What casing do I use

[Tex_77]

pr0wlunwoof BarbecueJim they come in a package of 8, so each sleeve would do approximately 13 pounds.

[pr0wlunwoof]

Tex_77 thanks for the clarification. I will probably go that route then
The home pack was the most time consuming part of the process.

[Chef]

pr0wlunwoof What part of the country do you live?

[BarbecueJim]

Chef San Diego CA

[Chef]

BarbecueJim Any treats from the wild fires?

[pr0wlunwoof]

Chef South East Georgia.

[BarbecueJim]

Chef not in San Diego. all the fires are further north

[TexLaw]

Chef I haven’t brewed in a couple of years, but I did so avidly for about 25 years before that.

We ought to start another thread on this, but I’ll tell you a good place to start is to look up How to Brew by John Palmer. John is a great guy, and many consider his book to be the one you want if you only had one. The last time I looked, he had his entire first version up for free on his website.

[Chef]

TexLaw Thanks, I’m all for a wine and beer category.

[YooperDog]

TexLaw brewing is like riding a bike, it comes back to you as you get going. I had about a two year hiatus but brewed up two five gallon batches, although not all grain. I have slowly moved more back to making wine, I have been making it before I was legal to drink. Agree about the author.

[Chef]

TexLaw YooperDog - I’ve never been known to do things small, so with the bit of reading I see that pot for the initial boiling looks like a large stainless steel pot. My largest is 120 quarts, but I’ll likely make a smaller batch first

[YooperDog]

Chef a five or six gallon SS pot will be a good start and will give you some room for error of a boil over. I think that they make smaller kits down to the one gallon size. Typically they were set for five gallon batches. Good brewing

[pr0wlunwoof]

Yeah most kits are 5 gallon. The easiest mistake is burning/carmelizing the sugar in the extract kits. The bucket kits are probably a decent way to get started. I bought glass carboys to start with and while I like watching the fermentation it was a chore to wash them till I built my sump pump recirculating dishwasher. I have so much brewing stuff its ridiculous.

Chef if you lived close I’d do some horse trading. If my wife ever has this kid I will hit you up and see if I can help you out. Maybe put a starter kit together for ya.

[Chef]

pr0wlunwoof So, are you two expecting. When is the due date?

[pr0wlunwoof]

Chef We are in delivery atm. Woohoo

[cdavis]

pr0wlunwoof good luck hope all goes well and congratulations

[Chef]

pr0wlunwoof great, keep us up to date please.

[Jonathon]

pr0wlunwoof They come in one package but they can easily be stored long term. I just take out one or two when I need and then vac seal the rest and freeze them

[Chef]

Jonathon Are you talking about the casing or the baby?

[TexLaw]

Chef A 5 gallon batch is fairly standard, but YooperDog is correct that folks have been making smaller batches for one reason or another. I have friends that make larger batches, but most of them do so because they compete a lot (so a lot of their beer winds up as entries). I actually make a slightly larger batch because I want to have 5 gallons in the keg when I’m done.

A 30-40 quart pot is about perfect for a brew kettle for a 5 gallon batch. You want plenty of headroom. Anything smaller, and you have a problem with boilovers unless you do a “partial wort” boil (where you add water after boiling to get to your desired post-boil volume). A full wort boil is a good deal more preferable.

My brew kettle is a 40 quart, stainless pot with a spigot drilled into the bottom, and it’s just about perfect for my batch size. I also use a 10 gallon, round Igloo cooler (slightly modified) for a mash tun, and 5 gallon pot for a hot liquor vessel. Other than my mash paddle, I have some other doo-dads and toys, but that’s my kit.

Homebrew clubs are great, although clubs aren’t exactly meeting at the moment. The closest club I know of near you would be the CIA (Cane Island Alers) in Katy. I’m in the Foam Rangers.