My Second Brew

[beerdrinker]

For those of you who are afraid I will create one of these threads for each of my brews, rest assured I wont. (I'm too lazy for that)

My second batch has not been started yet, as I'm waiting to finish with the fermentation bucket with the first batch. This time I have chosen Muntons 'American Style Light' which was said to be one of the more popular varieties sold by the store. After reading everything I have I will likely go with a much different strategy when brewing this batch.

First, I'm going to hit the mall in search of a 10-12 liter pot to boil the wort. As this seems to be what I'm supposed to do (even though the instructions that came with it neglect this information). I was considering attempting to add hops to this mixture, and would appreciate any advice on how much and what type to look for. I also might purchase malt extract and hops for my next brew at this time, just to save on shipping in the long run. (Any links to an easy recipe would be appreciated)

Now back to this brew, after boiling, I will cool the wort in the sink, full of ice. This will be poured into the fermenter and fill it to the 23 liter mark (about 5 gallons). At this point I am not sure if I should add the 2.2 lbs of corn sugar as the instructions call for, but I will add it unless I hear otherwise from you guys below. Next I will add the yeast, and then leave the wort to ferment for 14 days.

Then for the bottling phase I will mix up a priming solution of corn sugar and water and put this in the 'bottling bucket' and add the beer to this mix. Then I will transfer this into the bottles, wait a week or so for them to settle, and enjoy

Please let me know if I have gone wrong in this explanation, so I don't make that mistake when actually brewing the batch. Also, suggestions on hops for this batch and a recepie for my next batch would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Sean.

[Speyedr]

First, post as many of these "My Xth brew" as you want if you need help. Everyone here started where you are now. Just help out the next guy once you get more comfortable..

POT - if you haven't bought this yet, buy the biggest one you can afford to buy. Aluminum is fine, and pretty cheap. It is always best to boil as much wort as possible and add as little water as possible, "none" being the optimal amount. Also, either use distilled or boiled and cooled water, not plain tap water.

KIT - the are fine to start with, and they are hopped already. I wouldn't add hops to an American Style Light as it is not supposed to be very hoppy. If you go with a Pale Ale instead you could add up to 1/2oz (14.2g) of Cascade when you have 5min left in the boil (5min before flame out), which will add a little flavor, and a lot of aroma.

YEAST - this kit probably comes with dry yeast, so you should re-hydrate it. Put it in about 1 cup (0.25L) of lukewarm (70f/21c) water for about 30min before you pitch it into the cool wort. Anyone else with more info on this please chime in and correct me. I've only used dry yeast a couple of times.

SUGAR - I would not add ANY Corn Sugar to the fermenter. It's fine for priming and bottling, but for these kits I would add the same amount of Extra Light Dry Malt Extract instead. Corn Sugar has no flavor and will only add alcohol. The Malt Extract will add alcohol as well as a more malty flavor.

BOTTLING - Your process looks fine, however you will have to wait more like 2 weeks for the carbonation to complete. Keep the bottles around 70f(21c) or so or it may take longer than that. You can always try one after 1 week, but it will probably take two.

SANITATION - you did not mention it, so I will just reinforce that ANYTHING that is going to touch the wort after it has cooled MUST be properly sanitized using Iodophur, Start San, or some other food grade, no rinse sanitizer. Follow the directions on whatever product you choose. By "ANYTHING" I mean EVERYTHING including all buckets, hoses, bottles, caps, and any containers that will hold anything else like the dish you rehydrate the yeast in and the bottling equipment. This is the single most important step to making better beer.

Finally, if you haven't done so already, pick up a copy of "How To Brew" by John Palmer. The first section is all about extract brewing and there are some good extract recipes in it too. You can check out a free copy of his older editions at http://www.howtobrew.com.

Good Luck, and Happy Brewing!

Rob

[Sherlock]

re:pot Yup, get the biggest pot you can comfortably afford. You can always do small batches in a big pot but it's much harder to do big batches in a small pot. turkey fryers can be found cheap sometimes & usually have a decent size pot(and a burner).

re:sugar the instructions call for... my guess is that the instructions should have said to add it to the boil to heat sanitize it.

re:recipes... NorthernBrewer has the ingredient list available on their website for all of their recipies. doesn't seem like many places are doing that, but they do.

like Speyedr said, Sanitize Sanitize Sanitize.

It is good to hear that your getting your 2nd brew lined up while your 1st is still in the fermenter, as when the beer turns out good(and it probably will) it will NOT last long. Enjoy!

[Bugeater]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Speyedr on the sugar. Malt extracts will vary widely in the amount of unfermentable sugars they contain. For a notoriously unfermentable malt like Laaglander's, an addition of sugar is necessary in order to get your gravity without the final product being too sweet. On the other hand, when using a highly fermentable malt like United Canadian, you can get by with adding malt instead of sugar and still get an acceptable final gravity.

The point is that a properly designed kit will take this into account when recommending that you add sugar to the kit. Of course there are poorly designed kits out there. When in doubt, I use sugar. I can handle a dry beer, I can't handle beers that are overly sweet.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[Speyedr]

The point is that a properly designed kit will take this into account when recommending that you add sugar to the kit. Of course there are poorly designed kits out there. When in doubt, I use sugar. I can handle a dry beer, I can't handle beers that are overly sweet.

I am definitely coming at this from a "This kit is not properly designed" perspective, and 2.5lbs of sugar for an American Style Light (Cream Ale I think..) seems a bit much. The reason for this perspective is the pre-hopped wort, yeast taped to the can kit that I believe this is. I've never brewed one, but everything I have read abut them says not to add the sugar.

I may be wrong...

[beerdrinker]

Thanks for all the advice, I think I'm set for this batch, I bought myself a 11.3 liter pot for boiling the wort and picked up the DME.

I'll have this batch ready to this weekend, then I'm already getting ready for my 3rd batch. I guess I'll make my 3rd batch, then slow down a little to actually drink my beer, but I want to be able to at least have a little in stock so I can age it a bit. My next batch I'll try myself at a Cream Ale, below is the recipe I found, the only issue I might have is tracking down is the light dry malt extract. Also, I won't be able to fit 3 gallons of water to boil as the recipe calls for, but I assume that a 2 gallons in the boil wont hurt, as long as theres the right amount in the final batch.

Code: Select all

Wisdom Cream Ale Clone
(5 gallons, extract)
OG = 1.053
FG = 1.014
IBUs = 14–16
ABV = 5.1%

Ingredients
6.0 lbs. Coopers Light dry malt extract
4.0 AAU Tettnanger hops (bittering)
(0.9 oz. of 4.5% alpha acid)
7.4 AAU Saaz hops (aroma)
(2.1 oz. of 3.5% alpha acid)
1 tsp Irish moss
White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast or Wyeast 1968 (Special London) yeast
O.75 cup of corn sugar for priming

Step by Step
Since there are no grains in this recipe, it is simple to make. Add the malt extract to three gallons of hot water and bring to a boil. Add the Tettnanger (bittering) hops and Irish moss and boil for 60 minutes. Add the Saaz (aroma) hops for the last two minutes of the boil.
When you are done boiling, strain out the hops. Add the wort to two gallons of cool water in a sanitized fermenter and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons. Cool the wort to 80º F, aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68–70º F and ferment for 10–14 days. Bottle your beer, age for a minimum of two to three weeks and enjoy!

[beerdrinker]

one more note, I will be away for a week on vacation, is it ok to begin fermentation on a batch before leaving so that it's ready to be bottled when I get back? or should I not leave a batch unattended?

thanks again.

[macgruffus]

one more note, I will be away for a week on vacation, is it ok to begin fermentation on a batch before leaving so that it's ready to be bottled when I get back? or should I not leave a batch unattended?

You'll be fine beerdrinker. You could leave it a couple weeks or even (like Jamil) for up to four weeks, skip the secondary and just go straight to packaging. Just make sure you have liquid in the airlock and that your fermenter's temperature will stay in the right range.

David