My TOP 5 PIECES OF ADVICE for BEGINNER HOMEBREWERS
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- New to homebrewing, or thinking about getting started? Watch this video! I have five very important pieces of advice for you to think about before you get too far into this hobby.
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00:00 Intro and welcome
00:30 Tip 1
02:39 Tip 2
04:25 Tip 3
06:26 Tip 4
08:25 Tip 5 (The MOST important one!!)
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Full disclosure, most of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means if you buy through them I make a small percentage from the sale at no additional cost to you. All money earned through the channel goes back into the videos and brews you see on my channel. As always, don't just take my word for it, do your research before you decide to buy.
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#homebrewing #tips #advice #howto #homebrew #beer #brewing #homebrewing #clawhammersupply #graintoglass #BIAB #allgrain - Jak na to + styl
In my opinion investing in cold side makes great beer and hot side makes things convenient.
I straight up couldn’t agree with this more. Spent all my money hot side so far and wish I could switch that.
That is actually a really great way to summarize things and I completely agree.
I totally agree. I brew much less than I would like because I don’t have the fermentation temperature control I would like and I have been avoiding bottling.
This is hands down the best brewing channel on youtube. It is dense with science, real information, but clearly and well presented so it never gets too much. I tried homebrewing a few years ago, mostly winging it because info was hard to come by, and the results weren't so great. I'm gearing up to give it another try, and this channel has helped me prep a lot of the things I want to do better, and catch many of the mistakes I made before. Thanks for bringing the hobby to us!
I am new to the hobby, I just brewed my 4th beer ( northern brewer extract kits) on my 3rd beer I was not thinking and was rushing and pitched my yeast while the wort was in the high 80s. I am making myself drink through it but it is not good. I really enjoy the channel and I have a learned a lot
Ouch, yeah I've been there too. One of the biggest lessons I learned was that it is ok to dump beers. You don't need to drink your mistakes, sometimes that can be very discouraging. Better luck for the next brew!
As long as you use Brewfather “as intended” it will do more than fine as a brewing journal, arguably even better. All information in one place, digitized and available everywhere is a pretty powerful tool.
I agree, I think as long as you're consistently using something to document your brewdays with and actively making the effort to take notes, thats what matters. I'm more of a physically write it down guy, but different people are going to have different preferred ways to take notes.
Grainfather
Oh! The book is the thing that helped me, going back and tweaking
It is such a great thing to help you improve!
I've fallen off the wagon lately and stopped brewing because of some shit beers
Thanks for giving me a push to carry on
Glad to help! Keep brewing!
I'm still relatively new to brewing, but so far my favorite cold side investment has been a keg and spunding valve. Fermenting under pressure has been an absolute game changer for me, and for relatively cheap (especially compared to some temp control options). I do small batches (about 2.5 gallons), so I just picked up a 3 gallon keg from Amazon for 120 bucks and a blowtie spunding valve for another 20. For beers that don't do well under pressure, I just set the spunding valve to sub 5 psi and have had decent results. Now that I'm a little more comfortable with brewing, I've been having fun with taking SMaSH beers up a notch by taking .5-1 pound of my base malt and toasting it in the oven at 325 for 15 minutes at a time to get different levels of toastiness and see how that effects my beer. And your videos have definitely taught me so much! I probably wouldn't be making beer without them. Cheers
That's awesome! It is surprising that so many people still don't think about using kegs as pressure fermenters. They work wonderfully! The malt toasting is a nice technique, I'll have to try it sometime, only ever done it with Flaked Oats. I'm really glad you've gotten so much out of my videos, here's to plenty of brews to come!
Well said, and truly great guidance. Importantly congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family. We are thrilled for you and send good wishes!!! :)
Thank you guys! I am very excited to meet her soon!
Honestly, you have been a great resource for me. I am gathering my gear to start brewing, and your videos really help me decide on what and how I want to approach the hobby. So a big Thanks for the knowledge. You're not bad for a soldier. LOL!! Semper Fi brother!
I'm glad to have helped out so much. Semper Fi!
Love it. Always great content. Thanks buddy
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great advice
Outside of cold side improvements, I think tending to your yeast is what’s made the biggest impact on my beer. Proper pitch rates, and making starters has changed the game in the quality of my beers. After all, yeast makes beer, we make wort.
100% true!
Great advice, Steve.
Cheers Curt!
Loving the lazy susan shots!
Thank you!
The shirt got me lol. Had to look twice
Haha thats the idea
Totally agree about keeping good notes. Your log book looks excellent - much better than mine!
It helps in many ways!
I've been brewing for years but I still appreciate these video's, you never know what you'll learn and I can (and do) recommend these to friends just starting up. I agree with everything you said but can also add yeast as my big step, once I started collecting/washing/storing and making starters with yeast I learnt a lot about them and made a huge difference to brewing in general. I would also point out, it's obvious to people that consistently brew but possibly not to newcomers, There's very few pleasures in life that are better than enjoying a beer you have made while making another beer, just try not to enjoy too much till you're finished making the new one haha
Very good point! Brewers make wort and yeast makes beer!
Congrats on the baby!
Thank you!
Pretty good stuff, congrats on the kid on the way!
Thank you very much!
A kid on the way??? Wow! Congratulations Steve!
Yeah I caught that too. Awesome news indeed.
Congratulations Steve!
Thanks guys! Due in a few weeks so if I disappear for a bit that's why!
Great tips
Thanks!
Not new but still there's always something to learn + I like your videos haha cheers
Thanks for watching anyway and cheers!
Great tips for all levels here, cheers 🍻
Cheers Brian!
Nice video! I took the idea of keeping a journal (the one you shared is nice) and to invest on the cold side IF possible. Thanks!
I'm glad I could help out. Happy brewing!
Great advice Steve! I was nervous to move from extract to all-grain brewing and was intimated by recipes or building my own recipes. One thing that helped me was to use all-grain kits when I first converted. This helped understand how all the different ingredients work together and how to build a recipe. Well done brother! 🍻
Kits are a great way to get familiar with recipes as well!
Water was a big one for me. Learning what doesn't what and trying out some extreme additions rally helped me.
Absolutely!
Great information as always. Ive been brewing for almost a year now and have been making really good beers, but have been trying to decide on what upgrades would be best. Ill be working on upgrading my cold side. What you said makes the most sense.
Glad I could help out!
found you through thebrusho last years 12 christmas tips. awesome videos. trying to figure where from the northeast you are! definitely not NYC. im from up here too. im a new brewer. this video really helped. i got free plastic fermenters from the 80s and ended up getting a couple of kegs. i wanted to to get through with my first couple of brews before i upgrade my fermenters. thank you for everything. i found you earlier today and been watching your videos sense i found your channel. im still on beer kits obviously only have done 2 ciders and just started my first beer.
I'm glad you're enjoying the channel! I'm in the Boston area
@TheApartmentBrewer im very close to the boston area. i grew up on the northshore and moved to Southern NH. happy thanksgiving and keep on posting
To add to the SMaSH beer suggestion- not sure if you brought it up on the channel or where I heard it but a great way to test hops is to dry hop bud light (or any other light beer). I think I did like 2 g per bottle (twist off works best) and let them sit at RT for 3 or so days. Pop them in the fridge for 3 days to drop the hops out and try them out. You can even mix them if you’re feeling adventurous and want to try hop combos
Great advice I just finished my first brew and it has oxidized so pretty disappointed but it's encouraging watching your videos so let's hope my next one is a bit better!
Dont give up, just keep brewing and you will start making excellent beer!
As a Soldier, that shirt is amazing 😂
I'm glad you like it!
Couldn't agree more with cold side investment. For years I was intimidated by kegging. Bottling sucks. If you have the means find a decent kegerator (or make your own), get a used keg and do it. It made the hobby so much more enjoyable to me. Congrats on the little one. Cheers!
I agree a serving/packaging setup upgrade is always going to make for a bit more fun when it gets to that point, but man kegging is so much less work and more consistent than bottling.
I love your Brewer Tab shirt!
Also, I don't really agree with you about where to spend your money first. It's really hard, in my experience, to hit temperatures with a stovetop or propane and the waste from ruined batches can add up to even a high end electrical system really quick, especially if you're like me and you like supporting craft maltsters and the like, which tend to have higher prices to go along with their higher quality.
On the other hand, it's not terribly difficult to have proper temperature control on the cold side so long as your account for where you are putting a fermenter.
Glad you like it haha. We'll see how long it takes until I get sued by the Ranger Association lol. That's a fair point, although I honestly think the impact of fluctuating mash temperatures is much less than the impact of fluctuating fermentation temperatures. I spent many years doing BIAB with no precise temp control so I've been there.
Kveik is not a substitute for temp control. I tried. Go cold side!!
My top 3 are fermentation temperature control, limiting oxidation, then water additions and mash pH. Each step will make your beer go from good to better to great
Outstanding advice!
I’ve been brewing for about 5 years or more, I just lost an ipa like you said we brew or lose a batch.
I'm digging that shirt. Can we get a badge for brew master similar to jump master?
I love that idea
DIY a Keggle, Plastic Bucket, BIAB, propane heating element, Craigslist Chest Freezer & some plastic tubing to transfer. It ain't no rocket science. DIY a Keezer. Homebrew can be 10x better than anything you can buy in the store or PUB.
Stainless steel just feels better.
Great advice. I made the mistake of initially investing close to $2500.00 on the hot side. Then found myself in big trouble trying to convince my wife that needed another rather substantial sum to control my fermentation, provide Co2, kegs and a Keezer for better packaging and serving.
I should have started with fermentation temp control and packaging. Bottling get's boring, very quick. Even though I love my bottled Belgians.
Thanks for the channel Steve. Yours are my primary go to brewing videos.
First mistake was getting married
That's a lot of money to be out at first, that is painful!
I bought the Clawhammer 220v system for around 1500. the rest was on scales, mill, fermzilla, bottling, ph pen and raw materials.
No regrets, except my lack of forethought on the cold side.
With the bit about having a kid coming along; I actually went back to extract brewing just to save time. It was a way I could still brew but limit my brew days till in the evenings. With the knowledge I had acquired over the years I was rather shocked and also very pleased that with simple cleaning and sanitation practices, temp control, kegging instead of bottling and an adherence to using fresher ingredients it was hard to tell it wasn't all grain beer. Those first few years of a baby's life it's hard to dedicate a full day to brewing when you have to stop every 5 minutes to take care of a child or multiple children
That is a very good point, maybe I will end up going back that route in the end.
@@TheApartmentBrewer would definitely make for some great video content! Alot of Brewtubers get double the views with extract and kit beers too 🍻
One vet to another. Where can I get the Brewer tab tshirt?
Brewers lead the way! theapartmentbrewer.creator-spring.com/listing/brewer-tab
Hi enjoy your videos. Just started all grain and trying to follow basic recipes before i try and make my own. Do you shared your recipes? Thanks
Yup! Every single brew day video I have has a free recipe with it in the description box
My advice is don't over compliment things in the beginning. I remember my first 5 gallon batch and it was chaotic and so many mistakes were made. The more I learned my system and just didn't worry as much the more fun I had, which for me was the goal. Don't take it too seriously at first just have fun with it and remember you're new to the hobby.
That is a great tip! It is easy to get stressed out and carried away with things but sometimes.
New brewers need to brew more smash beers. Those have helped me get better more than anything.
It seriously is such a great way to learn
Just an idea... can you do a video about best things to buy on the "cold" side. Great video!!
Fermentation temp control is where to start. 2nd hand fridge, inkbird temp control, heat mat first off.
A glycol chiller is best when you get to the point where you have multiple fermenter's at different stages and temp's.
Start with a very cheap used fridge set up. As you grow out of it, you can use the fridge as dedicated hops, yeast and cold bottled beer storage.
1 - Temp control - whatever form makes the most sense for your budget and fermentation setup
2 - A good chiller
3 - Direct oxygen aeration stone kit
4 - Kegs
An old freezer, ink bird, an electric blanket. Done.
@@jamesspinks716 What a great list!
I appreciate what you say about investing in the cold side but if you are on a tight budget and have restricted space, this can be an issue. In this situation, carefully choosing your brewing season, beer style, type of yeast and perhaps even investing in a low budget pressure fermentation vessel would allow you a fair degree of control. Perhaps this could be the subject of a future video?
I would argue that pretty much everything you mentioned here is an investment in the cold side of some kind. Doesn't have to be large amounts of money.
My first beer was actually really good. It sucks I didnt document because I have no idea what I used.
Hopefully you will be able to take more notes in the future! Don't worry though, you'll brew plenty of amazing beers if you keep at it.
Great video! For beginners, using an all electric 35L system, what size of brews would you recommend?
I was thinking of brewing smaller than the standard 5 gallon batch, to get more practice. But I understand that recipes get tough around 2/3 gallons?
You should be able to squeak out a 5 gallon/19 L batch on that size. The scale of the recipe wouldn't necessarily make it more difficult, but it might be tougher to move larger volumes of liquid around, and chilling may take longer.
My only humble comment is that you can make some really good beer with some pretty poor equipment but it's going to take patience and some pain.... mostly back pain.
I literally feel that
Im looking to start homebrewing here soon and I was wondering what advice you have for someone that does not have any means of temperature control during fermentation?
There are many different ways to get around the issue of not having temperature control. I would highly recommend looking into various yeast strains that are able to ferment at different temperatures depending on what environment you are fermenting in. Also, you can consider using pressure fermentation with an appropriate fermenter that can handle it. This will allow you to ferment beers that would otherwise require a lower fermentation temperature than you can manage.
Hey have an idea for a video.
I know you can brew at higher temperatures under pressure but what about low pressure at lower temperatures?
Is there a temp vs pressure chart??
Same wort different pressures and different temps. .
Depends on the yeast you are using. Low or no pressure works fine for many lagers and ale yeasts, and depending on the type of yeast you could be fermenting anywhere between 50 F - 100 F.
Are you from MT? I saw you wearing a mt shirt in a video. I’m a young guy just starting out with a few brews under my belt in montane if you are thatd be cool.
Haha no, I live on the other side of the country, but my wife used to live in MT so I've been there a few times.
I’m wondering: of your long list of recipes on this channel, what one would you say is best suited for a new homebrewer to try their hand at, and just plain good? (Could be a smash brew or something else)
I’d recommend his Irish red ale or stout. The best beginner beers tend to be malty, medium-strength, not oxygen sensitive (aka not heavily dry hopped), and fermented with ale yeast (so minimal temp control needed). If you want to roll your own recipe, I’d suggest a SMaSH of Maris Otter malt and Centennial hops, targeting 1.055 OG, using good old US-05.
The Irish beers are definitely a great starting point, great suggestion! If you want a hoppy alternative - try the Voss Azacca pale ale I did last year. That doesn't need to be dry hopped and kveik yeast makes for an easy and quick fermentation.
@@grahamhawes7089 excellent, those suggestions are definitely weather appropriate too. I had actually also had the thought of going with a maris otter smash, too.
I just upgraded to an all-grain system after doing small boxed kits for awhile, so this video (and comment) came at a good time!
@@TheApartmentBrewer that was one that came to mind for me as well. Iirc you pressure fermented that one, right? I have a Fermzilla allrounder so I can pressure ferment.
I can't remember but feel free!
I've seen you have been using the Apera PH60 for your PH reading, how do you find it? Working alright?
Love it, just gotta keep calibrating it every so often before measuring but it has been fantastic.
@@TheApartmentBrewer thanks for the opinion, I read about a storage solution called Apera 3M KCl to keep the probe wet and calibrated, ever heard about it? Feedbacks? :D
I haven't used the actual storage solution, I usually just use the 7 pH calibration solution and it's been fine
@@TheApartmentBrewer great, keep up the good work, lovely content ❤️
My question is about the scale of brewing. When I see you and others making five gallons of beer, or even ten gallons, I can’t help but wonder how you can drink that much or whether you end up dumping what you don’t want. I usually make 2.5 gallons, and even this is a lot to consume. I’m getting to the point where I only want to make a gallon or so. This way I can remember from one session to the next how to make it and what were my lessons from the last batch. Any comments would be appreciated. Thank you.
I'm a lone drinker, but I do brew 10 gallons if it's a favorite recipe. The other reason why is double batches allow me to donate a keg to my brewclub for a festival or event. Most of the time I'm brewing 5 gallons.
The main reason is keeping a pipeline going.
That's a perfectly reasonable question. I think most of us (including myself) are not burning through 5 gallons of beer every two weeks on our own. I brew mostly for myself but a lot of it goes to friends. For example, we have a Sunday football watch party almost every week so that takes care of a lot. I'll usually have 1 or 2 a day, but I also exercise on the regular. But really I try to brew every few weeks to keep some variety on tap and to keep up with youtube. There is absolutely nothing wrong with brewing smaller batches though.
My wife and I regularly brew 5 or 10 litre batches. We're metric in the UK, but a litre is about quart for those in the US.
It means we have shorter brew days and can brew on the stove top with smaller and lighter equipment that's easier to clean up and store.
But more importantly, it means we can brew a lot more often, experiment more, and try many more styles. And if one goes wrong, you've learned valuable lessons without having wasted too many ingredients.
When friends come around, we usually have 3 or 4 different beers to offer.
Also, we bottle, so smaller batches are much easier on bottling day.
Any recommendations for a good brewing journal? Looks like you’ve use the number of them…
I would recommend the one I have linked in the description.
@@TheApartmentBrewer sorry, not sure how I missed that. Thank you!
@@johnd5669 no worries!
For me just dont go to hard on yourself and keep things simple...i cant say all of my beers are good, but so far all have been drinkable...and for me its just keep things simple, dont get to hard on myself when im not perfect with my process, to keep going and see what happens and rely on the fact that im not trying too hard to be perfect, just drinkable (and i know im due for a complete failure, i have been awefully lucky a few times)
Exactly, don't beat yourself up for a brew going sideways and keep brewing!
If you have 5 or 10 liter kettle and you invest to keezer or something like is just plain stupid.
Obviously you'll want to scale appropriately, but if you're running 5gal/19L batches you'll probably want to get more involved on the cold side.
@@TheApartmentBrewer yeah totally agree. But disagree with video because it's named "advice for beginners" and you may not have context in that regards. Or I wouldn't have had that kind of context, I was totally lost before brewing few patches first.
IMO beginners want something to taste with low investment and not every Brewer have space/money for low cost cold side process improvements.
I would like to see full episode for cold side improvements for suitable for beginners. Easily it's get big and expensive or very work intensive.
Good video though! Just random thoughs from this side.
Be respectful
First. Oh... are we still doing that? Haha
Hi you have great content but you speak way too fast
Sorry, try using the playback speed tool to slow down the video
Congrats on the baby!
Thank you!!
It's gonna be your newest most expensive hobby! Totally worth it.@@TheApartmentBrewer