First time brewer

J A said:
Stick around... your questions will be welcome here, too and there's not the limiting factor of the kit beer materials. You'll get a lot more varied info here. Trust me, you'll want to be putting together extract/steeped grain recipes before long and then trying your hand at all-grain and this is a great place to be as you figure things out.
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thanks, i know how being a total newbee can be to the more experienced hobbyist. i've schooled many on other forums and topics. since my the use of mr. beer materials on the first go, that IS the place for questions the first time. this is my new hobby and i will be doing more advanced brews quick quick. i have a few weeks to go before more info is needed. kinda funny, when i went to mr. beer forum, one of the first things seen was cold crashing....in the meantime i'm doing a lot of reading. but practice makes perfect or at least close ;-)
 
for best results age 4 to 6 weeks after bottling or kegging,. 6 weeks is much better. star san is a the best product going. dont worry about a few oz left in the keg. Keep a spray bottle of star san around its good for 2 weeks or more.
 
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cheech226 said:
kinda funny, when i went to mr. beer forum, one of the first things seen was cold crashing....in the meantime i'm doing a lot of reading. but practice makes perfect or at least close ;-)
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The good thing about that forum is that it's equipment-specific. There are ways to make the most of any set up, including the LBK and you'll get a lot of good use from that methodology when you're aware of the quirks. I tend to be results oriented rather than equipment dependent and will always find a way to adapt to whatever system I have access to, but just starting out with a basic process like brewing, it's great to have a roadmap and a very standard set of tools to use.
You'll find the same thing when you go to all-grain...there are very basic procedures that have to happen and though the exact vessel will vary from brewer to brewer and system to system, the function is the same and as you understand the basics of first fermentation and then mashing with all it's variations, you'll start to see how everything fits together.
 
Or don't age. I'm usually drinking mine 12 days after I start fermentation. ;)

It's whatever works for you.
 
Yeah, if I could afford a walk in refrigerator, I’d buy about 20 kegs and fill them up. Then by the time I tapped them, they’d be a couple or several months old. But, space being what it is, means a much shorter time from grain to glass.
 
jeffpn said:
Yeah, if I could afford a walk in refrigerator, I’d buy about 20 kegs and fill them up. Then by the time I tapped them, they’d be a couple or several months old. But, space being what it is, means a much shorter time from grain to glass.
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Between me and my wife, we can't let the keg sit more than a couple days. Once it's carbed, we start pouring... within 2 weeks... gone! The only exception is our Kolsch. It's been in the Keezer for 4 days now. Carbing up but the beer line is intentionally left off. !
 
Hawkbox said:
Or don't age. I'm usually drinking mine 12 days after I start fermentation. ;)

It's whatever works for you.
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You'll find that the Mr Beer stuff will need at least several weeks in the bottle to overcome its inherent faults. Just save some back so you can see the difference, because you'll definitely be sampling a couple of weeks after bottling and your supply will dwindle in a hurry. Eventually you'll be brewing beers that will be much better sooner. If you eventually get into kegging, you can have beer much sooner...depending on style as little as 10-12 days after brew. No matter what methods you use, everything benefits from at least a little aging.
 
I've never brewed one of those so I don't have an informed opinion, I would definitely stick with someone that has done it before's input over mine.
 
length of aging is directly related to abv in most cases. If you dont mind mild ales ~3.5% there is a good quick recipe found on the blog page that should be ready in 2 weeks.
under 4 abv ~2wks
4-4.5 abv 4wks
4.5 to 5.5 6wks
 
I've honestly never had a beer take more than 10 days to fully ferment out. 7.1% one I did the other day took that long. It sat for 17 days because I forgot about it though while it was cold crashing.
 
on your next brew
buy some yeast over whats packed in those kits
English Ales style - Go with safale s-04
US ale Danstar BRY97 ( more body) or Safale S-04 ( less body)
BRY97 is the sierra Nevada style ale yeast

These are my 3 go to dry yeast. Just re hydrate yeast in a cup of water - boil water first and cool to 75 degrees before re-hydrate

Need bottles? buy some Guinness draft - easiest bottle to remove the labels from. just cut off with a knife
 
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ok call the glue factory
 
dfj said:
on your next brew
buy some yeast over whats packed in those kits
English Ales style - Go with safale s-04
US ale Danstar BRY97 ( more body) or Safale S-04 ( less body)
BRY97 is the sierra Nevada style ale yeast

These are my 3 go to dry yeast. Just re hydrate yeast in a cup of water - boil water first and cool to 75 degrees before re-hydrate

Need bottles? buy some Guinness draft - easiest bottle to remove the labels from. just cut off with a knife
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for the mr beer kit i dry pitched the yeast. on my second brew (brewed 2/9) i used tap water into a sanitized glass. i didn't boil it first.....i added about a gram of dme then the yeast. i hope that mistake doesn't cost me my batch. i'll keep my fingers crossed.
 
you're probably fine. My first few kits I just heated up the tin and poured into hot water from the tap. Came out fine, though it makes me twitch a little now thinking about it.
 
cheech226 said:
for the mr beer kit i dry pitched the yeast. on my second brew (brewed 2/9) i used tap water into a sanitized glass. i didn't boil it first.....i added about a gram of dme then the yeast. i hope that mistake doesn't cost me my batch. i'll keep my fingers crossed.
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Tap water is generally sanitary. That's why they put the chlorine/chloramine in there to begin with - it's a long-lasting disinfectant.
 
Put it in a closet and forget about it for a week to 10 days. You’ll get beer
 
cheech226 said:
for the mr beer kit i dry pitched the yeast. on my second brew (brewed 2/9) i used tap water into a sanitized glass. i didn't boil it first.....i added about a gram of dme then the yeast. i hope that mistake doesn't cost me my batch. i'll keep my fingers crossed.
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HAave your ever heard about a gadget,brix refractometer?
 
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