BeerSmith Home Brewing Software
  Design great beer at home, ease your brewing day, brew more and worry less.
Download a free 21 day trial

14 users commented in " Ten Top Tips for Home Brewing Beer "

Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback

Skipdogchip said,
in February 17th, 2008 at 10:38 pm

#11. Always invite a few “non” brewing buddies over on brewing and bottling day. Chances are, they’ll catch the brewing also.

Mike said,
in February 18th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

nice entry only thing is brewers sanitize, not sterlize. At least all but the crazy ones. :)

BeerSmith said,
in February 18th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

Mike - Thanks for the comment - I just edited the post to reflect “Sanitize” vice “sterilize”

Thomas said,
in February 19th, 2008 at 11:00 am

Plastic buckets are much easier to clean than glass. Glass is great to clean until one shatters because you weren’t careful enough with your temperature control. Not to mention how many times I have heard of them breaking under other conditions until I can afford a conical fermenter I go with the buckets. Sure I have to toss them occasionally, but I can always find use for the buckets when I am done brewing with them.

Full boil is great when you have room, but late addition extract has proved very useful in my partial mash batches and for alot of people getting started far more practical than that large purchases you suggest.

BeerSmith said,
in February 19th, 2008 at 6:20 pm

Thomas,
Thanks for the suggestions - appreciate your perspective.

You will be happy to know that one of the upcoming articles is on late extract additions.

Thomas said,
in February 20th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

Well, I understand glass vs plastic is a matter of taste, frankly they both work. I help at my local homebrew shop and I try to present the good and bad of both. I just have a personal taste to the plastic.

LeeA said,
in February 22nd, 2008 at 10:30 am

What about using plastic spring water jugs? Are they any less porous than plastic buckets.

aaron said,
in February 22nd, 2008 at 9:38 pm

Carboys are much easier to clean than buckets? What?? Not even close. A bucket is wide open, a carboy is not. Having both a bucket and carboy that are equally dirty, a bucket is MUCH faster to get clean and sanitized. I definitely do not agree about carboys being easier. Also, why do you say sterilize? That is not necessary. The largest breweries in the world don’t. Sanitization (which is not the same) is all that is necessary.

BeerSmith said,
in February 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 am

The advantage of glass over plastic is twofold. First it is easier to sanitize. Glass won’t trap food or bacteria, and if it is dirty it is quite obvious. With a long bottle brush it is easy to clean. In contrast, even food grade plastic has a surface that will trap bacteria over time. Second, glass is airtight while plastic is porus. Plastic bucket covers are also notorious for leaking air.

All that being said, you can make great beer in a plastic bucket or jug, as long as you keep it sanitized (I guess sterile may be a less precise word), and airtight. You need to inspect your plastic equipment periodically to make sure it is in good condition and not leaking air, scratched or dirty.

It is a matter of preference - but my personal experience was much better with glass than plastic.

LeeA said,
in February 24th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Im experimenting with spring water jugs as a secondary fermenter, sanitized of course, and using the spring water to brew with. I see an advantage with being able to trade for new jugs to ferment in and have a good supply of clean water for pretty cheap.

BeerSmith said,
in February 24th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

LeeA - I believe the spring water jugs are fine, though I would recommend getting a new one every few batches as they will collect some bacteria and scrateches over time.

Dacelo G. said,
in March 19th, 2008 at 7:39 pm

What’s all this about sanitize/sterilize? “Sanitize” is just a fancy alternative to the verb “to clean”. Make everything as sterile as you can. Non-yeast bugs and fungi in your brew can’t possibly do it any good.

The tips are all good. The one about temperature control is not great, though. Ambient temperature can differ considerably from day to day, and especially from day to night. Your brew is better kept at an even temperature throughout fermentation. Put your whole fermenter into an insulated plastic or metal container and surround it with water. Use a thermometer. Drop chunks of ice in the water when it is too warm; pour warm water in it if it gets too cold. Siphon some of the water out when it is too full.

rudraigh said,
in March 21st, 2008 at 9:26 am

While the *type* of effort is different, the *amount* of effort is the same when cleaning buckets or carboys. A bucket may be wide open but, because carboys don’t have the sharp angle between the side and the bottom that a bucket does, it’s easier to get that part clean.

Thomas, want some cheese with that whine? Glass is superior to plastic and a full boil is superior to a partial boil. Your particular circumstances don’t change that. The best things I ever did for my brewing were to buy a 7.5 gallon kettle and a 6.5 gallon glass carboy.

Brad, nice post.

in April 7th, 2008 at 6:12 pm

[...] There is also a website called beersmith.com that is designed for homebrewers.  They have a blog that lists tips for crafting your own brew.  On their main page they sell software that gives you [...]

Leave A Reply

 Username (*required)

 Email Address (*private)

 Website (*optional)