Easy Home Brewing FAQ Sept 6 09

[Nikolai4o1]

About plastic bottles... I like beer with a lot of carbonification... Plastics dont deliver that kind of quality for me because they expand... Yes they are safetly method, but i like glass in that reason very much...

[shmurbs]

sanitize question...iodine sanitizer, 20 minute contact time...starsan, 5 minute contact time...peroxyacetic acid, 2 minute contact time....don't rinse anything...let it be!

[shmurbs]

the beer supplies question...midwest brew supplies.com...been with them for over a decade. great price, great service

[shmurbs]

it seems as thought the question about the secondary fermentation didn't strike point. here's an example why some...not all...but some brewers do a secondary fermentaion is that when brewers sell beer over seas...it comes to the customer fresher. the secondary fermentation is done in the bottle and the 2 weeks it takes to carbonate...that's basically the travel time to the store shelf. i do agree that its unnecessary as a homebrewer....i force carbonate. haven't looked back.

[rappy90]

Rather than add the bottling sugar to each bottle, did you ever simply boil a bit of water, dissolve the sugar in that, add it to your bucket all at once, then bottle it? Nobel Grape's instructions suggested I use the secondary for a week or os, then put it back into the primary, then add the sugar, then bottle. But if I could add the sugar to the bucket without the secondary, I may do that if you think that would be okay.

[CraigTube]

@rappy90 Because I only do Primary, I can't "batch prime" as it's called because you'll end up stirring all the sediment into the beer when you add the sugar. Batch prime your secondary, or once you get it into your bottling bucket. In my strong opinion, DON'T bottle clear beer. It has very little yeast in it and it will take months to carbonate. You need yeast to carbonate. So I would do primary for10 days, then secondary for however long, add your boiled sugar and bottle the cloudy beer.

[MrPatriot3579]

Great video Craig.Haha I was also drinking Coopers English Bitter bottled in 750ml plastic bottles while watching it.I made mine with the kit & a bag of dry malt extract not sure of the quantity,the salesman at Brewers Co-op Penrose,Auckland suggested it to me.I've drunk half the batch & it tastes better with every bottle,I only bottled it 15 days ago.It's so good I'm gonna buy it again this weekend.Cheers Craig

[wellard1000]

Top tips, just pulled out the kit i got for xmas & have started my first batch of Woodfords Admirals Reserve to test as a noob. Fingers crossed.

[mrg00ddude]

CUTTINGTHROUGHTHEMATRIXoCOM

[knightone57]

I read that the plastic bottles were not dishwasher safe?

[dy81]

i use brew gadget.com for my supplies they have a good selection for a noob and there prices are decent.

[melvinvswaldo]

The two stage is nice for dryhopping if you like IPAs. You can go right in the keg after the first fermentation and the sediment comes out with the first pour or two.

[misterSASSMAN]

fact glass can hold 60 psi. pet plastic can hold 100 psi

[immolateus]

I agree, no difference between glass or plastic as long as you keep them clean..the only advantage to glass that I have found is you can be very rough with them when cleaning them, but plastic is much more forgiving for carbonation and they generally don't blow up...eventually you will likely consider kegging... at some point you will be tired of cleaning and storing bottles...and the ability to force carbonate is appealing when compared to waiting for carbonation naturally using priming sugar.

[RPKGameVids]

I agree. I've only recently started to drink beer out of a glass instead of a can or a bottle, and it's much nicer. The other good thing about drinking it out of a glass is that you can see it properly too. I like to see the colour, the head, and the lacing.

[markocchionero]

thanks Craig. You are very informative for a newbie, and that beer looked really good. keep it up.

[hardjewl]

Craig keep up the Videos, watching you has helped me get started home-brewing Beer and Wine. I have a question, I recently bottled a batch of American Cream Pale Ale from Mid-west brewing. I left it in the fermenting bucket for about 3 weeks before racking it over to my Bottling bucket and then bottling. It looked good and tasted pretty good, do you think it will be ok after I let it sit for a week or 2, or have I ruined it?  Thanks in advance for any help, great Vids, keep them coming!

[CraigTube]

@hardjewl Na, it will be fine. If it tasted ok when you bottled, it will taste better in a week or two. If you sanitized everything, the beer will keep for up to a year or more.

[dmeckle]

you ever use gelatin to clear beer tried it for the first time yesterday and it allready seems like i have good clear beer....yes i looking to clear my beer well pert near ready to start kegging my beer.

[Markmark1356]

Hey Craig a little situation here I (err err hmm friend I mean :) ) may have put too much priming sugar in, I tablespoon In 1 liter plastic bottles. what do you think are they salvagable? I notice carbonation after 1 day. ,brewing a AU Lager OG 1.045 FG 1.004 22 C 30 little ticking time bombs

[Markmark1356]

Oh sorry forgot to say Thanks in advance and can't get enough of this channel :) my fellow Ontarian

[CraigTube]

Cheers! Thank you.

[CraigTube]

I think that because they're plastic, they're fine. I don't think that's too much. I put a well heaping teaspoon in my 750s. I think you're fine. Chill them down before you drink if they seem over carbonated.

[TheVoorwaarden]

Hi Craig I made my first batch yesterday and kept it in temperature range but it hasn't started to ferment properly (almost 24hrs later with crust appearing) and I think it was because I oversanitized the equipment (I rinsed once). If I have killed the yeast how can I solve this or am I worrying too soon? Thanks love ur channel!

[CraigTube]

You may be worrying too soon. If you have a crust, something is definitely happening. Don't completely rely on your airlock for info. Find my Airlocks 101 video. Good luck.

[Flare1728]

you've sold me on plastic bottles

[shrekfx]

Just a couple things that you said. With secondary fermentation it all depends on what you want, the beer your are brewing and your opinion. If you are doing a high gravity beer that needs to age for 6 months, then yes you want to rack to a secondary. Dont want the beer sitting on the yeast cake. But I've always racked to a secondary and love the turn out, but i brew i with unhopped extract and steep grains.

[sulsteruk]

HI Criag and Craig fans! I'm new to brewing and have just kegged up my first batch. Some people suggest using finings to help clear the beer, what do you think of this? does it effect the taste..

[CraigTube]

It may improve the taste because the sediment that makes your beer cloudy can have an off flavor.

[CraigTube]

That said, the beer should clear on it's own in a week or so, maybe longer in a keg.

[sulsteruk]

Thanks Craig, Ive left my kegs for 10 days now without messing and tasted them today. Results are out of this world. The weather here in Yorkshire is pretty cold this time of year and the kegs are in my shed so it chilled the Kegs down just right. I may use bottles in the summer so they can go in the fridge. Love your videos mate!

[borkface]

Re: sunlight. The sunlight provides enough energy to transform the iso alpha acids from the hops into another molecule (3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol). Some beers (Corona, bottled Heineken) actually expect this skunking as part of their flavor profile. Other beers in clear bottles (Michelob, other industrial brews..) are brewed with hop extracts that do not contain iso-alpha-acids, thus, they can survive sitting on a shelf in a clear bottle.

[md1593]

Craig is awesome. Why would anyone flame someone who is giving is beyond me. Suggestions

are acceptable; OK "Hey Craig I dry hop for aroma and flavor. and do a secondary is fine. He is making simple homebrewing even more simple.

[roach125]

Hi, thanks for your videos and sorry if this is a double post lol. What recipe did you use for your english bitter? No sugar and 500g of LDM like the instructions call for?

[CraigTube]

I can't remember if I added any sugar to that batch or not.

[turbodiesel52]

Hi Craig my name is Pete I live in England, I have watched you video's and think they're great. This is my first go I am using a coopers micro brew kit. It has been fermenting for nearly seven days, I have taken a reading of 1.0001 but my air lock is still going mad. Should I bottle it now or wait until its finished bubbling??

[CraigTube]

Please check that hydrometer read again. There is no 1.0001 reading on it. The normal for finished beer is around 1.008. As far as your airlock going like mad, I guess leave it for another couple of days.

[sbbinahee]

I used honey instead of sugar in a bitter instead of my usual glucose and I didnt like it. It left a tangy undesirable aftertaste. I personally wouldnt recommend it myself.

[sbbinahee]

Hi again Craig,

I have a question.

My latest brew was a lager. I wondered if you ever had this happen:

Fermentation completed within four days There was no scum ring at the top of the barrel during or after fermentation. I did a hydro test to confirm and it was fermented. I did leave it for seven days and bottled. I've never had such a clear beer at bottling. There is so little sediment in the base that I was worried that there would not be enough yeast left for carbonation. ..

Cheers

[CraigTube]

I had a lager finish in 5 days once. I wouldn't worry about it being clear at bottling. There should be enough yeast in there to catch and carbonate.

Cheers

[sbbinahee]

You're right it is carbonating nicely.

Thanks!

[sbbinahee]

Hi Craig

Good to see a healthy head on that brew. I noticed that your beers sometimes lose their head very quickly. Thats partly why I sent the glasses. I hope you have noticed the difference! That one your holding looks just as mine always do including my lagers and stouts. Check out my ale video on sbbinahee.

[CraigTube]

Hey, nice to hear from ya. The glasses do help when I get those dead beers. Sometimes I just don't leave my beer long enough in the bottles and at room temp, the bubbles are too big and break too soon, like soda.

[CraigTube]

I'l go and check out your video now..

[kitbutterfield]

Craig,

I like your video tutorials, but I fear that you may be inadvertently misleading some folks, when you tell them that a secondary fermentation is only for establishing clarity & removing sediment.

The secondary fermentation can be a marvelous tool for clarity, aging, & imparting great flavors.

Dry hopped ales are some of my favorite drinks & the secondary ferment is crucial.

I mean no disrespect...You're doing great.

I just thought I'd pass this info.

Cheers!

[CraigTube]

I'm just wondering what the difference is between aging it in a large carboy vs in the small bottles. Maybe it's a good idea for everyone to give it a try once to see if they notice a benefit. The draft I tried it with showed no difference in the taste. But if you're doing a beer that benefits from two stage, it's definitely worth doing. Cheers!

[kitbutterfield]

Well...If you're aging for clarity, I don't know of much of a difference.

But, if you want to impart other flavors with your aging process, you can do so in a secondary fermenter.

I recently did a secondary ferment & added an extra ounce of hops & a handful of oak chips, for a 8-day secondary.

The oak added a mellow flavor that I really enjoyed.

Keep up the good work, man!

[jakeanddar]

hi craig how are things,I wish I could of gotten a question or two in for this vid,if i'd had known you were going to do it. anyhow my last two batches tasted a bit yeasty and I don't like yeast taste in my beer. Do you have any sugestions to eliminate this. Also I have tried in my last batch adding everything into the bucket with boiled water but I did not care for the outcome so I'm going back to boiling it,the taste was much better. What is your take on this. Thanks for you time.Cheers

[CraigTube]

I think the bottom line here is that maybe home brew is not for everyone. If you have a specific idea how you expect beer to taste, or you like only certain brands, then home brewing is perhaps a little too out in left field for you. I consider every batch an experiment. Boiling vs. not... I've never noticed the difference, although one user said that if you boil for an hour it improves the taste. With a kit, I don't know how this can be. They've been boiled already. Do what works for you.. :)

[daikaiju20]

8:11 cant wait for airlock vid Craig, "everything you wanted to know abt airlocks but were afraid to ask"! bet will be informative! thanks for all your vids

[responderman]

Hi Craig,

Just a quick question for you. Is there any problem in using clear plastic bottles if you keep the full bottles in the dark? I can get my hands on loads of clear bottles but not many brown or darker ones.

Thanks for the video's

Regards

Jay (England)

[CraigTube]

Yep they will be fine as long as you keep them in the dark.

[mattsarg]

tbh you still need to keep green or brown bottles out of the sun anyway.

[crazybrody06]

I find that I dont get much head when I pour a beer when I use plastic bottles. But they are much easier to bottle with.

[ghunair]

a good thing about plastic bottles is that glass isn't allowed at some public places such as pools but plastic is allowed.

[toolfan3891]

coopers should pay you lol

[solarwind40]

Did you get that rash from camping?

[CraigTube]

No, it's from the shampoo I used.

[CraigTube]

Interesting. I didn't know that.

[AlcoholLevel]

ever tried making wine using fish as the base ingredient ? Maybe snails, perch or lobster or something.

[solarwind40]

Hi Craig I am so cheap, that I use plastic 20 oz pepsi bottles I get from the machine at work.

I am drinking some beer that I made (with your help) right now, and I have come to the conclusion that beer brewers are the happiest of people...

[nige4958]

You're just like an evangelist, but in your case, you spread laziness. The laziness of brewing crap beer from a can of malt extract. I imagine you also like Ragu and Hungry Man frozen dinners. Anyone with a serious interest in brewing should buy a book, then look for a club in your area. This guy boasts brewing with kits for 20 years, which ought to tell you something.

[CraigTube]

You obviously don't have an open mind and have no idea what you're talking about. Millions of people are enjoying kit brewing. Isn't that what matters, and why do you care? You may be a fan of all grain, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a place for brewing from kits. It's not crap beer, so you're wrong there. If you couldn't get good tasting beer from a kit, your methods must be in question. Clean up your act and try again.

[CraigTube]

You're just like a troll, but in your case, you spread bullshit. I see you have 5 subscribers. Wow. And your channel is as old as mine. Hmmm. When you know how to do YouTube, come back and we'll talk.

[LeJimster]

I don't see a problem with kit brewing, and I find his comments useful for a beginner wanting to get into beer brewing. I've just done my first batch of Lager from a kit and will be bottling up later today. People like Craig have given me the confidence to give it a go. I've also bought a book on how to do more advanced beer brews, using grains etc.. But its one step at a time and using a can/kit is a good starting point. So I see no need for the negative comments.

[jebus419]

i make homemade wine on a regular basis and ive always wanted to try making beer, but all the "recipes" are very complicated. after watching ur videos i belive i can handle it. thanks 4 the info.

[m4xx0ut]

i dont know why people are giving you crap about plastic bottles.I like them because you can reuse them, dont have to worry about them blowing up, and easier to maintain than glass. Also if your worried about contamination from tap water than you must have some dirty water and your better off using bottled lol

[LeJimster]

Makes me laugh really, since what do most people use to do their primary fermentation? A plastic bucket! So yeah theres no problem is using a plastic bottles as far as I can see. I personally went with glass bottles, but I can't say why exactly.. I think it's more for tradition and the novelty and possibly experience of capping my own brew :-).

[russphilly]

.I have never tried any Brewing to this point...enjoyed this the video..especially your explanation the benefits of plastic over glass..the point made of equal carbonation bottle to bottle, cused by the ability of the plastic to give/stretch....excuse my compositon...currently drinking a Skunky Budweiser ...

[CraigTube]

I agree. Thanks.

[eedwards74]

I never touch my beer for a least three weeks in the fridge to age it.

[CraigTube]

PoliticalExile3 you often oppose my methods and views. Perhaps this channel is not your bag. However, I will address your points here once more. PET food safe bottles are made to act like glass. They're not the crap bottles they use for bottled water. They're not designed to poison the population like those water bottles purposely are. I have not experienced the problems you have with the PET bottles I use, even though I've stored some bottles for a few months. More in next message...

[CraigTube]

Storing beer for years is something only a very serious brewer would do, and most home brewers, especially kit brewers are living brew to brew, drinking it as they make it. Years of storage... I can't make a case here, but for those who drink their brews a few weeks or months after bottling, I deem it safer than drinking the tap water that's filled with fluoride, or eating that box of Mac and Cheese filled with MSG. Reasonable risk my friend. More in next...

[CraigTube]

Of course, I've never considered you a troll. You tend to force me to examine the issues you bring up. I've banned many trolls, but you're not one of those. Maybe it's good to have competition, just like with PC vs Mac. Keeps ppl on their toes. But I've been using the same bottles for 8 years and I see no degradation which would suggest permeation into my beer, and carbonation is strong after a few months of storage. I'm going to leave one out until Christmas and I'll let you know. More in next

[CraigTube]

...And now that I see the other side of you, it allows me to think differently about your input to this channel. I apologize if I retaliated too strongly. You have to understand.. I get a few idiots on here from time to time, and sometimes my patience slips a little. Forgive me. Thanks for your valuable information and input. Keep it up. Cheers.

[russphilly]

..2nd day Subsciber here,,,most entertaining and informative Channel ..:)

[stevenfarraway]

What about the chemicals that are being recalled in shit loads of children's toys, wanna talk about dumbing down? fluoride is the least of our worries because there are children becoming autistic, thats right BECOMING autistic not being born with the condition, now lets here some input on that subject

[CraigTube]

gotta wonder what's in those passifiers we keep shoving in our children's mouths. The baby formula has MSG! Another poison. What a wonderful world. Thank God for BEER!

[stevenfarraway]

And wine, such an acquired taste, but necessary, and thank youtube for spell check.

[md1593]

Craig you're the best!!!

[md1593]

Craig doing a Coopers kit now, can you contact me?

[CraigTube]

Sure, how?

[RIHeron76]

What are your opinions on fluoride contamination in your tap water?

[CraigTube]

Well, I've been around the block with this a few times. My wife and I buy bottled water that has no fluoride. There's alot of opinion out there about it being a slow poison to dumb down the population. I've seen all the videos. I think it's true. If it was good for our teeth, wouldn't it be better to put it in chewing gum? Water just goes right past our teeth. good news is that some municipalities are now starting to remove it from the water. Maybe people are waking up.

[CraigTube]

As far as me using it in my beer and wine, what else am I going to do? Bottled water costs money and it's big and hard to transport. It's just a question of what's worse, the beer, or the fluoride. Bottom line, I wish my government would remove it. It would be a great step towards beating the Now World Order.

[msheridan69]

G'day Craig. Love your vids man - you've got me hooked - I'd love to see you do an dry apple cider video using a kit or a supermarket juice combo - stay cool and keep those vids coming!

[marcjtdc]

Hi Craig, Love your vids. What is a good hydrometer reading to aim for if you want 7,8, or 9% beer? (before adding the yeast)

[CraigTube]

I wouldn't do that. Beer is not made to have that much alc. It will thin it and ruin the body and head. In any case, most hydrometers have an alcohol. scale on it. You should refer to that. I don't have my hydrometer with me right now.

[sbbinahee]

About 1066-1070. with final reading of 1008. Use extra malt extract aswell as a little extra sugar and you should be ok with body and head on the beer. Hope you dont mind me blabbing on your channel Craig but I've got beers at this strength + more with no probs..

[AlcoholLevel]

Agree on your point about the sunlight too but ya know what kind of mystifies me is how many wines shops I've seen with racks and racks of carboys sitting right near the front window. Even if they're not sitting in direct sunlight there is enough 'spray' from car windows and such that I would think it would effect the quality..

I suppose they taste fine or they wouldn't be business but still.

[AlcoholLevel]

Agree with your point about using water to rinse things off. I use it all the time to rinse my hydrometer/thief/ etc. I just use cold water though in those cases (but I do use hot water when cleaning out my plastic primaries and carboys.)

[stevenfarraway]

excessive heat kills the yeast

[jonneyboy25]

craig ur great...im going to start brewing becuz of you

[CraigTube]

One week is the absolute minimum time before popping one open. Two weeks is more like it, and from then on, it keeps on getting better until about three weeks. The change after that is very small. So, I crack one after a week and if I like it, I'll drink the rest over time. You can save a few for longer just to see the difference. I put one away for 3 months once and it wasn't any better than the 2 or 3 week old ones.

[CraigTube]

First of all, you never drink beer out of a bottle if your worried about taste. I have actually done the taste test, as I used to use glass and I've never been able to tell any difference no matter what the beer was in. New plastic bottles have no oder at all, and as long as you bleach bath your bottles once in a while, residual oders will not be a problem. What about the plastic fermenter everyone uses? That's not glass. The advantages of plastic far out weigh any drawbacks, if any.

[tnm140]

craig i absolutly agree on plastic bottles. They are lighter and no dopey capping. The plastic is called PET which a food grade plastic which is designed to behave like glass. Threw my glass bottles out, plastic for me, and thanky you for turning me onto them.

[tnm140]

secondary fermentaion is absolutley unnesessary (except lagers if you anal retentive) even in kegging. I ve done it both ways in bottles and home kegging and there is no difference. I think secondary fermentaion is just so homebrew zelots can make things more complicted for no reason. Craig You rule!

(secondary is needed for real lagers that are lagered for months at a low temp....calm down )

[eyepatchinc]

spring water is a good choice for beer. our tap water tastes like a swimming pool.

[giedosst]

Your a brew guru man! Love your videos! I'm doing a batch of bitter next too! By the sound you make after each gulp I can tell its going to be a good batch!

Man that kills me every time!

[AstAMoore]

Great video, as usual. You need to prep the room for (voice) recording, however. There's a lot of ringing from the room's natural reverberation. Or just use a noise gate.

[CraigTube]

Actually, I'm sitting right beside my drums, and that's what's reverberating. I usually comptess my voice, which brings up the background noise even more. I found that a noise gate just makes it sound over processed. But you're right. Otherwise, my basement is very dead.

[CraigTube]

I disagree, and there's no good reason why this would be.

[OPE08]

Hard to compare this with beer since few "good" beers come in both types of containers.

Personally I think its all in our minds.

I will point out that cans are better for storage, recycling, keeping out light, speed of chill...

[Jacobsonro]

secondary fermentation, is done to help prevent the formation of unwanted flavors and harmful compounds such as acetylaldehydes, which are commonly blamed for hangovers and is also used to condition the beer.

[OPE08]

You do not need a secondary in most cases, it was considered par for the course ten or twenty years ago, but today we see that secondary's are rarely neccessary.

You could make the argument that they are nice for clarity, or for dry-hopping, but the yeast will usually clean up after themselves if you let them...

You'll notice that no professional brewers use secondaries, just bright tanks for clarity.

[OPE08]

As Craig says, secondaries seem pointless to him, and in the style of brewing he does i would agree, they are pretty pointless in extract brewing. You can improve the clarity a bit by allowing it longer in primary, but you're not dealing with hop or grain particulates, so you're not going to see much difference.

Cheers!!

[Jacobsonro]

Why are you responding to my comment, I was only stating what brewers use it for.

[OPE08]

Sorry, I replied to your statement because I disagreed with your opinion, as well as putting my own opinion out there for anyone to read.

Thanks for asking

[svandevort]

I tried running a second stage once and the carbonation after bottling wasn't very good; not sure if there's a correlation there.

[kyral210]

Thanks for the help! Your videos are helping me no end setting up my nano-brewery...

[mattsarg]

Which bitter kit is that you have i have lager on at the moment but want to make a bitter next.

[CraigTube]

It's a Cooper's Premium English Bitter.

[mattsarg]

Thanks craig ill be sure to try that out then i live in the uk so should be right up my street :) Loving the videos keep up the good work. PS your a super talented guy!

[chillz27]

ultraviolet light breaks down the molecules from hops, (isohumulones) which react with sulphur to make the "skunk" smell

[CraigTube]

Hey thanks for chiming in.

[chillz27]

no worries mate, thanks for making the vids :)