I'm BUBBLING!!!!

OK, Brew Day was delayed a bit because of unforseen events.

But I brewed up the Brown River Ale per the instructions. I wish I had ordered a wort chiller like everyone has said. (live and learn...) BUT, you can bet your a$$ I'll have one next batch!

I did have one small boil over. That stuff boils fast with a turkey fryer burner. I can't imagine anyone needing more BTUs than that. I barely had that sucker on and I boiled 4 gallons of water in less than 10 min. Anyway a quick splash with the garden hose and all evidence of said boil over was washed off the driveway.

Everything after that went well until the plastic safety ring from the Malt Extract jug fell into the boiling wort. After getting the wife's salad tongs and a bit of timing (it was a rolling boil so it would come up and disappear...over and over) I managed to snag it.

That's when I decided to temporarily halt the household beer bottle emptying and recycle effort. Before I...

A.) I set myself on fire.
B.) End up with scald burns.
C.) Ruin my beer.
D.) All the above

All in all, the instructions with the Midwest Kit were very clear. I followed them exactly in time and temperature. Though I did pitch my yeast at 81.5F. The kit instructions said below 80F. I don't think I'll have issues there.

My only concern is I hope I kept everything clean enough.

Congrats on the first batch.

One thing I would recommend is that you not use the water from the garden hose. Keep a spray bottle handy for boil overs. The hose water can have a funky taste, and contain some nasty chemicals if the hose is not rated for drinking water.

Congratulations! The first of many brew sessions I suspect if you are like many on these forums. I've done dozens of batches and there is always something to learn from and change, but we still make great beer everytime!

Just make sure to be liberal with the sanitizer and ferment at cool temps in the 60's and you will be golden. Let us know how the first pint tastes when its ready!

Suddy said:

Congrats on the first batch.

One thing I would recommend is that you not use the water from the garden hose. Keep a spray bottle handy for boil overs. The hose water can have a funky taste, and contain some nasty chemicals if the hose is not rated for drinking water.

Click to expand...

Oh no no no, I didn't use the garden hose water in the wort! I just sprayed the mess off the drive way. I had a spray bottle for the wort. LOL I should have been more clear

Diver165 said:

OK, Brew Day was delayed a bit because of unforseen events.

Click to expand...

Boy I know that story! Planned brews = 6. Completed brews = 2.

Diver165 said:

But I brewed up the Brown River Ale per the instructions. I wish I had ordered a wort chiller like everyone has said. (live and learn...) BUT, you can bet your a$$ I'll have one next batch!

Click to expand...

Easy enough to fabricate one out of a coil of copper, some vinyl tubing, hose clamps and hose ends. You can do a bit classier if you wanted to go ahead and solder the hose ends onto the copper. Check out the DIY section of the forum.

Diver165 said:

I did have one small boil over. That stuff boils fast with a turkey fryer burner. I can't imagine anyone needing more BTUs than that. I barely had that sucker on and I boiled 4 gallons of water in less than 10 min. Anyway a quick splash with the garden hose and all evidence of said boil over was washed off the driveway.

Everything after that went well until the plastic safety ring from the Malt Extract jug fell into the boiling wort. After getting the wife's salad tongs and a bit of timing (it was a rolling boil so it would come up and disappear...over and over) I managed to snag it.

Click to expand...

Did the exact same thing on my first brew. I removed those from the extract jugs on my second one before dumping into the kettle. Live and learn

Diver165 said:

That's when I decided to temporarily halt the household beer bottle emptying and recycle effort. Before I...

A.) I set myself on fire.
B.) End up with scald burns.
C.) Ruin my beer.
D.) All the above

All in all, the instructions with the Midwest Kit were very clear. I followed them exactly in time and temperature. Though I did pitch my yeast at 81.5F. The kit instructions said below 80F. I don't think I'll have issues there.

My only concern is I hope I kept everything clean enough.

Click to expand...

Probably okay on the yeast pitching temp, that's not a huge deviation. Cooler is better but I wouldn't sweat it. I didn't have an immersion chiller on my first brew and it took forever to get the temp down, those last few degrees seemed to take hours. Now kick back and enjoy the percolations of your fermenter!

Diver165 said:

Oh no no no, I didn't use the garden hose water in the wort! I just sprayed the mess off the drive way. I had a spray bottle for the wort. LOL I should have been more clear

Click to expand...

oh, cool deal.

w00t! Congratulations on your first brew day. If someone told me I'd be as thrilled as I am to watch bubbles, I would have called them crazy.

Sounds like you'll have a successful beer in a few (sixish) weeks.