I need help, first time home brewer

More carboys= More beer. You can make more beer.

 

www.howtobrew.com

 

Yes, probably good guesses...might I recommend:

http://howtobrew.com/

 

Welcome to the BA site, julie018, and to the Homebrewing forum. You've got a start on the basics as to what your equipment is used for. If you brew 5-gallon batches you are limited to using the 6-gallon carboy as your fermentor because it offers head space which is needed to contain the wort's krausen bubbles that will show up on top of the liquid during fermentation. The smaller carboys can be used for bulk conditioning/aging/lagering of your beer after fermentation is complete and before bottling so that your larger carboy is freed up to brew and ferment more beer. However, common procedure nowadays is to go right from the primary fermentor to the bottling bucket, so your smaller carboys have limited use for 'secondary fermentation.'

However, you do still have another option for using the 5-gallon carboys, and that is to brew 4-gallon (or less) batches and ferment in these smaller carboys because those carboys will provide the head space that is needed. Smaller batches offer the ease of brewing more frequent batches because you are drinking a smaller number of bottles so that you can move on to brewing another batch or style.

The recommendations above to read How to Brew are the best advice that you can accept right now. It is free to read online, or you can purchase the later edition at Amazon.com, etc. (usually $10-$15) so that you can write notes, highlight, etc. The second piece of advice that I'll offer is to read the appropriate threads from this link to the search results for threads that were started by new brewers like yourself. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/32666339/?q=newbie&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=8 (There are similar threads on the 'new brewer' topic. You'll find them just by paging backward in the forum pages.) You should also spend time in this forum reading other thread topics, and you'll learn a lot of stuff that is not in books.

Hang around the site as much as you'd like, explore to discover all of the features, and enjoy your time while here.

 

I'd use the plastic bucket for a three week fermentation on most of my beers. They go into the bottling bucket or keg after they're done fermenting and settling down for a little while.

If you do heavier beers you'll want to condition them in the smaller carboys. Let them sit for at least 2 or 3 months and you can add oak, vanilla, chocolate, etc a few weeks or months before moving over to bottling.

 

Welcome to the BA site, julie018, and to the Homebrewing forum. If the responses to read John Palmer's books seem terse and unwelcome - don't consider it so. That is sage advice, it is a good resource.

There are a lot of nuances to equipment and processes which can devolve into arguments on this site. My advise is to try to break it up into meaningful chunks and then try to build on them. By this, I mean start with a plan for a simple, low gravity extract kit using dry yeast. To do this, you will need to have a plan to do the following:

• How to clean the equipment/supplies for each step properly?
• How to sanitize the equipment/supplies for each step properly? What doesn't need to be sanitized?
  
• Where to get water? (Tap? Filtered? Bottled?)
  
• How to steep specialty grains (temp, volume of water and time)
• How to add extract syrup (don't want to scorch, how long to boil?)
• How to add bittering hops (boil time? Amount to add? Hop variant?)
• How to add flavor hops (boil time? Amount to add? Hop variant?) I recommend choosing a recipe/kit which does not require aroma hops. That can come later.
  
• How to cool the wort when the boil is complete?
• How to hydrate the dry yeast? When to hydrate the dry yeast?
• How to achieve the right fermenter volume?
• How to measure OG?
• When to pitch the yeast?
• Where in my house/apartment is a good place for fermenting? (Mess factor? Temperature?)
  
• How to tell if it is done fermenting?
• How to add priming sugar? How much is needed?
• Where to get bottles? What kinds to use/avoid? How many are needed?
  
• How to add the beer to the bottle? (correct amount? equipment?)
  
• How to cap bottles?
• When can I drink them? (How is conditioning done?)

Others may say you can start even simpler. And that some of the steps above can be skipped (or glossed over). But I recommend getting a feel for how to achieve each of the bullet points above by reading and re-reading howtobrew.com until you're comfortable. And then make sure you make a checklist before you actually try it

It may seem intimidating at first. But you can often be sloppy about some things "and get away with it". But in the end, if you're like me - you will want to maximize your time investment by making the best beer you can. Take careful notes and try to improve your process as you go. Ask very specific questions here on this site if you need help with anything.