Ok I just literally finished my first batch. I waited a few weeks to do this because I felt I needed to read a little more before starting. Plus the temperature outside has been pretty cold. So here are my notes from it and if anyone happens to see an area that I messed up, could change or should improve please tell me.
Ingredients:
MALT:
5lb Light Malt Extract, 8oz. 120L Crystal, 8oz. Roasted Barley, 4oz. Black Malt, and 4oz. Chocolate Malt
HOPS:
1oz. Northern Brewer [:60], and 3/4oz. Willamette [:15]
YEAST:
White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast
Put Carboy, Brew Pot, and Stir Stick into dishwasher and put on SANITIZE. Once complete Heated 1 gallon of water and mixed 1 Tbspn of sanitizer (bought from LHBS) and sanitized Thermometer, Stir Stick, Brew Pot, Carboy, and Funnel.
Heated 2 Gallons of water to 150 DF. Place all dried Hops into brew bag, and let steep for 30 min. Removed from heat and removed bag and added LME. Brought mixture back to a boil and added 1oz. Northern Brewer Hops. Waited 10 minutes and added 3/4oz. Willamette Hops. Boiled for 60 minutes. Placed pot into an ice water bath and brought the temp down to 80 DF. Placed mixture into Carboy, along with water. Took a Hydrometer reading (OG: 1.044) and pitched yeast.
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" A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."
Congratulations. It looks like everything went smoothly. A couple quick points - generally speaking everything that touches the beer before and during the boil does not need to be sanitized. It doesn't hurt to do it, but most likely the hour boil would kill any and everything it touces. It is the after boil equipment that really needs to be carefully sanitized. It is a minor thing but could save you some time.
Second, what was the project OG?
Make sure you keep your carbor (assuming glass or better bottle) covered to prevent light messing with your yeast.
Congrats, enjoy and please let us know how it turned out.
I have a glass Carboy, and I have it sitting in the garage and covered with a towel. The project OG was 1.04.
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" A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."
Thanks guys for the input. I did all the sanitizing only because I keep seeing people say sanitize, sanitize, sanitize, sanitize, sanitize so I figured if I sanatize everything I wont have alot to worry about, and dont forget anything.
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" A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."
OK here is question from you guys. As you can see from above I made my first brew about a week ago. Sometime this morning the yeast stopped working thier magic, I know this cause I always check my carboy and give it a hug and kiss goodnight. LOL Anyway I figured that it was time to take a hydrometer reading. The reading came out to 1.12, and the taste is OUT FRIGGIN STANDING, but it seems a bit cloudy. Is this normal, and is there something that i need to do to clear it. Currently my plans is to take another hydrometer reading tomorrow and then another one on Tues, and if they are the same I will move it to my secondary fermentor.
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" A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."
Definitely take hydro readings over thenext two days. The cloudiness is common. If you can wait, let it sit a few weeks and the cloudiness will go away. I understand as your first batch there is an eagernes to bottle, so go ahead as long as you get table readings. The bottles should clear as well.
Thanks for the information. I am eager to bottle but I am patient enough to wait, escpecially since I already plan on this taking atleast a month or more to do. Ok so I will take hdros for the next couple of days, then if good I will shift to the secondary fermentor, and let it sit a little longer.
__________________
" A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."
Just finished my first batch!!!!
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