Beginner alert!!!

[parallon]

Hello all. I am new to the forum but have been reading through your threads for the past couple of days. I do have a couple of questions though. FYI - I am barely starting the second stage of fermentation of my first batch.

Q1:
I noticed in Palmer's book, he mentions not to follow the instructions on the LME to add sugar for the primary fermentation. What is the reason for this? Will it matter since I already have? If I skip this step in future batches, can I expect the initial fermentation activity to be different?

Q2:
I have read that light will affect the beer. Is this only sunlight (direct or indirect), or incandescent as well?

Q3:
And last but not least, I have been figuring out a schedule so that there is not any waiting period between my last beer of one batch and the first beer of the next batch. So, I guess what I am wondering is if there is a shelf life of a homebrew? Bottle? Keg?

Thank you so much in advance, and I really look forward to getting to know you all a lot better.

Parallon

[corkybstewart]

Welcome to the site.
A1-your beer will be much better if you drop the sugar and add more extract, either liquid or dried. The fermentation will work the same either way, but there's not much of a flavor or body component to sugar, it's just fermentable and will thin your beer out.

A2 Try to avoid light as much as possible. I know direct sunlight is a killer. If you can't ferment in a closet wrap a towel or blanket around your fermentor. keep in mind this might raise your fermenting temp and that's a bad thing usually.

A3 As soon as you've bottled, start your next batch. Buy another carboy or get more bottles. Or start putting a kegging system together. Then start brewing 10 gallon batches once a month and soon you'll have enough beer you can relax and have a homebrew.
I just noticed you're from the kirky. There is at least one other member, dparsons, from there.

[dparsons]

Thats right. 2 of us now. :) Nice to have another local brewer.

To add to Corky's A3, beer does have a shelf life, but I haven't read a single post where that was the concern. The concern was brewing enough to keep some homebrew on the shelf. A typical 5 gallon batch is about 2 cases. You can figure how often to brew according to how much you drink. Most of us like to have a few varieties on hand and then brew at a rate to maintain stock, considering seasonal lapses of course.

[Mill Rat]

A1: Don't drop the sugar, replace in equal or slightly greater quantity with either form of extract.

A2: I cover the carboys with an old dress shirt, buttoned up to the collar. It'll drape right over and the neck of the carboy will stick right trough the collar. It's kinda disturbing how well those fit a carboy.

A3: A full pipeline makes for a happy brewer. It's a little bit of a bear to fill the pipeline, but once you're there, it's great. Not only do you have plenty of beer, but you'll also have plenty of variety.

[parallon]

Wow, thank you all for your input. I am really looking forward for my first tasting...

Also Mill Rat, what do you mean 'full pipeline'?

Thanks,

Parallon

[Mill Rat]

The "pipeline" as it's referred to here is the beer that you have on hand ready to drink plus what is in the process of becoming ready to drink. It's torture to wait until you've finished your last batch before you brew the next. Ideally you'll have a few batches on hand that you're drinking, plus one to three bottle conditioning and a similar number in secondary, depending on your rate of consumption. What you see right below this paragraph is a summary of my pipeline; you'll note that other homebrewers will post similar information.

[wortchillergoal]

Another good carboy cover is the box in which it came packaged. Justt cut a hole big enough for an airlock in the bottom and place it upside down on the carboy.

[parallon]

This place is GREAT!!!

Thank you all.....


Parallon

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by Mill Rat
[B What you see right below this paragraph is a summary of my pipeline; you'll note that other homebrewers will post similar information. [/B]

Speaking of which I'd like to take a look at your Schwartzdopplebock recipe. I'm going to brew a dopplebock after Christmas and was going to use a bunch of my rapidly aging wheat, but maybe a schwartz bier would go down well.

[Carl Spakler]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
Another good carboy cover is the box in which it came packaged. Justt cut a hole big enough for an airlock in the bottom and place it upside down on the carboy.

Depending on the box, and how you opened it, just flip the box top flaps up and it sits high enough to clear the airlock. Well, it does for me at least. :)

The biggest challenge for me in brewing, after deciding what to make, is making sure I have enough bottles!

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by Carl Spakler

The biggest challenge for me in brewing, after deciding what to make, is making sure I have enough bottles!

Too bad you don't live out here. I took 3 garbage cans full of bottles to the recycling center last month. I'm only keeping Belgian/champagne bottles and I still have my Grolsch bottles. Check your local recycling centers for usable bottles.I still do a little dumpster diving for friends when I take my stuff to be recycled. A couple of months ago I found 10 sixers of Bridgeport IPA bottles, rinsed well and put upside down in the original package.

[RichC]

My local HBS is also a pretty big paint store, and they'll sell you used bottles, uncleaned, for less than $3 a case. The only problem is, I don't know how long they've been sitting there and just how much work they're going to be to clean. If I'm going to pay for the pleasure of cleaning bottles, I'm going to enjoy emptying them too. :D

[HogieWan]

an overnight soak in hot bleach water will get just about anything off the bottles with no elbow grease involved.

[corkybstewart]

If you have very hard water bleach will leave an indestructible white crystalline residue on bottles. Then you have to do a long vinegar soak(Corky douche) to get rid of the residue. PBW or Oxyclean are better, at least with our water.

[RichC]

I've been soaking them in hot water and unsented dish soap. Some labels fall right off (Paulaner) and other hang on for dear life. I haven't had to worry to much about internal residue because I rinse them afer finishing them.

[dparsons]

Watch out for the dish soap police.

[Carl Spakler]

Originally posted by RichC
If I'm going to pay for the pleasure of cleaning bottles, I'm going to enjoy emptying them too.

That's been my thought as well.

I also have no desire to "dumpster dive" and do battle with the local can farmers that occasionally prowl. Luckily since we've moved to a much nicer area I haven't seen a one on trash pick-up day. :)

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
If you have very hard water bleach will leave an indestructible white crystalline residue on bottles. Then you have to do a long vinegar soak(Corky douche) to get rid of the residue. PBW or Oxyclean are better, at least with our water. I'll toss in my usual promo for washing soda here. Get it for about a buck a pound in the laundry section of your supermarket. It will effectively soak off all those labels, and since it's just sodium carbonate (the base ingredient in most laundry detergent), no funky tastes or smells and no head-killing properties like soap.

BTW, post 1K. Does this mean I'm an incorigible poster, kinda like what going AG means for the homebrewer?

[RichC]

Originally posted by dparsons
Watch out for the dish soap police.

It's bad even if you rinse them good?

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by Mill Rat

BTW, post 1K. Does this mean I'm an incorigible poster, kinda like what going AG means for the homebrewer? [/B]

Yeah Mill Rat, it's time to get back to work (like the rest of us).

[OKBrew]

Originally posted by Mill Rat
A2: I cover the carboys with an old dress shirt, buttoned up to the collar. It'll drape right over and the neck of the carboy will stick right trough the collar. It's kinda disturbing how well those fit a carboy.

The kids' old clothes work great!

LOL

Quick funny story. We have a small hot shot trucking company and we were notified that DOT wanted to come in and audit our safety practices. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol was coming out and I had left my carboy full of Porter on the kitchen counter top (we work out of our house). The wife panicked when he pulled up, afraid he might think we were cooking meth when he saw the big glass jug with a tube coming out of it into a pitcher of water. I kinda laughed and told her it would be OK. During the audit he looked at the carboy a few times but said nothing. After the audit he said, "Gotcha some homebrew going huh? My brother homebrews and if I wasn't on duty, I'd sure love to have a sample!" I proceeded to tell him about how my wife was scared he would think we were cooking meth or something in the house and he got a good laugh out of that...LOL

[dparsons]

Originally posted by RichC
It's bad even if you rinse them good?

Some of the board members are adamant about dish soap. I'm not quite positive myself. I've not had an issue with head retention. The washing soda does remove labels better, but I get a precipitate when I use it. PBW is better.

[MichaelM]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
Another good carboy cover is the box in which it came packaged. Justt cut a hole big enough for an airlock in the bottom and place it upside down on the carboy.

OK so as soon as a read this I ran to my big storage box I keep the equipment in.... grabbed the carboy box of the carboy in use and flipped the lid out on it and sat it down over the carboy..... what a beautifull and simple solution... and looks a ton better then being wrapped in the quilt I been using LOL!!!! I use milkcrates to sit my carboys in when fermenting, makes moving them around a ton easier and the boxes fit like a glove inside the milkcrate as well.....


Wow its amazing all the little things you learn

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by dparsons
Some of the board members are adamant about dish soap. I'm not quite positive myself. I've not had an issue with head retention. The washing soda does remove labels better, but I get a precipitate when I use it. PBW is better.

I wash mine with dish soap sometimes and sometimes I just use extremely hot water and a good wipe down with a clean towel and I've never seen a difference.

I think a good rinse will remove any residue.

[Vienna Lager]

Corky:

I did a Schwartz that turned out Ok.

Grains
4.5 lbs Vienna
4.5 lbs Munich
1 lb Dark Munich
.5 lb Dark Crystal
.5 lb Debittered Black

Mash
122 degrees for 15 mins.
153 degrees for 60 mins.

Hops
1 oz. Northern Brewer 60 min.
1 oz. Hallertau 10 min.

Yeast
2272 North American Lager.


OR

Grains
4.5 lbs. 2 row
3.5 lbs. Vienna
2.0 lbs Munich
.5 lb. Carafa-Special
.45 lb. Chocolate Malt

Mash
154 Degrees 60 mins.

Hops
1/2 oz. 5.2% Hallertau 60 mins.
1/2 oz. 5.2% Hallertau 30 mins.
1 oz. 4.2% Tettnang 10 mins.

Yeast
WLP 838 Southern German Lager.

[dparsons]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
I wash mine with dish soap sometimes and sometimes I just use extremely hot water and a good wipe down with a clean towel and I've never seen a difference.

I think a good rinse will remove any residue.

True confessions, Corky? :D

I wonder if it has to do with the type of dish soap and if your particular water chemistry has an effect as well.

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by dparsons


I wonder if it has to do with the type of dish soap and if your particular water chemistry has an effect as well.

Probably has a lot to do with it. We use Dawn, and our water goes thru the water softener. If I don't hand dry them, regardless of whether I use the soap or not I get some pretty thick white filming on the glasses. If I'm doing dishes by hand, I always do the glasses first, and I don't put good beer glasses in the dishwasher. But even there I sometimes put pint and pilsner glasses in the dishwasher and there's no obvious head killing effect.

[dparsons]

I've used Dawn as well and not had any noticeable issues. It is biodegradable.