Homebrew

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Brak

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I know there several experts out there.....

I just bought a setup to make homebrew. Something like what you might get from a homebrew supply company. However the recipe kit I got for my first batch is a "Texas" bock which I did not realize (until now) is a lager and I'm not sure I can keep it cool enough for fermentation. Right now I have the wort in the coolest part of the house and primary fermentation has begun. Room temp is in the 60s. I have 5 gallon glass carboy so I can rack off to a secondary.

Any advice or should I give up and start over with a different recipe?
 
let it run. It may just taste funny, but will still be safe to drink, and still get you drunk (if thats the way you roll) Plus all homebrew tastes funny your first time.
 
You may end up with a low efficiency. And you will probably fart a lot. Other than that, it will be fine.

From here on out, as you have alluded to, use ale yeast. You can actually make some good lager brews using ale yeast at higher temps.
 
Did you actually use a lager yeast or did you just now realize that bocks are lagers? I'm not sure what they mean by a "Texas" bock but if it's a copy of Celis Pale Bock, that was actually a misnamed ale. Shiner Bock is, as far as I know, a true lager although I suspect they use corn as an adjunct, which if true would make it arguably not even a beer.

Don't worry about it. You might get some off flavors but it probably won't be that bad. Keep it as cool as you can and enjoy.
 
I think you are better off finishing the beer and seeing how it turns out. Fire up another batch a week or so after this one is out of primary. Drink enough beer to get bottles to hold two batches of homebrew in bottles. I found I like that cycle.

The last batch I made was a clone of Firemans #4 by Real Ale, although the guys from AHB claimed this was the actual recipe from Real Ale.

El Guapo - Thanks for the fridge. I just need to spring for the temperature regulation device now...
 
The yeast is a lager yeast which I didn't look at until after I used it and then realized what I was making was a lager. The recipe is supposed to be like Shiner Bock which I chose because I figured I'd have a better frame of reference to use to compare with the finished product.

II still understood I would probably make a few mistakes my first time out so am not too upset but wanted to know if there beer would even be worth keeping.

Thanks Orangefairway, I posted here because I knew there were some very knowledgeable people who could help me and I would feel less like an idiot on this forum that one with hard core brewers.

I'll keep the brew and get a second batch going once I get this batch out of the primary. Any good recommendations for a first or second batch?

As far as farting goes, I got no problem with that.
biggrin.gif
 
Put it in a water bath, if you have a clean trashcan or an extra bathtub.
I do it all the time. My latest, a coffee porter, is quite yummy. If any of you slackers would have shown up for the Army Allstar game in SA, you could have had some..
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Water bath? What temp is the water supposed to be?

I was all set to go to the game but had to be on-call so could not make it.
mad.gif
 
Water should be as cold as you can get it. Dump some ice in it if you can. Lager yeasts ideally need to get down to the high 40's which is real tough to do without a fridge. Ale's are generally OK in the low to mid 60's.

I used to have a large plastic tub that I'd set the carboy in, then soak some towels and wrap them around the carboy and run a fan over the whole thing to get sort of a crude evaporative cooling thing going. The towels would dry out after a while so I'd just resoak them. It worked semi-OK but I wish I'd had that spare fridge back then. Probably wouldn't have gotten down to where a lager really needs to be, though.

For first beers it's best to start with something hoppy or dark. A pale ale, an IPA or ESB, or maybe an American brown or a porter. The hops and/or the roasted malts will cover any mistakes better. A bock would have been a good choice were it not for the fact that it's a lager. It's ironic that for all the well deserved disdain heaped upon mainstream American lite beers, they are the hardest beers to brew because they aren't supposed to have any flavor. In other words, you have to be damn good to brew beer without flavor.
 
Sounds good. I have a bathtub I don't use, a large igloo cooler that might work and an extra refrigerator. I'm going to try to see if the cooler is big enough and dump ice in it. If that doesn't work, I'll use the bathtub. I'll save the refrigerator until I get more experience.

Thanks everyone.
 
Some friends and I started homebrewing last semester. The Texas Bock was our first as well. We were all pretty shocked when it turned out tasting really good. It was much better than Shiner in my opinion, but I'm not a huge Shiner fan in the first place. We named the first batch "Roger Stau-bock". Anyways, we've done about 5 batches since then, and they've all turned out really well even without cold fermentation. Have fun, and keep it sanitary. Probably the best advice I was given prior to homebrewing.
 
my first batch of homebrew is bubbling away in the fermenter right now. i cooked it up during the ou game.
 
I just bottled my first batch of Pale Ale yesterday. I had seen homebrew forums here before so I was happy to see it was right at the top today.

I am going to have to get the recipe for Fireman's #4, that is one of my favorite beers. I think one of the guys that works at AHB used to work for Real Ale so maybe the recipe is pretty close.
 
As usual, I got some really good advice from everyone. I just kept the beer at room temp until bottling time. I bottled the beer over a week ago and popped one open on Sunday. To my surprise it was really good! I'm going to let it sit for another week before trying any more.

I've been reading the Northern Brewer Homebrew Forum and made a visit to Austin Homebrew to pick up ingredients for my next batch, a red ale. Thanks to everyone who responded.
 
The best book for beginners is Charlie Papazian's Complete Guide to Homebrewing.
Keg update..I got back from skiing last week, my neighbor's brother had decimated my porter.
There was about a gallon left.
We had a wake and finished it off. Time to brew again.
If anyone is interested, we have discussed having an informal hombrew competition at one of the baseball tailgates at the Disch, at Fantasy Island.
PM me if you are interested.
 
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