dgoldb1

Recipes 

I've created some detailed directions for my first homebrew that I'll be doing in about 2 weeks, just waiting on my wort chiller. I think I have covered everything but please respond with any changes or comments.

Thanks!

Make Yeast Starter:

Boil 6 cups of water in a small pot, remove from flame, stir in 1 cup of Munton & Fison Light Dry Malt Extract. When fully dissolved, move the pot back to the flame. Soak the 2000ml flask in StarSan solution during the starter wort boil. Boil starter wort for 15 min total, stirring regularly so that the DME does not scorch. During the last minute of the boil, add a 1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient (Diammonium Phosphate) to the pot. Cool the wort by placing it into an ice bath in kitchen sink (be sure not to get any ice water into the wort), agitate pot to cool wort faster. When wort is 75*F or below, pour starter wort into flask using a funnel. Pitch White Labs 007 English Ale yeast into flask as well as the stir bar. Then cover the flask with a piece of foil and a rubberband and place on stirplate. Turn on stirplate and wait roughly 12-18 hours. Once kraeusen has been attained, place flask in fridge for a day to allow yeast slurry to settle. On brew day, take flask out of fridge about an hour or two before you begin to make your wort. Decant any beer that formed on top of the yeast layer by carefully pouring it out of the flask. This helps ensure that there will be no off flavors from the yeast starter. Note: when pitching the yeast make sure it's within a couple degrees of the wort as to not shock the yeast.

Steep grains and Make Wort:

Steep 4oz of crushed Crystal 50-60L malt in musline bag in 1 gallon of water at 155*F for 30min in a smaller pot. Make sure bag is suspended in the water so that the bottle does not scorch. Agitate grain bag every so often. While steeping the grains in the smaller pot, begin to boil 4.75 gallons of water in the 40qt brew kettle. After 30min remove the grain bag from smaller pot and add the 1 gallon of steeping water to the larger 40qt kettle. Bring entire 5.75 gal to a boil. Then, with the kettle removed from the flame, add the 6 lbs. of Gold liquid malt extract. Make sure to stir the water continuously so the malt extract does not scorch on the bottom of your pot. Dunk 6 lbs container into hot wort to get the remainder out of the jug. When the extract is fully dissolved, return the kettle to the flame. As soon as you see the first boiling bubble after adding the 6 lbs of extract, add 1 oz Warrior bittering hops directly to the water (no bag needed) and boil 60 minutes.

Next, pour and mix 1oz. Amarillo and 1 oz. Simcoe into a small bowl. Divide the hops into 5 equal parts into separate small cups. For the last 20 minutes of the boil, add one of the “hop cups” every five minutes until the boil is over. At 15 min left in the boil, take pot off of heat and stir in 3.3 lbs of Amber liquid malt extract (late extract addition). Once the 3.3 lbs of amber LME is dissolved, place kettle back on flame for the remaining 15 min of boil.


Cool and Aerate Wort:

At 45min in to the boil (15 min left of boil), place immersion wort chiller in to boiling wort in order to sterilize. Turn off flame and hook wort chiller up to sink faucet. Cool wort to under 65*F within 10-15 min. Once the wort is cool, take a hydrometer reading, ideally it should be between 1.064-1.068. Now pour the cooled wort through a strainer sitting on top of the a sterilized plastic fermenter to catch any loose hops and hot/cold break. Once all of the wort has been strained into the plastic fermenter, pour back and forth between the plastic fermenter and the kettle. Repeat this 4 or 5 times in
order to aerate the wort. Make sure the wort is atleast at the 5 gal mark on the
"Ale Pale". If it's below add water until you get to 5 gal.

Then use a sterilized auto siphon and siphon from the plastic fermenter into a 5 gallon carboy, allowing wort from the end of the siphon hose to splash inside of the carboy. Pitch yeast slurry (should be at least 1 cup) through funnel into carboy. Rock carboy back and forth to fully mix the yeast into the wort. Move fermenter to basement where temp is roughly 66*F all day. Place one end of the blow off tube into top of carboy and the other into a small container of Starsan solution.

Primary Fermentation and Dry Hopping in Secondary Fermenter:

Check the primary fermenter regularly to ensure there is visible yeast activity. After day 18, take a hydrometer reading of the beer to see if it has reached FG. If it has, wait another 3 days and on day 21 take another hydrometer reading to ensure it is still the same reading as day 18. This tells you that the fermentation is finished. If the reading on day 21 is the same as day 18, we can now rack the beer into the secondary fermenter. Using a funnel, add 1 oz. Ahtanum, 1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz. Simcoe hops to the secondary carboy fermenter (no hop bag is needed). Rack the beer from the primary carboy into the secondary carboy making sure to keep the siphon off of the trub in the primary. It is also very important that the transfer is done without aerating the beer to ensure there is no oxidation. This can be done by keeping the siphon hose below the surface of the beer in the secondary fermenter. Beer should be in secondary for 5 - 7 days at the max.

Bottling and Priming:

At bottling time, heat 1 cup of water and add 3/4c (5oz.) of corn sugar into a small pot. Bring the solution to a slow boil for five minutes, then cover with a sanitized lid and let cool. Sanitize your bottling bucket, tubing, bottle filler, caps and bottles. After everything is sanitized, add the corn sugar mix to the bottling bucket, siphon beer from your fermenter, carefully around the dry hops, into your bottling bucket and fill the bottles using a bottle filler. Then cap the bottles and store at 65*F for 4 weeks.

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

A couple of things...

1) Are you this thorough with every undertaking you do??????????

2) You don't neccissarily need to chill and decant your starter. You can pitch directly at "high krausen" if you start your starter ~24 hours before you plan to pitch.

3) In my opinion you don't want to dry hop for 14 days. 7-10 days is usually better.

4) Don't rack to secondary until you are sure fermentation is done. Use your hydrometer to confirm (but it should be after ~14 days).

5) You have a very thorough and well thought out plan. Congrats, and good luck!

6) EDIT: wait a minute - you joined in 2007 and haven't brewed yet?

dgoldb1

Recipes 

Only with my first real homebrew I take my beer seriously!

Could I pitch the starter after 12 - 18 hrs, as long as there is good krausen activity? I'm just trying to cut down on any off flavors from the starter. I guess if I pitch at high krausen there should be too many off flavors...right?

Would it be better if I kept it in the primary for three weeks and then the secondary for 7 - 10 days?

So my FG should be reached when my beer is in the primary?

It's been a lot of research and I still havent a clue what I'm doing!

I was into Mr. Beer brewing before...now I've moved on to extract.

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

That's what I do. I usually make a starter after work on Friday, and then pitch directly Saturday afternoon.

That will work great!

Yes. I know some books/sources will tell you to rack when primary fermentation is not complete, but a lot (most?) concur that there's no harm, and even benefit, to waiting to rack until fermentation is complete.

Follow your plan and you'll do fine!

Young jedi, you are prepared...

Newbeerguy

Recipes 

1. I have found that to achieve a 1.040 starter (4 cups water to 1 cupe DME) Boil 6 cups of water and DME for 10-15 minutes. If you boil just over 4 cups then add the DME, then boil it again, chances are you will end up with a starter that has a gravity higher than 1.040.

2. I agree that you should decant ANY starter on a stirplate. You oxidized the crap outta it for 12-18hrs...who wants that in their beer?

3. I'd cool the wort to 65 degrees. Since fermentation produces heat, and 75 is the high end of the fermantation range, I'd make sure I am well below that when I pitch. Makes for a cleaner taste.

4. I agree with AZ_IPA no need to dry hop for 14 days. 10 day is the max I would go. I'd actually try and stay between 5-7 days. Anything after that I tend to notice grassy flavors.

5. ENJOY!

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

I honestly wouldn't worry about oxidation at 12-18hrs into fermentation. Heck, most/all wines are open fermented and oxygenated for 5+ days into fermentation....oxygen early in the fermentation is beneficial.

I wouldn't confuse oxygenation with oxidation....

dgoldb1

Recipes 

Great suggestions guys. I'm going to update my original post as people make suggestions.

Thanks again!

Newbeerguy

Recipes 

That is just my personal opinion. I have pitched at full krausen and with good results. I have also tasted a yeast starter on a stirplate and it was less than pleasent. I didn't notice any benefit from pitching the whole starter either. Call me cautious, but if I have the time to crash cool/decant I will. But hey, thats just me.

AZ_IPA

Recipes 

That's very valid - agreed that there's more than one way to skin a cat...

So you tasted a starter - why would you do that?

And for comparison, have you tasted your wort 12-18 hours into fermenting - bet it tastes the same

Newbeerguy

Recipes 

So true! As for tasting the starter....yeah no real good reason Curiosity I suppose, and that is something that I won't repeat. I have not tasted the wort at 12-18hrs into fermentation, but I would venture to say that you are most likely right.