Hello all newbie quistions.

[jamesjr]

Ok so ive been making wine for a bit now and I like it just fine I never drank wine till I started making it myself. Im originally a beer drinker but thaught it would be to hard to brew a good beer then ive been doing some reading and some video watching of craigtube and others on youtube and ive been trying to get together some supplys for brewing so far I have a 6.5 carboy a old aluminum Turkey fryer .bottle capper. Working on emptying enough bottles then ill order some caps and find a bottling bucket but could I use a 5 gallon or does it need to be bigger for a 5 gallon batch? Also I was thinking I'd order an extract kit for my first one I like a crisp refreshing not to bitter american beer any suggestions? But im very eager to convert coolers to mash tuns and start all grain right off the bat but im afraid ill mess that up and not want to brew again so ill start simple also another question I live in fl and we keep the air set at 76 and I kno I cant do a lager at that temp but will a ale be ok? Any other suggestions will be awesome and where throws out the bigger food grade buckets?
Thanks

 

[BernardSmith]

Two issues I don't see that you have acknowledged:
One issue that brewers need to resolve is when you are making five gallon batches all-grain you need a heating source that is typically needs to be far larger than the stove you have in your kitchen. Getting 6 or more gallons (you can expect to lose about 1 gallon of water to evaporation in an hour) to boil in a reasonable time requires many more BTUs than an electric cooker or gas stove is able to supply. That may mean using propane and that may mean finding a place to brew that is sufficiently supplied with air and is fire safe...
The other issue is how to cool the wort down quickly from 212 degrees to around 60 F. One method is to use a sink or bath filled with ice water. That works but it is slow. The other method favored by brewers is to use a copper coil immersed in the boiler through which they allow cold water to flow and that cold water transfers the heat from the wort to the water which is then poured down the drain (worst case) or used to water the garden... though I have no idea what the garden waterers do in the winter...
I like to make all grain beer but as I wrote in another post I make micro batches - about a gallon or so at a time and so can use my kitchen stove and my kitchen sink.
As to a suggestion for the kind of beer you might start with I would suggest that you look at what I think is a great book for the beginner (I am ignoring Palmer and Papazian because they are about technique) and that is (again, I like the micro batch approach) Beer Craft by Bostwick and Rymill. This book really explains principles - provides recipes based on classic beer styles and then highlights modifications to recipes that are easy to work with and which help give you a real feel for what you are in fact doing.
In my opinion, their approach to brewing makes all grain brewing as simple as using dried or liquid malt extracts and as simple as using kits. Takes a little bit longer because you do need to mash grains and boil the wort but they demystify the process and really help you understand the relationship between base malts and specialty malts

 

[jamesjr]

Ok thanks ya im still trying to get a burner working my flow valve went bad on my old turkey fryer burner but ill get it up in running soon and ok thanks so u do notice a difference in extract to all grain?

 

[petey_c]

Starting out with extract is a good way to get a feel for brewing. I did about a dozen Mr. Beer batches before moving on Coopers five gallon extract then to mini-mashes. Mini mashes are a combination of extract and all grain. (Coopers recently acquired Mr. Beer, so the quality of their product has gone up.) I think you get more flavor than extract alone and it takes less time than all grain. My typical boil is three to four gallons on my GE electric coil stove top. There are submersible heating elements that you can use supplement your heat to reduce your boil time. An immersion chiller will help cool your wort quickly. In the winter it takes me about 10-15 minutes to go from 212 to 73°F. My ground water temp was 52 degrees two days ago. I stick the brew pot in the sink and use the water that comes out of the chiller to help cool down the outside of the pot, by filling the sink with water and periodically opening the drain.
Homebrewtalk.com http://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum.php (a brother website to this one) is a great resource. Austin Homebrew is good and has a TON of clone kits and their own recipes. Northern brewer, Brewmaster's Warehouse and Midwest brew are also very good.

 

[jamesjr]

Ok kool ya they sell mr beer at rural king in town but a buddy of mine made that amd he said it tasted like sparkling pond water lol but it was a while back. I didn't want to spend all that on just two gallons because I have alot of winemaking stuff already and i could probably drink 2 gallons in a night lol not that im a drunk I just like beer and have a crazy tolerance to alcohol but yea im going to look at homebrew talk does it have an app? Also I just baught a 5 gallon bucket new for a fermenter/ bottling bucket is that to small? Or should I get a bigger one I cant find any new bigger buckets. And with the extract kits u get do u steep the grains in a bag or use a tun and wash the grains? ( hope I got my word right I'm still learning the lingo)

Thanks-james

 

[buzzzkllr]

I made my first batch of beer using a lot of my wine equipment (fermenting bucket and 6 gallon carboy) at Thanksgiving. We used the turkey fryer in the yard to boil the water. We used an octoberfest kit for our first batch. We boiled 3 gallons of the water and used the bag for easier clean up. We cooled it down by soaking the pot in the sink of ice and adding the additional 2 gallons of ice water to the batch. It took about 45 minutes to get it down the temp down. I don't know if that's right, but it's what we did and it worked. Tasted it too soon because we were anxious and thought we really messed up. Tasted it a month later and it's pretty good beer. Good luck. I will try another batch soon. I'm in MS and my air sits at 72.

 

[jamesjr]

Ok kool that's about my same situation I dont want to put money into mash tuns or anything yet and just get the process down and make sure I can make something ill drink