• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The Beer Home Brewers Thread

#121
Eric Perry said:
Awesome, thank you!

I'll be storing everything in my basement, which is a very constant temp of mid-60's, which seems to be perfect.

For the water, I'm going to buy filtered water, as my tap water isn't the greatest. I'll have it room temp to start. I already saw some videos/warnings on boil-overs, so I'll keep my eye on it.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, can't forget the water. I'm lucky enough to live in an area with good enough water. A friend of mine used to brew. He moved across town, which has water from a different treatment plant. His new water sucks and he's still working on a solution to that.

Mid 60's is perfect. I tend to use the weather to my advantage and will brew my saisons to take advantage of the warmer temps.
 
#127
baba said:
Sounds like you are well aware of the importance of sanitizing everything, so I have no idea where you got funked. Hopefully it's just a bottle or a few bottles.
Click to expand...

From the little research I've done I think the sanitizing stuff I used required things to soak in it for like 20 minutes. If thats the case I was no where near that mark. I just bought some one step so that should take care of it (hopefully).
 
#128
rr5025 said:
How long can you store one of these kits?
Click to expand...

The yeast will have about a 2+ year shelf life if refrigerated. The rest of the ingredients are sealed pretty well. The crushed grains are the only things not totally sealed, so probably about 2 years or so. I suppose you could push it and it would turn out fine. The crushed grains are dried. The hops are sealed really tight. The dry malt extract is basically boiled and dried down to sugar. The liquid malt extract is also sealed.

This particular kit comes with Danstar Belle Saison yeast, which is so new that very few people know much about it. I was going to use White Labs Trapist yeast since I didn't use that for another batch. The Danstar yeast might be good. Nobody knows.

For a kit with all ya need and a good amount of hops, this one will be tough to beat price wise.
 
#129
I wouldn't push crushed grains past 3 months unless they're vacuum sealed.

(NB to the new brewers: brewing is as much an art as a science ... there's lots of opinions and most are valid. I'm not saying that spade2you is wrong, just giving a different opinion.)
 
#130
Over the years, I've found that the age of the specialty grains doesn't have that much impact in the big picture. I haven't pushed them past 2 years.

I also have some Trew Brew kits that my brother gave me a few years back. No crushed grains, so I'm sure they'll be fine when I eventually get to them.
 
#131
Eric Perry said:
I am looking forward to doing some IPAs (my beer of choice). Baby steps though! :)
Click to expand...

I suggest you dive right into the IPA's then. They are actually one of the easiest beers to brew and get great results. They are very unbalanced beers bombed with hops (at the least the North American version, not so much the British variant), so the hops can often mask any off esters and other flavors from brewing time/temp/other errors.
 
#132
rr5025 said:
From the little research I've done I think the sanitizing stuff I used required things to soak in it for like 20 minutes. If thats the case I was no where near that mark. I just bought some one step so that should take care of it (hopefully).
Click to expand...

Not sure what you used, but I've never sanitized anything for that period of time. I've tried many things but prefer iodophor due to its price and effectiveness.
 
#133
baba said:
I suggest you dive right into the IPA's then. They are actually one of the easiest beers to brew and get great results. They are very unbalanced beers bombed with hops (at the least the North American version, not so much the British variant), so the hops can often mask any off esters and other flavors from brewing time/temp/other errors.
Click to expand...

Good to know thanks. For my second batch I'll try my hand at a hop-monster! :D
 
#135
just started up a small 1/2 gallon batch of mead today, with some bread yeast, a good 1.75 pounds of honey, some figs, or dates, or whatever, some raisins, and a couple of clementines. Basically, just some fruit I had lying around. Yeah, I'm really professional about this. :p
 
#139
masonsjax said:
I just bought another 5 sacks of grain to restock after moving recently. I would like to get some hops growing here at the new place this year too.
Click to expand...


I have some well established Cascade hops at my house and every spring I make rhizomes available free of charge to any TB'ers who want to grow them. Check out one of my annual Cascade threads or just send me a PM around the middle of March and I'll hook you up.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f34/giving-away-cascade-hop-rhizomes-season-2-a-752678/
 
#140
baba said:
Never been to prison but I'm pretty sure that's how they make it there.:D
Click to expand...

yeah, I've seen how it's been rumoured to be made, doesn't sound too appetizing. Give this stuff a couple of years and it'll be fine, my last batch tastes a lot like a riesling right now. I just got kindof bored and peeking at the yeast every now and then in anticipation is a fun thing.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back