Probably wouldn't be worth the effort for the kegs, there's a place around here that sells clean good kegs for a little less than that.
I'm happy using glass carboys, but have yet to break one. I'm sure it was a disaster if it was full.
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Probably wouldn't be worth the effort for the kegs, there's a place around here that sells clean good kegs for a little less than that.
I'm happy using glass carboys, but have yet to break one. I'm sure it was a disaster if it was full.
Dang, sounds like you have a nice operation. You must have some decent sized equipment to do 10 gallon batches. Do you just use two carboys per batch then?
A lot of people on homebrewtalk swear by using primary only, and leaving it there for 4 or 5 weeks. They say the yeast cake settles enough that none of it gets suspended, it cleans up ALL the yeast, and really has no bad effects. The few times I've done it, seemed to be fine.
For a lot of styles, you can do primary only, but you'll never make it worse by putting it in secondary. For beers that are 7% or more, I'd always age in secondary... but i'm usually dry hopping (or aging hefeweizen on cranberries, etc.) anyways in secondary.
I'm new to home brewing. I just drank my first homemade beer the other day (hefeweizen). Not bad, but needs to age more in the bottle. Is three weeks pretty standard for bottle aging? I have a grolsch that will get bottle tomorrow, if the alcohol content is right.
You can read lots online and everybody's opinion differs. I found with bottling that the longer the better (4+ weeks). Also depends on how much priming sugar you used.
I always use a secondary. The beers I have been doing (all grain) are reds, wheats, porter, and a standard american larger. For these, alcohol between 5-6.5%, 1 week in primary, 1 week in secondary, and then to the keg. I used to bottle, but got my own kegerator about 6 months ago and love having my own beer on tap.
I do have one that I am working on now, a peanut butter porter, that I let sit 4 weeks in primary before moving it to secondary. It is going to sit in secondary for about a week and I will be kegging it in the next couple of days. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.
I started on a extract kit about 5 years ago (i bought the kit for my brother, and soon thereafter bought one for myself). One of my friends in Brooklyn owned a bar and wanted me to sell him kegs (underground, for his loyal customers only, never panned out for fear of the fuzz) so I upgraded to the 10 gallon batches. 10 gallons was as big as I could go as I was in a small NYC apartment and didn't have an outdoor burner. (I used all 4 burners on my tiny gas range, it actually worked really well). I now have a 15 gallon boilermaker, a 15 gal megapot and 2 10 gallon rubbermaid drink coolers. I literally had to rent a storage unit in brooklyn so that I could store them, pita. Anyway, I love having a garage and an outdoor burner now (really reduces the time to get things up to temp)! For regular gravity brews I'll make a 10 gallon batch and then split them into two carboys, usually trying two different yeasts. I made a wheat beer last time and used the american wheat yeast in one and a german wheat yeast in the other. Difference is pretty amazing. Occasionally i'll dry hop one, and just keg the other. The ability to experiment is the best part about the 10 gallon batches. If I'm doing a high gravity brew I usually keep it at 5 gallons or so since it's easy to run out of space in the cooler.
I'd love to get a 14 gallon conical fermenter, but my wife would probably kill me as she knows how much they cost. Cost keeps going up on the off-brand versions too unfortunately. In the meantime I'm a big fan of the better bottles. Easy to move, easy to store and much less likely to break. I have my original glass carboy that I use with care for anything that I'm planning on having in for 6 months plus, but the rest go into the better bottles.
I'm getting ready to do another no boil beer (lacto fermented berliner weiss, decoction mash) soon. These things are easy, and berliner weiss is awesome for the summer (low gravity, tastes like beer lemonade, without actually being a shandy)...
Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies Deal of the Day | Groupon Amarillo
so should i get this then?
so should i get this then?
yes. good deal but you need a 4 gallon pot too. get the polarware economy kettle, (i still use mine) and you'll be golden for under $100.
just wanted to throw this out there, the guys at both Beer Crazy (in urbandale) and midwest supplies (in minneapolis) are amazing... they rule! We end up making a trip to Midwest at least twice a year (and the staff is always very friendly and helpful).
What I (we) got going on:
* Just bottled a banana wheat
* In the primary :
** Cream Stout
** Java Stout
** Belgian Triple
* in the secondary:
** Pale Ale
** Chocolate Porter
What I (we) got going on:
* Just bottled a banana wheat
* In the primary :
** Cream Stout
** Java Stout
** Belgian Triple
* in the secondary:
** Pale Ale
** Chocolate Porter
How'd the blackberry chocolate porter turn out? It sounds delicious (i generally don't like a lot of "fruity" beers, but there are always some exceptions -> and porters are my favorite style)
I want to start brewing at home badly. I have the perfect space in our large unfinished basement that stays at a cool 50-60 degree's. What is the start up costs and where do I go to purchase such items. I live in Nevada, Ia any info would be very helpful.
I've been brewing for a couple of years now, and I've never had a bottle-conditioned beer ready after three weeks. Four usually does it. Before I switched to kegging, I had my timing pretty much locked down. One week in primary, two in secondary, four in bottles.
Oh, and if you haven't discovered them already, do yourself a favor and try Cooper's Carbonation Tabs. No fussing with priming sugar, no concern of bottle bombs.
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scyclonekid:
You could get a starter kit from Beer Crazy in Urbandale with every thing you need for under $100. Also since this thread is appropriate checkout and “like” my facebook page, I have a small hop farm just 20 minutes west of Ames. We had a great harvest festival last year where we served eight different homebrews and handed out a lot of door prizes. The farm also provides a unique opportunity for homebrewers and breweries to get locally grown hops. Plus for people on my like list I occasionally give away prizes.
You could get a starter kit from Beer Crazy in Urbandale with every thing you need for under $100. Also since this thread is appropriate checkout and “like” my facebook page, I have a small hop farm just 20 minutes west of Ames. We had a great harvest festival last year where we served eight different homebrews and handed out a lot of door prizes. The farm also provides a unique opportunity for homebrewers and breweries to get locally grown hops. Plus for people on my like list I occasionally give away prizes.
It was good, but very chocolatey. I let it ferment out, racked to a secondary on top of the blackberries and 8 oz Hersheys cocoa. I probably didn't wait long enough on the secondary, as it was overcarbonated (sugars left unfermented, from the berries probably) and there was still a lot of chocolate in the bottom of the bottles. If I did it again, I'd use a bit less chocolate and let it sit longer before bottling.
That said, I did it for a friend's wedding, it was a small wedding and they ripped through a case of it pretty quickly, and some friends still say it was the best beer I've made. I'm picky, but I think I'm onto something with the recipe.
Any ideas on how I could produce something similar to bud light platinum without the expensive ingredients?
Eat a bunch of corn, drink a bunch of Bud Light. Pee in a bunch of bottles. Call it Platinum.
Joking!....slightly.
I prefer Northern Brewer to Midwest but that's just a personal preference. Both are great places to get supplies.
I put my beer in the secondary last night. I had some super yeast going though. It fermented vigorously for 4-5 days then went quiet. I probably had a 1" thick yeast cake at the bottom of the primary though.
I put my beer in the secondary last night. I had some super yeast going though. It fermented vigorously for 4-5 days then went quiet. I probably had a 1" thick yeast cake at the bottom of the primary though.