A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

by **new2brew** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:16 am

Ok,
So I have been reading a lot online and picked up a couple of books, and finally got a starter kit for Father's Day.

I am trying to get all my ducks in a row and get all my loose ends squared away before starting my first batch. It's a Scottish Ale Extract/Grain kit that came with the starter kit from my local Home Brew Store.

1. I purchased a Masterbuilt turkey fryer for about $60.00 at Sears (http://www.masterbuilt.com/prod_cookers.html model M30BV) it has an aluminum 30qt pot with a valve.
Now I have read numerous pros and cons regarding aluminum, and couldn't find a thread on it on this board, but it seems aluminum is ok. I asked a friend of mine who is pretty experienced and of course he suggested stainless steel. But due to budget I need to conserve $$$. I boiled some water only in it today and noticed the Aluminum discoloring at the top of the pot, where there was no water and on the lid. (basically the areas where there was steam only) is this going to be a problem?

2. I also plan to do the full wort boil method because I do not trust that our water out here is that great. It is municipal well water and most people around here won't drink it out the tap. (I do though) and it is usually cloudy, so I figure it will produce better results if 100% of the water is boiled. The pot I have has a threaded valve, my idea for cooling the wort is somewhere along the lines of a immersion cooler.

Can I run copper tubing from the brew kettle through cold water/ice then into the fermenter to cool the wort?

3. I am also worried I don't have a proper environment for fermenting. I have obtained the commander's (wife's) permission to use the guest bathroom tub for fermenting. But our house is usually somewhere around 80 degrees. I saw the wet towel posts. Can someone post a picture of what that would look like, and how often would I have to rewet the towels? I don't really have the option of buying/converting a fridge because I don't have the money or space. Any other suggestions.

I know it's a long post but any help will be greatly appreciated. I really really want this to work out for me.

Thanks

by **Wild** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:25 am

new2brew wrote:Ok,
So I have been reading a lot online and picked up a couple of books, and finally got a starter kit for Father's Day.

Welcome to the forum and the obsession.

new2brew wrote:I am trying to get all my ducks in a row and get all my loose ends squared away before starting my first batch. It's a Scottish Ale Extract/Grain kit that came with the starter kit from my local Home Brew Store.

Good starting choice. Tough to go wrong with a Scottish Ale.

new2brew wrote:1. I purchased a Masterbuilt turkey fryer for about $60.00 at Sears (http://www.masterbuilt.com/prod_cookers.html model M30BV) it has an aluminum 30qt pot with a valve.
Now I have read numerous pros and cons regarding aluminum, and couldn't find a thread on it on this board, but it seems aluminum is ok. I asked a friend of mine who is pretty experienced and of course he suggested stainless steel. But due to budget I need to conserve $$$. I boiled some water only in it today and noticed the Aluminum discoloring at the top of the pot, where there was no water and on the lid. (basically the areas where there was steam only) is this going to be a problem?

Nice score. I like the tap. SS is always good if you got the $$. No problems with aluminum. You need the oxidation layer on the aluminum so don't try to scrub it off.

new2brew wrote:2. I also plan to do the full wort boil method because I do not trust that our water out here is that great. It is municipal well water and most people around here won't drink it out the tap. (I do though) and it is usually cloudy, so I figure it will produce better results if 100% of the water is boiled. The pot I have has a threaded valve, my idea for cooling the wort is somewhere along the lines of a immersion cooler.

I've had municipal well water that was so bad the residents had to sign a waiver that they'd not drink more than a liter a day of the stuff. An idea to allow for the boiling of the whole batch and to aid cooling would be to boil 3 gallons the day before and then freeze it. Toss the ice into your fermentor and pour your hot wort over it to chill it to pitching temp.

new2brew wrote:Can I run copper tubing from the brew kettle through cold water/ice then into the fermenter to cool the wort?

Yes but you'll need to stir the ice water around your coils.

new2brew wrote:3. I am also worried I don't have a proper environment for fermenting. I have obtained the commander's (wife's) permission to use the guest bathroom tub for fermenting. But our house is usually somewhere around 80 degrees. I saw the wet towel posts. Can someone post a picture of what that would look like, and how often would I have to rewet the towels? I don't really have the option of buying/converting a fridge because I don't have the money or space. Any other suggestions.

If your fermentor is in a tub of water and you have a T-shirt or towel over it, it will wick the water. Have a small fan blowing on the shirt/towel to cool. I've also seen people use a small pond pump to bring water to the top of the shirt/towel and use a fan. It's tough to ferment here in the summer at 120°F. Scan Craigslist for a cheap fridge or freezer.

new2brew wrote:I know it's a long post but any help will be greatly appreciated. I really really want this to work out for me.

Thanks

This is only the beginning. The more you learn, the more questions you'll have.

Good luck

by **Kirby** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:54 pm

The fun is just beginning. e-mail me at kirbyat@gmail.com and I'll forward pix of my setup that so far is working for me. Happy Friday, Cheers.

by **GuitarLord5000** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:56 pm

Post the pics!

Cheers,
Dave

by **new2brew** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:50 pm

Ok, I did it! Thanks for all the advice.

I brewed my first batch on 7/9. I didn't see any bubbling in the airlock until 7/11 and it was pretty steady, but now on 7/13 I see no signs of bubbling at all in the airlock?

I'm pretty confused could fermentation be complete in 5 days? I'm not sure what to do now?

by **penguinfogel** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:00 pm

fermentation can complete sooner then 5 days actually. Personally I'd let it set for at least another week, two would be better though. Once it's sat I'd just siphon it into your bottling bucket. If you wanted though you could siphon into another container, seal it, and let it clear and age. It is a scotish ale after all, so a little aging won't hurt.

by **new2brew** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:27 pm

Thanks,

I'll let it sit for a while longer, I also put some tape on the bucket lid because I thought maybe the seal wasn't tight.

I do plan on secondary fermentation. I am getting very very anxious though, I can't stop looking at it.

Thanks for all the quick and helpful replies on this board.

by **Bierbelly** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:58 am

Aluminum pots are fine. Do not clean them with solutions containing chlorine.

You don't want to use an aluminum pot that is still shiny after cleaning. The dull grayish color is a protective oxide layer--a good thing. It can be restored by boiling water in the pot before use.

by **bigl21601** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:35 am

ales are usually done fermenting inside of a week. a good idea is to rack to a secondary fermentor after the first week to allow the yeast and other sedement to fall out of the beer (clarifying). aluminum is fine beer won't boil in it long enough for acid enzimes to work against it. stainless is better because there is no risk of aluminum infection.
hope this helps and have fun brewing (brewing is hard work but the result is easy to enjoy)

by **jeepguy** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 4:58 pm

If you run your wort inside the copper make sure it is very clean and sanitized. I usually let some boiling wort run though my counterflow chiller then arefully pour back into the kettle. Its easier to just drop an immersion chiller in the last 15 minutes of the boil and run cold water through it.
I am lazy so i just let my beer ferment 2 weeks in the primary.

Let us know how it turns out.

by **new2brew** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:16 am

Ok,
So I finished my first batch! Brewed on July 9, and opened on August 16. A Canadian Ale. And I must say it is pretty darn good.

I got a yield of two 5l Mini-Kegs and probably 18 12oz bottles. On bottling day I had to drink about 4 Kirkland Signature beers to get the bottles because I didn't have enough. Luckily it was at the end of the process. (I find it economical to by Costco Beer because it's 17.99 a case and I get the beer with it and it's not too bad.)

We hosted a tasting party and I tapped one of the mini-kegs. We went through it in less than half the night.

Everyone who tried some, or just out right "drank" said it was the best beer they've ever tasted! (I don't think any of them have had home brew before though). I gave a bottle to my neighbor, he came outside holding the bottle and had the biggest smile on his face.

Now I am encouraged and enthusiastic. Starting my next batch tomorrow, a Copper Ale from Midwest Supplies.

The biggest problem I have now is I don't want to ever run out of homebrew!

Thanks to everyone on this site for the help and insight given on the posts I've made and the questions and answers I've found in other posts.

by **miguelito** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:34 pm

Congrats on the success of your home brew! I felt like I was reading a bit about myself regarding a couple of the things that you mentioned. You are correct - I don't want to run out of home brew either. After my first batch, I have been trying to keep the pipeline full of new home brews so I don't run into an outage situation. It really is cool to see people react to you giving them just one bottle of home brew to try out. It's like they won something. Good luck on your future brews. The bug has definitely bitten the both of us.

A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

Re: A few loose ends for beginner. Temp? Aluminum?

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