first brew....how'd i do?

ryangws · 09-02-2008, 05:20 AM

ok so a friend let me borrow his equipment so i researched on the internet, recipies, vids, forums...

so i went the store and got some ingredents (going for a blue moon belgin white), so here is what i did...

boiled water 2 gal filtered
3.3# of coopers wheat LME
3.3# of extra light LME
added off heat

turned heat on too low, took 15 min to start boiling again (added 1 oz of hallertau pellets), turnd up heat at 20 min in, rapid boil started at this point.

rappid boil for 25 min (now 45min in from adding LME), added 2 teaspoons of irish moss

added 1# of belgian candi sugar boiled for another 5 min for sugar to disolve.
knock out
added in bag
1 oz of orange zest
1 oz of crushed corriander
1 oz of whole hallertau hopps

covered, cooled down in ice bath, took out hops/spice bag while cooling (about 150-160F),

poured into sterilized (sanistar) carboy along with 3 gal of filtered water.
here is where i think i messed up...i did not sterilize the bottle i used to transfer the water from the water dispenser on the fridge to the carboy. i also started adding the water before the wort.

added liquid wyeast am ale II 1272
(this was the closest number to 1214, they didnt have any 1214)

agitated
SG was 1.040
had trouble getting sterilized stopper on, kept slipping off, one stopper fell in, lucky i had a back up, that worked and got it to stay after it dried a little, got the lock on, and now i wait.

critique recipie?
did i do ok?
i dont have a secondary, should i just use a primary? if so how long do you estimate?

thanks for any help

fifelee · 09-02-2008, 05:28 AM

I think you are fine. Sanitizing your transfer bottle would be a good idea, but I doubt it will ruin your beer. Was the wort cooled to nearer room temp before you added the yeast? Don't worry about a secondary. It should ferment out in less than a week. I would then leave it at least another week to allow the junk to settle. Congrats.

ryangws · 09-02-2008, 05:43 AM

the wort was about 80f when i added the yeast.

so 1-1.5 weeks, ill keep posted with bubbling and SG if i have a question.

thanks

planenut · 09-02-2008, 12:33 PM

Besides the transfer bottle, did you boil the other 3 gallons of water from the dispenser on the fridge?

I haven't done my first brew yet but I thought you should boil all the water?

**Yooper** · 09-02-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by planenut

Besides the transfer bottle, did you boil the other 3 gallons of water from the dispenser on the fridge?

I haven't done my first brew yet but I thought you should boil all the water?

Many people do boil their water, then let it cool before using it. I have never boiled my water- but I do have very good city water.

Special Hops · 09-02-2008, 02:06 PM

I never boiled my top off water when doing extract. Turned out just fine everytime.

HOOTER · 09-02-2008, 03:31 PM

Don't expect it to be anywhere near the color of Blue Moon. Using DME and doing a late addition will get you closer to the real thing.
The yeast you used isn't really a typical strain used in a witbier, but you did what you had to.
Also, I'm not sure if candi sugar is typically used in a wit, but I could be wrong.
In the future, sterilize everything that comes into contact with your wort (I'm referring to that bottle you spoke of). I'm sure that won't be an issue though.

All in all, you did fine, and in about 1 1/2 months you have some good brew.

Cheers!

ryangws · 09-02-2008, 05:26 PM

thanks

i will sterilize it next time for sure...

i know its not going to be an exact clone, had to work with what the store had on a labor day weekend, the regular brew store was closed.

i saw a few recipies with the candi belgian sugar so i subsituted it for honey as im not a big honey fan.

one recipe called for DME and one for LME, going to the store the first time i had no idea what the difference was i thought one was light and one dark, then i bumped into a homebrewer and he educated me on dry vs liquid, so he recomended i try liquid for now since i already had the extra light LME, so i got some wheat LME because they were out of ext light LME and i like wheat beers, so i did 50/50...we will see.

whats considered a late addition?

12 hours and still no bubbles

hopsalot · 09-02-2008, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryangws

12 hours and still no bubbles

Bubbles are not necessarily a sign of fermentation, it can take place without a bubbles, RDWHAHB, brew some more to get your mind off it

HOOTER · 09-02-2008, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryangws

whats considered a late addition?

Putting a portion of your extract in at the beginning of the boil, then the remaining in the last 5-10 minutes to reduce caramelization, thus making the color lighter. For example, if I were to use 6 lbs. of light DME, I'd put 1 lb. in at the beginning of the boil, then the remaining 5 lbs. in the last 5 minutes.