# I want to start brewing but i got a few questions??



## bratrules

Well in the pass few week i really been thinking about getting in to home brewing and i just want to know how much money i have to invest to get started? also i live in southern California and i am not sure how the weather here will effect my fermentation? Well i want to make a wheat brew so if anybody has in advice it would really help me out thanks.


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## bbally

Home brewing is like any other hobby, you can get started for about $100.00 or you can go nuts and have 10K into the hobby.

I would suggest starting out brewing a couple of Ales, once you get that down then move on to your Wheat Beer.


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## bratrules

so should i wait to the weather to change before i start to make my first brew? its about 75 to 84 over here


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## hughjass

bratrules said:


> Well in the pass few week i really been thinking about getting in to home brewing and i just want to know how much money i have to invest to get started? also i live in southern California and i am not sure how the weather here will effect my fermentation? Well i want to make a wheat brew so if anybody has in advice it would really help me out thanks.


You can buy home brewing starter kits.  Here's one that would get you started.

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/product/0101895/silver-starter-kit

IMO, it's better if you can boil the full volume (beginning volume is ~6.5 gallon) than boiling a couple of gallons and topping up with water, but either will work for you.  If you have a turkey fryer, you can use it for the boil kettle.

I ferment all of my ales between 59F and 63F depending on the yeast strain.  Remember, fermentation is exothermic, so the ambient temp is not the actual temp inside your fermenter.  There are fairly simple ways to adjust ferment temps.  Something as simple as partially submerging your fermenter in water.  Place frozen 2-liter bottles in the water to keep both the water and beer cooler than ambient temp.

A wheat beer is typically pitched with an ale yeast.  They're pretty straight forward.  When using extract, it'll be ~6 lb of extract, some hops added at different times during the boil, and yeast.

Do you prefer a weizen (german wheat) which typically has more of a banana/clove flavor or an American wheat that's hop forward?

If a weizen, here's a simple, solid recipe:

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/42345095/shoultzmeyer-brewery-dont-call-me-hefe

If an American wheat, try this one:

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/ff78ccf5/shoultzmeyer-brewery-golden-us-wheat

Any other questions, ask :mug:


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## bratrules

great thanks for all the info!!!!


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## hughjass

You're welcome.  Please let us know how it turned out. 

Good luck. :cheers:


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## bilder

If you really want to be cheap, you can put together a 'kit' for next to nothing.

Go to your local grocery store and stop by the bakery dept.  With a big smile on your face, ask kindly if they have any food grade buckets to spare.  You can usually get all you want for free at the right place.  Wash them good as they will have the smell of icing in them. :)

After that you can buy the spigot for the bottom of the bucket for a buck or two and install it yourself.  Homebrew shops charge anywhere from 8-18 bucks for a bucket when you can make your own for a fraction of the price.  You can also use plastic soda bottles for your first batch or two until you know you will like home brewing.  After that you can upgrade to glass or kegs if you wish.  All you will really need after that is an airlock (1-3 bucks) and some food grade tubing to siphon off your beer (less than a buck a foot most places).  Then you can buy some nice ingredients and have at it.

Be sure and check out Craigslist or the local thrift stores as well.  You can score a kit for cheap if you shop around.  CL is also a great source for free bottles as well.

Many guys also start out with the Mr. Beer kits.  You can make good beer with them, but you will need to make some adjustments from the instructions included if you want to achieve the best results.  Do not use the booster included with the kits.  Use all malt extract and you will make a great beer with these kits.  Mr. Beer is a 2.5 gallon unit and you will need 3 pounds of malt extract in order to make a batch of beer.  Simply take a 5 gallon recipe and cut the ingredients in half.  The boil times are the same as a 5 gallon batch, so do not skimp on the boil times.  I still use my Mr beer keg to make beer in.  I like to make smaller batches and they store really easy in my closet.


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## jethro

Use to brew alot but not so much lately but I would HIGHLY recommend the turkey fryer option instead of your stove...there seems to be a fine line between proper tempature and a volcanic boil over. Also just starting out use dry yeast. It always works sometimes the liquid can be stubborn and sometimes not work at all, liquid is also way more expensive. Enjoy.


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## monty

Good luck on your adventure into brewing! Here's another el cheapo suggestion. If you decide to go with glass bottles the least expensive way I found to get good pop top, not screw top, bottles is at the redemption center. Here in VT the deposit is a nickel a bottle and the redemption center makes two cents a bottle from the distributor. So I pay ten cents a bottle. $2.40 a case and no shipping! When I want to get some more bottles I let the guys at the counter know a few days ahead of time and they generally do a great job of putting aside bottles for me with six pack holders and cases, too!

Generally I like the Sam Adams bottles which are plentiful in this neck of the woods and I generally like to stay with one brand because all bottles are not created equal requiring occasional adjustments to the capper.

To put other questions to bed and maybe answer a few questions you don't know you have yet buy yourself a book or two on the subject such as:

Homebrewing For Dummies by Marty Nachel

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charles Papazian

HOME BEERMAKING Book            (Moore)

  

I would start with the Dummies book and as you progress get into Papazian's book. It will take you into the realm of the brewmaster. The Home Beermaking Book is offered in many beer starter kits and is basically all you need. It generally sells for about five bucks or, as I mentioned, free with a kit.  

  

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

  

Cheers!


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## bratrules

i check the first two books out from the library i usually check them out first then if i like what am reading ill buy it. But the more i read on the subject the more fascinated i get!! i cant wait to get started.


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## bilder

Another good book is How to Brew, by John Palmer.

Another cheap hint is to get some plastic water cooler bottles to use as a fermentation vessel.  Be sure and use the ones with the number 1 or 2 in the triangle.  There is some debate on using the number 7 water bottles for home brewing, so I decide to err on the side of caution and stick with the #1's.


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## hughjass

Bratrules,

Just to add further, here's Palmer's book. 

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

If I were starting over, I'd try to get a few batches under my belt with the least investment as possible to see if I liked brewing or not.  Craig's list is a good idea.  Be careful, tho.  Some people on Craig's list are pretty proud of their equipment and price it accordingly.

good luck to you.


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## pit 4 brains

One more vote for the turkey fryer! Do not do this on the kitchen stove. Malt extract is like roofing tar when cold and it doesn't loke to come off of things. You can get a large, porcelain-coated stockpot really cheap at outlet malls or army surplus type stores. You will be boiling around six gallons so you need something that can handle the volume plus expansion and some boiling. A lons, sturdy wood spoon is gonna be handy also. Good luck with your first brew.

Remember. *SANITATION *IS EVERYTHING. Get some iodophor and clean everything very well. Keep your work areas and your hands clean at all times.


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## bmudd14474

I would locate a local brew shop and talk to the folks there. I have a buddy big into brewing and went to the brew shop once. The guys there were more than willing to help out.


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## bratrules

There was a place here in downey c.a. which is about 5 mins from my house but am not sure if its still open. am going to give them a call to see what happens. i think am going waiting to get started were having a bit of a heat wave over here.


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## bratrules

I got another question, can some tell me the difference between the ambient temperature in the room and the temp inside the fermenter. How many degrees of a difference between the two?


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## bratrules

Or can someone give a idea of at what ambient temperature is good for fermenting?


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## coyote-1

A good ambient temp for fermenting a typical ale is 65-68 degrees. Cooler than that and it takes longer. Which in itself is no big deal; I'm having great success fermenting my ales around 63 degrees. They ferment for a month or so.

Just make sure your yeast gets a good start either way, and you'll be fine.

 


bratrules said:


> Or can someone give a idea of at what ambient temperature is good for fermenting?


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## bratrules

great thanks for the info. i think am going to start with a hard cider first when things get to that right temp.


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## squirrel

This is really exciting to read all this about brewing. I had a friend many years ago that did some and, well, they tasted HORRIBLE! I would love to learn more about it, not sure if I am willing to try it myself, but maybe someday.

Can you guys maybe start showing some home brewing Q-view? I for one would love to see it first hand! Thanks!


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## bratrules

As soon as i start I'll be sure to post so q-view. it just sucks having to be a slave to the weather but i cant afford to set up a controlled environment for my fermentation right now. So i just have to wait


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## old school

Squirrel since I have the canning down this is my next project!!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   I have a place only 20 min. away that started selling equipment so I'm going through them vs. internet for product.  I have the same issue (ambient temp.) as I burn wood in my basement ( cellar ) so its warm down there, too warm.  Get a small starter kit!!


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## hughjass

Squirrel said:


> This is really exciting to read all this about brewing. I had a friend many years ago that did some and, well, they tasted HORRIBLE! I would love to learn more about it, not sure if I am willing to try it myself, but maybe someday.
> 
> Can you guys maybe start showing some home brewing Q-view? I for one would love to see it first hand! Thanks!


Brewed yesterday.  I don't think you'll be brewing quite like this when beginning.  Here's some pics....

Uncrushed malted barley










After crushing






recirculating mash...I have a stand built.  Just waiting on some small pieces and this will all sit on a 59"x24"x22" stand.  It'll be much cleaner and more functional then.






Control box w/pid controller.  I'm not fully functional yet w/controller but use it as a temp gauge






Chilling the beer






The chiller tower.  It's 50 ft. copper bent with a 9" interior diameter with quick disconnects on the in and out of the chiller






Happily fermenting away with two other beers.  I ferment in 15.5 gallon sanke kegs w/the spear removed and rack using a ss cane and CO2.






Like mentioned above, your set up will not be like this when you begin.  Any questions, please ask. :mug:


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## squirrel

Wow. That is sooo awesome thanks for sharing those pics. I've got to get my sausage project going before I can even think about brewing. I try to stick with one project at a time so I don't get overwhelmed, but it is great to see and read all this great info. Keep posting please!!!!


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## bratrules

those are some great pics i would to get a set up like that in the future. As of now am going to start off small do a lot of research and get my feet wet first. I got some air locks in today so little by little am going to get started!! Am a little strapped for cash at the moment (unemployed since all American jobs are in China now) so that's why am going get everything little at a time.


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## bratrules

I just scored on 5 gallon food grade bucket from my local lucky's super market. for free 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 the thing smells of butter cream frosting but thats no big deal. now i just have to install a airlock in it.


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## coyote-1

> Originally Posted by *Pit 4 Brains*
> One more vote for the turkey fryer! Do not do this on the kitchen stove. Malt extract is like roofing tar when cold and it doesn't loke to come off of things. You can get a large, porcelain-coated stockpot really cheap at outlet malls or army surplus type stores. You will be boiling around six gallons so you need something that can handle the volume plus expansion and some boiling. A lons, sturdy wood spoon is gonna be handy also. Good luck with your first brew.
> 
> Remember. *SANITATION *IS EVERYTHING. Get some iodophor and clean everything very well. Keep your work areas and your hands clean at all times.


A five-gallon batch only requires a boil of about 2 1/4 gallons. Our local tap water is good, but too highly chlorinated.  I first boil the tap water, then let it sit so the chlorine evaporates out. When it cools to below 170 I add my bag of steeping grains. Half an hour later I take the bag out, and bring it to a boil again. Then I add the LME and first hops. After the boil's finished I pour a 2.5 gallon container of refrigerated spring water into the fermenter, and strain the wort into that. Usually brings it to just around 90 degrees. Let cool a bit longer, then pitch the yeast.

Point being you can easily get by with a 15 quart stock pot, and not fill it to the top. Makes it all easier to handle. But you are correct that sanitation is crucial; once the boil has begun, everything from that point onward must be as sterile as possible.


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## alelover

They make temperature strips that stick on the carboy so you can tell what the beer temp is. If you do make a hefe weizen use all malt and a liquid yeast. My very first beer ever was a hefe with corn sugar, liquid wheat malt and dry yeast. I got bad advice from a store that's not around anymore. It did not taste like a German wheat at all.


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## alelover

If you know a good metal worker, legally obtained half barrels make great brew kettles.


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## cartz1

as stated in one of the posts, try mr beer. easiest and cheapest intro into homebrewing. i ended up with 2 mr beer fermenters, so i ended up buying 5 gallon kits and splitting into the 2 fermenters. the brew that i made was that good that i absolutely, positively will never drink another mega brew again. once you drink a fresh brew that you crafted, you will wonder how  you drank the domestic monkey piss they pass off as beer.


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## bratrules

Ive been brewing for the last couple months and home-brew is really damn good. i just went all grain and it was fun i enjoyed brewing all grain. currently i have a peach wheat, APA bottled and am fermenting a all grain Blond ale. just like homemade sausage home-brew is the best!!!!!


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## flyweed

just to reiterate what everyone else said..start with a GOOD expanded brewing "starter kit"...this will have most everything you need for our first few brews....what I'd personally add to that is a GOOD brew kettle with a thermometer built in...one big enough to boil the entire 5 gallon batch....you'll also need something to COOL down your wort/must quickly..the longer it stays warm, the more possibility of infection or other "off" flavors. and cloudiness as well.

Lastly, you NEED to control your temperature of your wort/must....you can buy fancy PID controlled setups...or simple "brew belts" to keep your wort at a specific temp.

I personally ferment in conicals, so all the "junk" in the wort/must can settle out and be disgarded quickly...plus I have heat jackets controlled by a PID temp controller...so I can ferment at just about any temp I choose, so I can do an Ale, Lager, Hard Cider, Mead, or whatever a particular yeast calls for.

These few items will take your beers from the average "ok" homebrew..to something really nice and tastey that you can be proud to share with others.

Dan


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## alelover

Do you drink it right from the Mr. Beer or is there a secondary clarification stage? Never was real big on those. I have seen more people quit homebrewing because of them. I hear they make not so good beer compared to brewing the proper way. You can't really expand your brewing system with them either like you can with a regular kit. When I owned a homebrew store a few years back we refused to sell them. But if it works for you who am I to say different I guess.


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## cartz1

well, if i went out and bought the best of everything, either brewing equipment, smokers, etc., and didn't take the time to find out the correct way of doing things, it would probably not go so well. i used the mr beer fermenters as a fermentation vehicle. i bought a number of extract kits, created a half dozen of my own recipes, and other than the first brew with booster, they here fantastic brews. i never graduated to ag. just couldn't set aside a half day for brewing. the process is the same as any extract brewing, just a bit more convenient for me.


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## bratrules

ya all grain is time consuming but i found it to be really fun!!!


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## alelover

Once you go All-grain you never go back.


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## cartz1

well, that's the impression i got from some of the other forums. i don't think the missus would appreciate me turning the garage into a microbrewery. as a side note, a friend of mine started brewing ag right off the bat. you are right, there is a diff between extract and ag, however, both done correctly produce results that will keep you away from megabrews.


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## bratrules

hey i have made some really good brew using extracts!! but its a more cheaper to go all grain and there is more choices you add more of your personalty to your home-brew.


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## viper

Good advice from above.  We brew 20-100gal batches here.  My recommendations are to do an extract beer first to learn about the processes.  Actually, do several to gain repeatability.  Then you can move to grain mashing if you want.  The largest problem with home brewers is precision and cleanliness.  Don't know how many times we see people hap hazardly adding this and that.  Remember that after you boil your wart, consider things surgery room sterile.  Anything, even a drip of sweat or the bacteria from your finger is enough to throw a brew.  Document EVERYTHING you do.  We have a friggin novel on brews, results, and impressions on the brew.  I HIGHLY recommend an extract because people commonly just jump all in and then do not know what actually went wrong when it is not quite right.  If you do an extract right, it will taste every bit as good as something you would get at the store.  You half ass the process, you will get a half ass, non-repeatable result.

You will probably read that all grain is better BUT I can put a rookie on on a hot MX pro level bike and he will do nothing but kill himself BUT, if I give that guy a starter bike, then stage things up, he will have respect for the bike and an understanding of what to do.  

We do not bottle here.  Used to and the process just straight SUCKS unless you are retailing at large qty. We pony keg and just put that in cap off bottles for transport.  We will also just kill growlers for functions.


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## pit 4 brains

coyote-1 said:


> A five-gallon batch only requires a boil of about 2 1/4 gallons. Our local tap water is good, but too highly chlorinated.  I first boil the tap water, then let it sit so the chlorine evaporates out. When it cools to below 170 I add my bag of steeping grains. Half an hour later I take the bag out, and bring it to a boil again. Then I add the LME and first hops. After the boil's finished I pour a 2.5 gallon container of refrigerated spring water into the fermenter, and strain the wort into that. Usually brings it to just around 90 degrees. Let cool a bit longer, then pitch the yeast.
> 
> Point being you can easily get by with a 15 quart stock pot, and not fill it to the top. Makes it all easier to handle. But you are correct that sanitation is crucial; once the boil has begun, everything from that point onward must be as sterile as possible.


I stand corrected about boiling the six gallons.. Haven't brewed in a whhile. I do have a five gallon stock pot that easily holds my 3 gallons of boil. I had one boil over because of lack of attention and it made a decent mess on my patio. I would have hated to have that on my stove. If ya use the kitchen, just be carefull.

Here's a few pics I dug up of me and my bro inlaw racking some brew after the secondary fermentation..

Checkin the hydrometer..







Trying it out, no need to keg and carbonate bad beer...













And into the keg ready for some co2


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## bdawg

Just noticed this thread.  Here are a few things that may help address some of the issues raised by several folks earlier in the thread.

1) If you are having trouble keeping your fermentation temps down, a good trick is to place the carboy/bucket in a big trough of water, and drape a t-shirt over it.  The t-shirt will soak up the water like a wick, and the evaporation will cool the fermenter down by a good 5-10 degrees F.  Blow a fan on it and add ice to the water and you get an even bigger drop in temp.

2) During high krausen (the most active point of fermentation when the yeast are bubbling away like crazy), the internal temperature of the beer can often exceed ambient temperature by up to 10 degrees F. This can be enough to produce excessive fruity esters or worse, harsh, solventy tasting fusel alchohols.

3) If you are doing higher gravity (> 1.060) or very hoppy beers, you will lose hop bitterness if do partial boils.

Hop alpha acids have a harder time "dissolving" into a wort the higher SG of that wort becomes.  Adding all of your extract at the beginning of a partial boil will essentially create a wort that has about 2x the OG of a full sized boil.  This causes the hops to saturate the solution.  Think back to junior high school science class when you dissolved sugar into water, eventually no more sugar will dissolve.  Similarly, you will not get all the bitterness that those hops can provide in a more dilute wort.

The solution to this is to do what's called the "extract late" method.  You add about 1/2 to 1/3 of your extract up front, do your partial boil with all the hops added at the proper times, and then add the remainder of the extract with about 5 or 10 mins or so left in the boil (just long enough to pasteurize it).  This also helps reduce something we Beer Judges call "extract twang", which is  an off flavor caused by concentrated boiling of malt extract.  It also helps if you want to brew an extract Pilsner or Kolsch (or other light colored beer) because it doesn't undergo as much Mailliard reaction due to the lower sugar content, keeping the color lighter.

4) When topping off partial boils to full volume, be sure to use boiled water so that you are not allowing any bacteria or wild yeasts to inhabit your wort.  Additionally, if you use city water, there are 2 forms of chlorine that the city sanitation folks add to keep the water clean:  Regular chlorine, which will come out in a boil or using a basic household charcoal filter, and chloramine, which will not come out in either the boil or will come out in a charcoal filter only if you are exceedingly patient and allow a very slow stream to fill your brew pot.  You can purchase Campden tablets to treat both types of chlorinated water.  Each aspirin sized tablet is enough to treat 20 gallons of water.  Split up one tablet (for 5 gallons, you only need 1/4 tablet) and crush it up before adding it to your water.  Chlorine problem solved.  (Chlorine in the water is the leading cause of chlorophenolic off flavors, which taste like band-aids or chloraseptic).  I find this to be the #1 most common flaw I come across in competitions, especially for new brewers.

HTH-


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## alelover

Excellent points BDawg.


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## hooligan8403

A new Home brew shop opened up in my town and Iv been wanting to try it for awhile.I like the Idea of using cheaper plastic buckets for fermentors and a plastic water bottle instead of a glass carboy becasue of it being cheaper to get and not as breakable. My question is will the plastic change the taste of the beer or will it come out the same?


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## bdawg

They will generally taste the same, unless some of the other pros and cons raise their head.  There are a lot of issues that may be relevent depending on what you want to brew.

Glass carboys:

Pro

1) Glass is impermeable.  No oxygen can get in to oxidize your beer (ie, it goes stale).

2) Glass can be cleaned to near perfection.  The smooth surface allows for complete cleaning prior to sanitization.

3) You can see the activity.  It can be a lot of fun to watch an active fermentation.  Plus, you can see when the krausen falls. 

4) They are cheaper than Stainless Steel conicals, but more expensive than plastic

Con

1) Glass breaks.  This is a biggie.  It can REALLY hurt you.  There are countless stories of emergency room visits due to dropping/breaking a glass carboy, not to mention the lost beer.

2) It can be a pain to clean through the neck hole of a carboy.
3) You need to keep the light away from a glass carboy.  Ultraviolet light will skunk a beer.  When UV light hits the hop resins, they break apart and bond with sulphur atoms in such a way that it forms a Mercaptan, which is the exact chemical that skunks produce.

4) The neck hole makes it nearly impossible to top-crop yeast and to dry hop in a hop bag.  You MUST dry hop loose in a carboy.

Plastic Buckets:

Pro:

1) Plastic is cheap, so you can replace it.

2) Plastic keeps the light out

3) You can top-crop yeast since the whole top comes off.

4) For sour beers, plastic is oxygen permeable so the bugs are a lot more effective.

Con:

1) Plastic scratches easily.  You WILL get infected batches eventually because the micro-scratches that you can't even see will hold bacteria and eventually, they will become noticeable.  This is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

2) Plastic can get brittle and break, too.

3) Plastic is oxygen permeable, so you can't leave the beer in plastic for long periods of time (ie, greater than 3 or 4 weeks).  the beer will get papery/cardboardy when oxygen gets to it.  Of course, this is unless you WANT the oxygen to permeate as in the case of brewing sour beers.

4) You have to open the top to see how the yeast is doing, thereby risking contamination.

Plastic Carboys (like a "Better Bottle")

These have a mix of the same assortment of pros and cons inherited from both glass carboys and plastic buckets.

Better bottles are oxygen impermiable, but scratch, and are cheaper than SS but even more expensive than glass.  They also have a neck so you can't top-crop.  They are clear so you can see through them. 

IMO, the best option are the stainless steel conical fermenters, but they are EXTREMELY PRICY!

If I were just starting out, I'd go for a good starter kit that had a plastic bucket primary fermenter and a either a better bottle secondary fermenter, or glass carboy secondary.  That way, you can brew just about everything, and still have a secondary vessel for beers that need one.  Most ales don't need a secondary, though it greatly aids in beer clarity.

HTH-


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## hooligan8403

Good info to know. Im probably going to look at the brew shop here in town sometime this weekend. They were at a street fair with a starter kit but I beleive it just had either one or two plastic buckets and other standard items. I was looking at brewing a wide variety of beers especially ales as thats what I prefer. My wife likes mainly lagers so those will be brewed on occasion ( I drink more beer than her). Looking to brew ales in the style of Stone Brewing so very hoppy and aggressive as well as a nice porter and stout in the winter months. Its looking like I might need to look into a glass carboy. Only thing I was really worried about with that was the breaking. I know they have Carboy carriers but do they have carboy covers as well?


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## alelover

Great info BDawg. Thanks for posting it. You saved me a crap load of typing.


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## bdawg

(Glad to help out, AleLover!)

Carboy carriers work great! 

DO NOT CARRY A FULL GLASS CARBOY BY A SCREW ON HANDLE THAT ONLY ATTACHES AT THE NECK!

THIS IS WHEN THEY ARE KNOWN TO BREAK!  USUALLY AT THAT POINT, THEY ARE RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR LEG AND HAVE BEEN 

DOCUMENTED TO SEVER VEINS, ARTERIES, and ACHILLES TENDONS.  YES, I"M SHOUTING BECAUSE THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Those handles are only for moving EMPTY carboys.

HTH-


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## hooligan8403

Ok the carrier I saw I believe was a strap/harness that went under and around the carboy. It looked much more secure than what your describing. My wife is starting to think Im collecting to many toys for my hobbies but she doesnt complain when the results are on the table.


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## bdawg

Carboy Carrier w/ straps - great for carrying full carboys:







http://morebeer.com/view_product/7446/beerwinecoffee/Nylon_Carboy_Carrier

Screw on handles like these (orange and plum colored ones are common too) - Carry when empty only because the necks will break:







http://morebeer.com/view_product/16660//Carboy_Handle_Blue_-_65_Gallon


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## hooligan8403

Yep thats the one. Well It looks like im going to end up getting a glass carboy to go along with the plastic buckets. maybe not right away but not sure. seen some kits on the internet with them a about 90-100 so thats not that bad.


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## alelover

BDawg said:


> (Glad to help out, AleLover!)
> 
> Carboy carriers work great!
> 
> DO NOT CARRY A FULL GLASS CARBOY BY A SCREW ON HANDLE THAT ONLY ATTACHES AT THE NECK!
> 
> THIS IS WHEN THEY ARE KNOWN TO BREAK!  USUALLY AT THAT POINT, THEY ARE RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR LEG AND HAVE BEEN
> 
> DOCUMENTED TO SEVER VEINS, ARTERIES, and ACHILLES TENDONS.  YES, I"M SHOUTING BECAUSE THIS IS IMPORTANT!
> 
> Those handles are only for moving EMPTY carboys.
> 
> HTH-


*Yes this is very important*. I have heard many a horror story about breaking carboys that are full of beer. Very bad thing.


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## cricky101

Hooligan8403 said:


> Good info to know. Im probably going to look at the brew shop here in town sometime this weekend. They were at a street fair with a starter kit but I beleive it just had either one or two plastic buckets and other standard items. I was looking at brewing a wide variety of beers especially ales as thats what I prefer. My wife likes mainly lagers so those will be brewed on occasion ( I drink more beer than her). Looking to brew ales in the style of Stone Brewing so very hoppy and aggressive as well as a nice porter and stout in the winter months. Its looking like I might need to look into a glass carboy. Only thing I was really worried about with that was the breaking. I know they have Carboy carriers but do they have carboy covers as well?



If you're just starting I'd suggest getting a pail as a fermenter first. If you're careful with cleaning it you won't have any problems. I've got two 6.5 gallon pail fermenters that I've used for years - more than 100 gallons of beer made - and have never had an infected batch.

You can always upgrade later, but the ale pail is cheap and it's a good way to see if it's something you want to do. And you don't have to worry about keeping it out of light like a carboy since it's not see-through.


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## smokingmymeat

Try the "forums" at www.northernbrewer.com


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## h22lude

Another good site to visit is www.homebrewtalk.com  A lot of great info and a lot of very experienced homebrewers.

One thing to keep in mind is you will always make beer no matter what.  It might not taste like what you wanted but it will be beer with alcohol in it.  Now to make a good beer a great beer there are three things you need to remember...1) oxygen 2) pitching the right amount of healthy yeast cells and 3) FERMENTING temp.

Yeast need oxygen to start working so before pitching your yeast you need to get oxygen in the wort.  You can do this by shaking the crap out of it, buying a fish tank pump and pumping air into it or buying an O2 tank and pumping pure oxygen into it.  All three ways work you just need to figure out which one you want to do.  I like shaking.  It works and it is free.  Not enough O2 and you can get off flavors and your fermentation might not start right away.

After getting O2 into the wort you now need to pitch the right amount of healthy yeast.  If you are using dry yeast you should rehydrate (not necessary but I do recommend it) before pitching.  If you are using liquid yeast you CAN pitch directly into the wort but it is recommended you make a starter.  Check out www.mrmalty.com for more info on starters.  He also has a great yeast cell calculator that tells you how many packets/vials or dry/liquid yeast you need or how big of a starter to make.  Under pitching and over pitching will create off flavors.  It is very easy to under pitch which is why that calculator is great.  Over pitching can be done but it is a lot harder to do than under pitching.

The last part is FERMENTATION temp.  This is the biggest for me.  The reason I put it in caps is because a lot of beginners will take the ambient temp of the room and not the fermentation temp.  Fermentation creates heat and can sometimes raise the beer 10 degrees higher than the ambient room temp.  The easiest way to check fermentation temp is by using one of those stick on fermometers.  I like to ferment on the lower side of the yeasts range.  Each yeast will be different so check before you start.  Typically my fermentation temp is in the low 60s so at the peak of fermentation my fridge can be in the mid 50s to keep the beer in the low 60s.  If your ambient temp is in the high 60s that means your fermentation temp could be mid 70s which is usually too high and will create off flavors.  As long as you have within the temp range of the yeast you will be ok.  There are a ton of ways to keep your temps down or up depending on your location and time of year.  I use a fridge I bought from craigslist and a temp controller I made.  If you don't want to spend the money you can use a cooler of water and put frozen water bottles to lower the temp or buy a cheap fish tank heater to raise the temp.  Those would be exact but that is ok.

If you pay attention to those three things, you will be making some great beer.  Oh and sanitation is also a good thing to keep in mind lol

Once you put the lid on, DO NOT open it until at least 2 weeks...3 weeks would be even better.  You don't need to take a gravity reading until you are ready to bottle or keg.  I typically let them sit between 2 to 3 weeks unless I'm making a bigger beer.  Then I'll check the gravity 3 days in a row.  If it doesn't change you can bottle.

Just to touch on the bucket/carboy discussion.  It is a matter of what you want to use as both have pros and cons.  I like buckets.  They are much cheaper.  You don't have to worry about breaking one.  A lot easier to clean.  You don't need a funnel to transfer into them.  Carboys are cool because you can see into them but that also means light can get in.  O2 does go through plastic but for the 2 to 3 weeks you will have the beer in the bucket that is nothing to worry about.  You can scratch plastic which will be a good place for bacteria to grow but that is easily prevented by not using the green side of the sponge and be careful if you stack inside each other.

Brewing can be as easy or complicated as you want it to be.  Beer is very easy to make.  Great beer does take a little more thought but still easy to make.  It is also very addicting.  I started doing extract and bottling.  After bottling 2 or 3 batches I built a 3 tap kegerator because I hated bottled.  I then started doing partial boil partial mash kits.  I then bought a burner and 10 gallon pot to do full boil brew in a bag.  Now I'm doing full boil all grain.  I started off with a $150 beginner kit to probably spending over $2000 on kegging and brewing equipment.  Well worth it though


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## smokingmymeat

I get most of my info at www.northernbrewer.com   I've got an IPA and a Scottish ale fermenting right now at around 63 degrees.

Mon. or Tues. I plan to move the IPA to secondary and make a Black IPA and pour it on that yeast cake.

Happy brewing,

  Big AL


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## lhommedieu

I just got into brewing myself and my first home brew, an Irish red ale from Northern Brewers, has been fermenting in the bucket for the past 3 weeks.  The most important issue is sanitizing your equipment at every stage past the initial boiling stage.  The kits from Northern Brewer are very easy to understand as everything has been measured for you and it's simply a matter of following the procedure.  There are a few things that I would do differently the next time around:

1.  Get a propane heat source and boil the wort outside.

2.  Use a larger boiling container.  My 12 quart stainless steel pot was simply too small and I am going to use a much larger pot the next time. 

3.  After the wort has cooled, siphon directly into a 5 gallon carboy (this is a mostly aesthetic choice on my part) as per the directions for the bucket.

4.  Use a hydometer to take a original specific gravity reading prior to putting in (pitching) the yeast, and then taking 3 more readings when primary fermentation appears to be over.  This allows you to confirm that primary fermentation is over and will give you the ABV of your beer.

5.  Using a wet yeast method for creating and adding in a yeast mixture to the cooled wort.

As I said, this is my first home brew and the above considerations are merely what's occurred to me as a during my first brew attempt.  They also mean adding about $100 dollars to the original of the kit that ran about $75.  The folks at www.homebrewtalk.com have been very helpful and even have a forum for newbie extract brewers like me.  I've been asking about primary fermentation vs. primary/secondary fermentation and I believe that unless you are making a more sophisticated beer (either lagering or adding something for a deeper layer of flavor), fermenting in the primary for a little extra time is all that's needed to create an excellent product.  My primary bucket is in my basement that holds a consistent 65 degrees F during every season except the summer; in the summer I'll have to figure out a way to drop the temperature down a bit.

Best,

Steve


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