first brew day today :) **now with pics**
 

All went surprisingly well, just trying to get it cooled down right now (stuck at about 80, trying to get it to at least 75) i have some sanitized ice blocks floating in my fermentor right now, hopefully those'll help. Had a OG of 1.043, which is right in the range I was expecting. I took a whole bunch of pics and should have them up some point today ::ban::rockin:

it's awesome, isn't it?

Careful, those sanitized ice blocks will melt and lower your OG unless they're in a container :) Congrats on first successful Brew. Now the hard part is waiting!

well I had plastic ice packs that are sealed, and I also put some ice in a large ziplock bag. almost at 75 right now. And my yeast starter is all excited and ready to go as well

I don't have to tell you to watch it but be aware that SOMETIMES it can get pretty active and you might need a blow off tube.

Watch the krausen. if it is getting close to the top and still rising you would be safe with a blow off tube. I think this is the one thing new brewers are surprised at.

Not all beer needs a blow off tube but . . . . . . when you are not prepared is when you will need it.

Like on your very first batch, a relatively low OG brew that really SHOULDN'T need a blowoff. It's not like it contains wheat or is fermenting too warm. So, there's absolutely NO reason that, come morning, you'll find a tower of brown foam shooting out of the airlock.

Lets just say I start with a blow off on EVERY batch now, whether they "need" it or not! :D

Isn't that the truth? I brewed up a 2.5 gallon IIPA (extract, stove-top batch) and in the morning I had hops and krausen flowing all over my clothes. What a drag. I had to wait until Lowes opened at 7:00 to get a blow-off tube. I lost about 0.5 gallon of beer. Needless to say that this is the most expensive beer thus far so I am waiting to bust this out in a couple of months when it is nice and mellow.

should be able to get the pics posted tonight. A few things i'm a little nervous about with the beer, the main one was that I accidentally transferred over some of the hop sludge from the bottom of my pot, is this gonna create any problems?

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