One other thing I did not mention is that now that I have been through the process one time, I learned so much and know a bunch of things that I can do differently to improve my brewing efficiency. A lot of it depends on your equipment, the space you are brewing in, etc...but I think the whole...
Thanks Docjowles.
I do have an auto siphon...works great and if there are cheaper siphons out there, which I'm sure there are, I do not recommend going cheap on the siphon. If your siphon isn't working, you've got yourself a bit of a crisis!
Yes, I did add the priming sugar to my...
So last night was bottling night...some additional observations and lessons learned:
Bottling is pretty labor-intensive and can be rough on the back (at least mine); but I enjoyed the process, and I'm someone that is motivated by creating a final product, so I just kept thinking of how cool it...
Well, it's official...I have constant action in my airlock! I pitched the yeast yesterday around 5pm, and I noticed action this morning around 9am...so I'm assuming this is a good thing.
As my dad used to tell me, "Even a blind hog finds an acorn."
The taste test still awaits down the...
Can't say that I really aerated at all, other than what took place pouring the wort into the fermentation bucket with the additional water. At that point, what should I have done?
ashpub, why do you say you'd be pleasantly surprised with the high OG (please excuse my ignorance)?
the og of 1.075 is already adjusted for the 80-degree temperature.
the recipe called for 5.25-gallons in the primary fermenter.
the airlock sure looked like it was reacting to C02...
Well, I did it...this afternoon I brewed my first batch: St. Arnold Christmas Ale clone from Austin Homebrew Supply. Below are some observations, lessons learned, and some questions.
Don't go cheap on your boil pot; I bought and used a 12-quart pot (3-gallons)...sooooo not big enough.
I...