Hello everyone.
This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while. *waves*
So, last night after the little ones went to bed, I whipped up my 2nd 5 gallon batch of beer. This was AHS Double Chocolate Stout extract recipe kit with a big bag of grains to steep. (My first batch was a "True Brew" Amber kit... hopped LME and some DME. not complicated at all. Its currently bottled and will be ready to drink soon). I steeped my grains in the kitchen, actually, before taking the pot outside to do my LME additions and boil. I used a 1 gallon paint strainer clipped to the side of the pot for my hops (worked great!). All went well... 3 gallon boil with no boil overs or anything. All was going well until I brought things back inside...
I don't yet have a wort chiller, so into the sink of water the pot went. I added 1 gallon of "drinking water" to my wort that I bought that had been in the freezer for about 2 hours (it was NICE and cold) which brought my temps down to the 130 range. Then, a pot holder that I had used to carry the pot inside fell into my wort. I quickly retrieved it, but I was kicking myself for letting a foreign object just fall in like that. I finished cooling the wort in the cool water/ice bath in my sink (it only took about 20 minutes for my cooling, which I'm pleased with). I topped off to 5 gallons and I stuck my hydrometer into my Star San bucket so I could sanitize it before taking an OG reading. I was letting the excess foam drip off of my hydrometer (over the sink, thankfully... not over my wort) when I dropped it and the stem broke.
I'm not too bummed about not getting my OG (it is mostly from extract anyway... the published numbers should be fine), but I really didn't want to buy a new hydrometer. I only used mine twice (OG and FG of the first batch). Anyway, at this point my rehydrated yeast (Munton's premium gold) was looking really good in its little sanitized measuring cup of pre-boiled water, so I pitched it, put some starsan in the airlock and put the lid on around midnight.
It sat in my kitchen overnight (low-mid 70s, though I think my bucket thermometer read high 70s) and went to my neighbor's "cool room" this morning to ferment. I really hope the pot holder didn't put anything too nasty in the wort.
Anyway, I'll try to remember you let you guys know how it all turns out in a few weeks when I bottle it (hopefully)...
<insert clever signature here>
This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while. *waves*
So, last night after the little ones went to bed, I whipped up my 2nd 5 gallon batch of beer. This was AHS Double Chocolate Stout extract recipe kit with a big bag of grains to steep. (My first batch was a "True Brew" Amber kit... hopped LME and some DME. not complicated at all. Its currently bottled and will be ready to drink soon). I steeped my grains in the kitchen, actually, before taking the pot outside to do my LME additions and boil. I used a 1 gallon paint strainer clipped to the side of the pot for my hops (worked great!). All went well... 3 gallon boil with no boil overs or anything. All was going well until I brought things back inside...
I don't yet have a wort chiller, so into the sink of water the pot went. I added 1 gallon of "drinking water" to my wort that I bought that had been in the freezer for about 2 hours (it was NICE and cold) which brought my temps down to the 130 range. Then, a pot holder that I had used to carry the pot inside fell into my wort. I quickly retrieved it, but I was kicking myself for letting a foreign object just fall in like that. I finished cooling the wort in the cool water/ice bath in my sink (it only took about 20 minutes for my cooling, which I'm pleased with). I topped off to 5 gallons and I stuck my hydrometer into my Star San bucket so I could sanitize it before taking an OG reading. I was letting the excess foam drip off of my hydrometer (over the sink, thankfully... not over my wort) when I dropped it and the stem broke.
I'm not too bummed about not getting my OG (it is mostly from extract anyway... the published numbers should be fine), but I really didn't want to buy a new hydrometer. I only used mine twice (OG and FG of the first batch). Anyway, at this point my rehydrated yeast (Munton's premium gold) was looking really good in its little sanitized measuring cup of pre-boiled water, so I pitched it, put some starsan in the airlock and put the lid on around midnight.
It sat in my kitchen overnight (low-mid 70s, though I think my bucket thermometer read high 70s) and went to my neighbor's "cool room" this morning to ferment. I really hope the pot holder didn't put anything too nasty in the wort.
Anyway, I'll try to remember you let you guys know how it all turns out in a few weeks when I bottle it (hopefully)...
<insert clever signature here>
