Walt, From what I’ve read, many hops will last 6-8 months at room temperature. In a freezer, several years. I have no problems carb’ ing 22 oz. bottles. I use the PET bottles that came with a Coopers kit I bought. I’ve used the carb. drops and batch primed. I prefer batch priming, because it’s less of a hassle and ensures uniform priming. I’ve never used a party pig (although I’ve met a few…). I’ve got a pretty good pipeline going so I can drink now and still have beer conditioning. I’ve made almost 70 gallons since June and have a back-log of seven kits. Greenbelt Pale Ale, primary fermenting as we speak, (just dry hopped for the first time this morning).
I always leave my brew primary ferment for three weeks, then bottle condition for three weeks. But, that’s also dependant on what kind of beer you’re brewing. Heavy beers, (high alcohol content or stouts) need longer time to condition (age). The longer you let them age the better they will taste. Most of the bubbling activity seems to take place in the first week. If you could brew about ten days before you head across the pond, you should be okay. Since I’ve only brewed kits (extract or partial) I don’t really use my hydrometer. The hydrometer is a sealed, weighted device. It’s weighted, so that in water it should read zero. The few times I did take a reading, I sanitized the hydrometer and floated it in the primary. Three days of the same reading, fermentation has stopped, time to bottle/keg. If you need bottles, you can always hit up a beer distributer and see if they have bottles (non twist off) they’ll sell you (they just want to get their deposit money back). Awhile ago I got 80 Grolsch bottles (and other stuff) for $50 from some guy on Craigslist. I went to Ireland with my wife and kids a few years ago and had a great time. We took a tour (CIE) from Dublin to Limerick. I wasn’t brewing at the time, so I would have had more interest/questions at the Guinness brewery. I was mostly interested in getting to the 7th floor and taking advantage of the free pint. Have a great time in Ireland.
Maggots, yeah… I gave up eating insects in Tequila years ago. I prefer my brew maggot free.
My name is Michael form Port Jefferson. I have been brewing for over 6 years, started with extract with grain steeping and moved on to all grain for 2 years. I have done a lot of reading and think I nhave adequate knowledge and experience. I love the hobby and would love to kickstart something serious and profitable. South Hamptom Publick, Blue Point, Brickhouse, Harvards and new kid Long Ireland doing well. Is there another? Please reply.
@NorthShoreNP For breweries on the island, there's also Great South Bay and Greenport which both opened recently. As well as Black Forest Brew Haus in Farmingdale, Barrier Brewing in Oceanside, and Blind Bat from Centerport.
I'm a homebrewer who's only been doing it a year so far, but I love it. I was doing extract and creating my own recipes like that, and recently made the jump to partial mash and then just did my first all-grain batch recently (Honey Chamomile Pale Ale). Bottling that tonight!
I don't have all the necessary equipment to do 5-gallon all-grain batches, so I just do 2.5 gallon stove-top batches and ferment in my 3gallon Better Bottle. Wanted to try out all-grain. Although my efficiency right now is a bit low while I get the hang of keeping the mash temp stable in a pot on the stove. But, I'll get some good beers out of it, so learning's not so bad that way
Thanks colemanelec, I bought a PET Carboy and in one of my moments... I preferred to break what turns out to be the $45 glorified tap. I plan on using a rubber stopper to use--I should be okay. What do you think. My friend is going to loan me some stuff this weekend, and maybe I will brew the AHB Winter IPA. This way I can drink the holiday, while the IPA is conditioning. I am psyched for that one. I never brewed an IPA, but this one calls for 4 diff. hops. Hopefully it's a kick you in face IPA. I need to ck craiglist for some stuff. I just got 12x 750ml and already have 16? Grolsch for bottles. I need more capacity though so the bev. is a good place to start after picking up another party pig (they get great reviews and I couldn't be happier). I love how the brew gets better with age, I am down to a few pints of pumpkin and I am loving it. THe guinness brewery is cool, but the middleton distillery is great--Irish whiskey wins at the end of every tour over JD, Scotch, and Jim Beam. Primerarily because it's tripled distilled, and atleast 7 years old.
Long Ireland is building a brewary in Polish Town, Riverhead. Not bad for their 2nd year full time. They rented out space at breweries all over the tristate at first. Then bought their stuff on ebay(?). Their IPA is great! $13 for a growler.
Personally, I've had the best results from liquid. There's probably more different strains of liquid as well. I've also brewed some great beers with dry yeast. Personal preference and beer style is really what matters I suppose.
I got a Holiday Ale with a dry and a Winter IPA both in the primary. I suppose the best way to experiment would be to get both (dry and wet) and pitch them in 2 carboys. I do like getting the starter going.
Just started sampling my Holiday Ale. Not bad. I was expecting a little more spice taste though. That was my first smack pack. Excellent activity. I'm going to brew a Winter Warmer soon (Saturday?). I'm thinking about using starters. Mostly dry yeast right from the packet so far.
Wife and kids going to IRE 12.15. I am following 12.23. plus going away for a weekend.
SO My Plan: FILL EVERYTHING in 6.5 days
Holiday Ale: Bottles
Winter IPA: Secondary/Glass
Kilkenny Red (AHS): Primary/Glass
Friend's IPA: Primary/Glass--he's interested and it's easier to brew with him and get him set up than feed him drink......
Kits Needed to buy:
Stout: Plastic
TBD: PET bottle if I FIND THE RIGHT BUNG/STOPPER (ANY SUGGESTIONS) FOR THE SIDE. I decided to break the spigot and end the stress....Yeah it cost 45 bucks..... However, how can you prime the batch for bottling if you are bottling from the primary? So it's doesn't make sense without a keg (fathers day prayer).
Guess: $210 for 30 gallons of beer....3840 oz....320 12oz bottles....3.33 real kegs... I think this should help with the aging process. My next prob. is I can only bottle 10 gal. at a time
Off to transfer Holiday Ale (I put 2x the spices) to secondary.
ANY IDEAS ON FOR MY LAST 2 BATCHES? I think I am going to buy from The wine/beer place on the S. Shore Arbor Wine. BTW my 4y son loves to brew beer with me.
Linear Mode
