yeast - if your HB shop knows their stuff they’ll be able to point you in the right direction). If you nail both of these things then you’ll make great kit beer every time.

This forum has been running for around 20 years (I think), and there is lots of excellent information here. There is also a lot of rubbish, the more you read, the clearer which is which will become.

If you’ve got questions, chances are it’s been asked before, so do a search and see what comes up. You can always revise an old thread as well (I do this all the time).

Do lots of reading, lots of brewing and control your fermentation temperature and you beer will get better and better.

JD

 

[Onebuck]

Hey Bucky,

Welcome aboard mate.

Firstly, mastering brewing takes a lifetime. I’ve been brewing all grain for over 10 years now and still consider myself a novice.

You can make improvements at nearly every step of the brewing process, with some more important than others.

Most important things early on are: good sanitisation processes, temperature controlled fermentation and good yeast health (throw away the stuff from under the lid of the can, and get some decent yeast like US-05 or some other good quality dry brewing yeast - if your HB shop knows their stuff they’ll be able to point you in the right direction). If you nail both of these things then you’ll make great kit beer every time.

This forum has been running for around 20 years (I think), and there is lots of excellent information here. There is also a lot of rubbish, the more you read, the clearer which is which will become.

If you’ve got questions, chances are it’s been asked before, so do a search and see what comes up. You can always revise an old thread as well (I do this all the time).

Do lots of reading, lots of brewing and control your fermentation temperature and you beer will get better and better.

JD

Hey JDW81, yeah i never realised how i depth it actually went, looks like i got alot of reading to do. Thanks for the tip about the yeast, ill give that a shot in my next brew. Due to my work hours its hard to actually get into the brew shop to have a decent chat and even then i forget half the things i want to ask which is how i found my way here. I think i will need to invest in an insulated jacket for my fermentor to help keep it cooler, the temperatures here are hell at the moment.
When im filling my bottles (750ml PET) should i fill them to the top then cap as i have been leaving a finger space or 2 from the top then caping them. Is it ok to reuse the plastic lids or should i be replacing them everytime? I think im going to try kegging before making some more complex brews.

 

[Donz]

Hey All!
I have currently done my 1st 4 brews and am now wanting to better my skills. I have only started with the basic "Morgans home brew kit"and have been mixing the "Morgans Australian Lager" with "The Brew Shed Gemdex Beer Booster" which i enjoy but, i feel its not as clean and cripsy as i like. I'm not sure where to go from here, is there a different combination i can try or where do i go from here? I feel like im just Adding this and and adding that and waiting till its done, i feel like there is not much room for variation as i have seen with mashing and steeping ingredients which i still need to look into (unless someone can give me a quick TLDR on it)

Thanks in Advance,
Bucky

Everything the other guy's said.
And keg it

 

[philrob]

Best advice I can give you is to join a brew club. Any experienced member will be most happy to guide you, well, at least my brew club members would.
I don't know where you live, Queensland is rather non-specific.

 

[dwhite53]

Hey JDW81, yeah i never realised how i depth it actually went, looks like i got alot of reading to do. Thanks for the tip about the yeast, ill give that a shot in my next brew. Due to my work hours its hard to actually get into the brew shop to have a decent chat and even then i forget half the things i want to ask which is how i found my way here. I think i will need to invest in an insulated jacket for my fermentor to help keep it cooler, the temperatures here are hell at the moment.
When im filling my bottles (750ml PET) should i fill them to the top then cap as i have been leaving a finger space or 2 from the top then caping them. Is it ok to reuse the plastic lids or should i be replacing them everytime? I think im going to try kegging before making some more complex brews.

Hot weather is saison weather. No temp control needed. Find some Belle Saison dry yeast and give it a try.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[koshari]

Haha yeah i figured that, have started looking into it a fair bit but i think im gunna need some more equipment then just the basic fermenter i have now.

get a fermenting fridge, IMO temperature control is a massive way to improve your brews. find an old fridge on 2nd hanf sales sites then connect an inkbird or stc1000 controller.

 

[Tomo]

Ink bird for temp control with old fridge for constant temperature control is key. When you get confident with extract brewing. Dip your toe into all grain its massively so much better.

 

[Hangover68]

I have reused the pet caps before for a hard lemonade but it would be good practice to replace them for each brew, only a few bucks for a pack.

 

[peterlonz]

First: If you have room an old re-purposed fridge of a suitable size to accommodate your fermenter is the overall best option to gain temp control.
You will need to fit the fridge with a controller, either the well known ST-100 or the Inkbird equivalent. Depending on what you opt for some wiring by you may be necessary.
If space is a problem, then go for for the insulated jacket which you can buy (about $90 to $100); alternatively you could cobble together a jacket; either way you need fridge capacity to freeze several typically 3 litre pet bottles, you use these as giant ice blocks to keep the temp down, placed around the inside of your jacket. This alone can be difficult with smaller fridge.
Regarding yeast, personally I can't tell the difference between a brew made with US-04, US-05 or Coopers dry yeast sachets, used two at a time for a 23 litre brew.
IMHO Coopers sachet yeast (under the plastic top on all the Coopers 1.7Kg extract cans) is quicker to start & settles better, it is also absolutely 100% reliable in that it "works" every time.
BTW I'd suggest you avoid making yeast starters. Fermentis have advised me that the popular US-05 does not require a starter.
Regarding pet bottles & the screw down caps. I have used these for over 15 years ( I now keg exclusively BTW) with some very simple rules:
1) Wash out empty bottles within a few hours, wash thoroughly in cold domestic tap water, typically 3 rinse outs each about one third of a bottle.
2) Drain washed bottles immediately & asap put outside in upside down position & let UV sunlight dry.
3) Inspect bottles carefully they must be 100% DRY before capping lightly & storing.
4) All pet screw down caps can be reused, mine have mostly done a min of "24 trips". They should be again promptly washed. preferably in hot water, drain & dry as for bottles & store in a brown paper bag.
5) Dry cap should be used to seal dry bottles, not full tightness, just enough to secure.
I have never had a bottle infection in over 50 years of brewing. In the very early years, sure infected brews during fermentation but never in the bottles, I knew two brewers who used the same technique & they also never had infections, God knows why, we all open brewed in washing machine bowls, something now frowned upon.
Good luck.