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Always been thinking about trying home brewing myself, but finally got around to giving it a whirl. This is an Irish Red Ale. Took a few hours to sanitize/sterilize, brew, chill, airate, etc. Probably will take about 3 days or so fermenting. Already getting CO2 bubbles through the air lock at a steady rate using a dry yeast. So might ferment quicker. Was great with my whole downstairs smelling like ale last night :)
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If you can, always use glass to ferment your beer. With those plastic pales they get scratched too easy and its a ******* to stop infections then.
After the initial 3 days is done the vigorous fermenting is done but it wont be done fermenting, you need to rack over to a secondary for more fermentation to get it off the sludge. Itll help with flavour.
Good to see you try my favourite hobby, you won't regret it!
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Good to know there is a seasoned home brewer on here. First time, so hoping I make minimal errors. It may not taste perfect but i will keep learning the more i do it.
My wife bought me the home brew kit, so it just came with plastic containers for the fermenting and another 5gal with a faucet for bottling. My wife also got a wine making kit, and i think a glass carboy came with that. They did mention quite a few times never to use anything coarse on the inside to avoid scratching the plastic, so when cleaning/sanitizing i only use a normal soft kitchen sponge.
I will probably leave it for a week minimum to ferment. The manual said 7-10 days is normal for this ale and will be rapidly bubbling for a few days.
i will see how this one turns out, but will upgrade equipment when i get better and try more things. There is a home brewing store fairly close to my home that has all types of equipment, yeasts, grains, etc.
With this producing about 50 bottles of beer, i will be drinking a bit more :)Comment
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My rule of thumb is let the primary fermentation go then when it's done do a week in secondary.
The worst beer you can make will always taste better than the classic yellow swill so you're already ahead of the game. Just make sure everything is clean so you dont get a bad vinegary batch. We made a beer one time and were so drunk making it and we left it so long it was like slimer from Ghostbusters exploded in it lol
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Oh yeh, a month bottle conditioning is always best. Try a beer after a week, then one after two weeks and youll notice a difference in the flavour. Its very drinkable after two and since its your first batch try leave one bottle for a month so youll know what im talking about lol
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Cool let us know how it comes out I've always wanted to try it myselfComment
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Haha ok no no Slimer...check!
At least with everything being first time in use equipment wise, and i made sure to use contact cleaner/sanitizer, i wont have to worry about the vinegary batch.
what is a secondary? meaning just pour out the batch, clean/sanitize, then add back into fermenter with more yeast? probably this go around i will just follow the piece of paper and they dont mention anything on secondary fermentation. This is the kit instuctions i got:
I am sure i will space the drinking out to see how the flavor changes over time in the bottleComment
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I have two carboys for fermentation. For primary is when it's vigorous, it usually bursts the lock too and when that's done I siphon it off into another carboy just to take it off the gunk from the initial fermentation.
You dont add extra yeast or anything, just make sure the carboy and locks are clear etc.
I do it because after primary, all the.yeast gunk at the bottom can contribute to off flavours if the beer.sits on it too long.
you'll space it out but youll be surprised how man friends come crawling out of the woodwork when they know youre brewing a batch.
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Definitely will let you know how it turns out. Can bring some to a meeting to share when its ready. Two weeks fermenting is recommended by their instructions...then minimum 1 week in bottle (but longer is better as the expert here says).Originally posted by johnnymisty View Post
Maybe for the Sept meetingComment
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is the air lock busting off what they call an "over active ferment"? Right now that bucket is just sitting on my dining room carpet so i should have thought ahead and at least put a towel under it. just didnt want the dogs or anyone bumping it. dont know how often a spill over happens during ferment stageOriginally posted by originalhandy View Post
i may move to the two stage ferment after i get better at the process. the instructions seemed pretty specific about the timing, hydrometer, when to test, etc. a lot of sludge was strained out when i was pouring from kettle to bucket. i know more will be produced.
if i only produce bad beer, not many will be asking to try it hahaComment
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Charles Papazian has a good motto, "relax dont worry, have a homebrew". He has a really good book too.
Outside of time and sanitation I dont get anal as it takes the fun out of just wanting to drink good beer imho.
Northern Brewer have a fantastic Bavarian Hefe if you like that style, their shipping is great flat rate too.
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Yeah I think that's what they call it, ive only ever had one beer not bust my lock. Just make sure you clean the lock and put more Vodka in it and put it back in.Originally posted by morpheus View Post
Ive never used a hydrometer or anything, one of my friends do ans the other doesn't. I play it by sight to see if shes done fermenting. When its.on secondary I watch for a bit to see if it bubbles or not, if it doesn't I check the next day at the same time and if its still not doing anything I bubble. (I check on the 6th day to bottle on the 7th if its.done)
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on a side note Ken... you could use that CO2 from it and run some tubing to your planted tank... just not sure if it will produce too much though for shrimp or fish... i've seen posts of people running their CO2 but making wineComment
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I will put a plastic tray under the bucket then incase of bubble over. Right now i just have water in the lock. do you take off the lock ...clean/sanitize...and replace on a daily basis? Is vodka a better liquid in the lock too? i read about some using water and others using vodka
Chester - I dont know how much CO2 it really produces, but i can Google it to see if its really useful. I thought about it actually but didnt know if it would be worth the effort (or if its safe)Comment
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If it doesn't burst the lock don't touch it. If it bursts I have a second lock I swap with. You want no air getting into it because of bacteria.
Thats another reason I use Vodka. If dust or bacteria lands in the lock the Vodka will kill it whereas we all know being in the aquarium hobby how quickly bad bacteria can grow.in water and that can effect the beer.
Also keep light off the fermenter, I know its plastic and all but better to be safe than sorry, if you can.
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