When I have some free time

Sooooo....

I brewed my first beer this weekend. I really wasn't planning on it, but I had to go to the store to get some bottles for some hard cider, and got sidetracked so I ended up spending waaaay to much money on stuff. ha ha ha, I suppose that's how it always starts. Go big or go home i guess... I've been lurking here for a while, and I had had the intention of getting a kettle large enough for the entire boil, and all the conviences of the spigot and such, but instant gratification took over when I was there and I spent waaaay too much on a kettle that will surely be outgrown given the fun we had during this process, plus I'm jealous of everything everyone else has...ha ha ha.

So, I started with an IPA. It was a malt extract kit, but I did have to steep, so that was cool... Initial SG was 1.054, I'm not sure where that lands as far as in the range or not because, like I said, this is the first. It seems a bit low compared to some of the other readings that people here post, so it might not have a super high content, but just because I made it, it's gonna be great. I think it all went fairly well. No boilover, managed to get the partial wort & the water to a good temperature before pitching, and got a SG that seems fairly normal. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.

Your gravity is on the low end for an IPA but that doesn't mean you won't make beer! Welcome to the addiction.

Is it an English IPA or an American? If it is the former you are within range, the latter, a couple points low, but no big deal. Here is a good resource for understanding styles of beer. http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/

How big of a kettle did you get? Sounds like you are on your way.

Welcome and have fun!

zero said:

How big of a kettle did you get?

Click to expand...

I ended up getting a 20qt. Probably why I didn't have a boil over because there was substantial room left during the boil.

Well, I started fermentation last sunday, then promptly left for the Derby on Wed morning at which time I removed the overflow tube and put in the airlock. It's been sitting perfectly still since then. Probably going to wait untill this weekend and go ahead and go right to bottling. Haven't checked the SG yet but I'll start taking samples tomorrow and every day till probably saturday to make sure it's done.

glad you jumped in.

From what I gather you did a partial boil and topped with water . If that being the case you may have gotten a lower reading if the wort and water werent fully mixed. You will still get beer either way

oooooooooh......didn't even think of that... You are corrrect, that I did a partial boil and did mix. Even though I may not have mixed as well as I should have, the fermentables were still in the carboy so I should still be good...?

no worries - the yeast will find their food. The mixing issue mostly messes up your hydro reading.