What casing do I use

[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.

[Chef]

TexLaw Thank you. Both clubs seem great. I would love to walk through the process before I start investing in equipment.

[TexLaw]

Chef We (Foam Rangers) were doing a monthly “brew-in” where a member would brew up a five gallon, all-grain batch on a Saturday. That was a great way to show interested folks how it’s done (and to get together with buddies). That’s on hold at the moment. I don’t know if the CIA are doing anything like that.

Once the weather cools down, I might have to pull my gear back out and brew a batch or two. I was going to do that last Fall, but a couple things took the wind out of my sails.

[Parksider]

BarbecueJim I’d also recommend you purchase a picker. It will help let the air gaps out of the casing. Poke it on the stuffing tube or down the casing but NOT right where it’s coming off the tube it will rip the casing.