my first brew

oldskooldawgz · 02-06-2012, 08:37 PM

On Saturday, 2/4/12, I brewed my first batch of beer. I followed ed wort's haus pale ale. But I did half a batch biab on my stove top starting with about 3.5 gallons of water. I didn't take pictures because I was too focused here was the recipe I used.

4# 2-row pale
1# Vienna
0.25# Carmel 10L

.5 oz cascade 60 min
.25 oz cascade 30 min
.125 oz cascade 15 min
.125 oz cascade 5 min

I mashed at around 152 like the recipe said it fell in and out for like 80 min because of the the temperature sway.

Then I mashed out at 170
Took an inaccurate hydrometer sample due to heat and was about 1.048 adjusted

And proceeded to boil adding my hops at the correct intervals. I did not quite lose the amount of water I expected totally and ended with an estimate of around 2.8-3 gallons of wort which doesn't bother me much especially because my initial water measurement was probably half a gallon off due to keeping mash temp.

Cooling was a pia because my pot did not quite fit in the sink high enough so it took like 90+ min to cool.

Afterwards I took a sg reading corrected for heat and got 1.052 which surprised me at how close I was to his on my first brew and it being an all grain.

After cooling I siphoned my beer though my grain bag which was sanitized into my sanitized bucket. Then I pitched my yeast (safale us-05) at around 74 degrees (I ran out of ice and ambient temp was 74 so...) I saw slight activity after an hour or so and by the morning it was bubbling.

So today 2 days later the bubbling had stopped worried I began reading about taking hydrometer readings and how to retrieve the beer. So I cleaned and sanitized the hell out of my coffee mug and drew a sample.

My sg ended up being 1.018 after 2 days. So that killed my curiosity about my fermentation. I was worried.

Anyways the sample smells amazing and is green. I also know people are not going to agree with my taking a sample but I was concerned and was very careful to sanitize everything that came in contact with the beer (coffee mug) and I was curious about the process as I am in a bucket.

Here is a pick of my recent sample its really pale and cloudy(due to biab and needing more primary time?)

**tre9er** · 02-06-2012, 08:41 PM

Yep. 2 days is wayyyyy green. It will settle out and be MUCH clearer in time.

weetodd · 02-06-2012, 08:45 PM

So it sounds like you are well on your way. 1.018 after 2 days means you've still got a little fermentation left to go. Your sample is cloudy because of all of the yeast still in suspention.

I'd let it run for 3-4 more days and take another sample and see how close you are to your target gravity. After that, let it sit undisturbed for another week to let it clean up and let some of the yeast clear. Just keep up your good sanitation and you will be golden.

It's pretty normal to mess around with your beer, especially on your first brew. It's all part of the learning process. Just be sure to save some for a month or two so you can taste what a nicely aged ale tastes like. You'll be awful excited to drink it green!

brewer_sam · 02-06-2012, 08:45 PM

Congrats on your first brew. My first brew day was about 5 days ago. Best of luck on yours hope it is delicious!

oldskooldawgz · 02-06-2012, 08:55 PM

thanks guys.
Good luck to you too brewer sam hope yours turns out delicious as well.
Good to hear guys its always nice to have reassurance plus as green as it is I still like it better than most commercial beers I have had. I had it in a water/ice bath to keep the temp down is that still as important even though most of my heavy fermentation is done? The aroma is amazing to me it reminds me of the local brew pub.

Anyways thanks guys, time to get back to dynamics homework

**RM-MN** · 02-06-2012, 09:13 PM

Don't be in a hurry to bottle this batch. If you leave it on the yeast for 3 weeks it will be pretty tasty after only a week in bottles. It still needs more time than that and don't be too disappointed if it isn't fully carbonated in such a short time.

oldskooldawgz · 02-08-2012, 08:10 PM

So I got home from classes today and decided that while before I studied I would check on my apa. I figure since its my first beer I might as well learn how it ages

. So I took another hydrometer reading and its down to 1.012 or 1.011. Anyways now I have tasted pre boil(really sweet) post boil(really bitter but still really sweet) soon after the heavy fermentation ends (yeasty) and 2 days after that(today) and I can taste the bitterness of the hops coming out again and again is tasting more and more like I would expect it and hope it would taste. Here is a picture of it today.

**tre9er** · 02-08-2012, 09:12 PM

My Kolsch was yeasty last night after being in bottles for 10 days (preceded by 14 days in primary).

oldskooldawgz · 02-13-2012, 12:51 AM

This beer has cleared up quite well for 8 days and is at fg. Tastes like stale beer. I think in about 3 days I will bottle. I debated bottling half n dry hoping the other or adding fruit any suggestions

icanbenchurcat · 02-13-2012, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldskooldawgz

<img src="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=47780"/>

This beer has cleared up quite well for 8 days and is at fg. Tastes like stale beer. I think in about 3 days I will bottle. I debated bottling half n dry hoping the other or adding fruit any suggestions

I find a lot of the smell of the hops is lacking at this point. If you agree per your intended style, dry hop.