Here goes- first brew!

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poorfatjames

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I'm working on a homemade wort chiller right now and sanitizing my equipment. Soon I'll begin boiling waters (like in two hours).

I made my first purchases today. De Falco's was great. Man, I was excited in there, even though I haven't slept for 36 hours. Ah well, maybe tomorrow night.

Total came to $40 in equipment and $25 for the ingredients. I'm going to have fermentation before sunrise, dang nabbit.

James
 
Cregar said:
ssnnnooooorrrrreeeeee

He's still asleep :)


No I'm not!


We've got KRAUSEN-SIGN!

At 6:15 AM on the last day of summer of the year 2006 James made his first...well, we'll find out in a few weeks what it is. But I know it's going to be alcoholic!

I woke up 15 minutes ago and I have some krausen. Temperature's at about 78 F, so I but the carboy in a bath of cold water. I have to go to work in a few minutes. :(


I can't leave my baby! Not at these tender early stages of life!

I have some pics, and I doubt anyone can stop me from sharing them. See you guys later, and thanks for the help!

James

edit: Is it normal for the first brew to take 6 hours? :)
 
Excellent! I assume that, since you are getting some foam action, that you also have airlock action?
 
Truble said:
Excellent! I assume that, since you are getting some foam action, that you also have airlock action?

Yeah, well, that was kind of an issue due to the equipment I've inherited, but... you'll see. It's sort of an... what do the call it? Open firmentation? But yeah, it's covered.

Which is harder on the ...what is the mixture called at this point? It's no longer wort, is it? Anyway, which is harder, a high temp (like 78 F) or a poorly regulated temp that fluctuates a few degrees (say, 72-76 F)

James
 
Open fermentation right out of the gate! impressive. At this point, you can call it beer. it is wort until you pitch your yeast. Once it starts fermenting, it is beer.
 
I would say keeping it between 72-76 would be better than having a high temp, but I have no experience since I am able to keep fairly stable temps.
 
Now that I'm at work, uh...working...I can reflect on my beer.

Am I getting ahead of myself thinking that I have krausen in just 5 hours? Is it more likely to be just leftover who knows what from the cooking/wort transfer into primary?

All I know is it wasn't there when I fell asleep.

James
 
Come to think of it, there was tons of movement. Something has to be doing that!

Guess I'm nervous. I know, I know, don't worry have a homebrew, or somesuch.

Good advice!

How I learned to stop worrying and love the brew.

James
 
I ran out of sanitized water when transferring to primary and only have about 4.5 gallons of beer. Is it too late to add water? Would that mess up the beer? Would it make a difference at all?
 
poorfatjames said:
I ran out of sanitized water when transferring to primary and only have about 4.5 gallons of beer. Is it too late to add water? Would that mess up the beer? Would it make a difference at all?

you can add water now, or later, or not at all. If you add it later, boil it before adding to remove O2 from it.

If you don't add more water, your beer will be 10% stronger.

-walker
 
The beer has been at 72 F the last few hours. The water bath went well, but I need to figure out how to keep it steady.

Do you keep the beer at the same temperature for secondary brewing?

Pictures!

why I gave up on an overflow tube. mouth of my carboy is 2 1/4 inches, and there was no easy way to seal it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23796371@N00/250074355/

so i just covered it, until the krausen goes down. then I'll put on an air lock.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23796371@N00/250074413/

krausen! 5 hours into brew


http://www.flickr.com/photos/23796371@N00/250074848/

12 hours...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23796371@N00/250082271/
 
Sweet! I use a bucket for my primary, so I never get to see the action. Looking good. I hope you sanitized that little bowl you put on the mouth of your carboy.
 
That's definitely kraeusen and it's definitely fermenting away. Congratulations! Welcome to the dark side! Please leave your wallet and soul at the door, you are now a prestigious member of the Zymurgists!
 
Looking pretty shibby!! Now I understand the whole blowout issue....you need to get an oversized stopper bung for that bi@tch. Brew looks like it is going fantastic though! nice job
 
EdWort said:
Sweet! I use a bucket for my primary, so I never get to see the action. Looking good. I hope you sanitized that little bowl you put on the mouth of your carboy.

Yes, I sanitized the bowl, but now I'm freaking out because I don't remember if I sanitized down the neck of the carboy.

And yeah, besides the fun of spending as little as possible (but without skimping on the important stuff) I knew I wanted to use my dad's carboys despite being only 5 gallons so I could see alll that stuff. It also helps me understand the brewing process.


Close up of krausen, with no flash so colors are more accurate.

250114713_0b8cb96fa4_o.jpg



-edit-
Thanks, Orpheus. This has been tons of fun, and I'm not even drinking yet!

I do have the stopper, Truble, and it's drilled for an air lock, but I decided against trying to drill it for the 1" hose.

Yes, the plastic tubing (ice machine hose - 25 ft. for about $4.25, plus another $5 for the whole "system," not that it worked...) was for chilling the wort. I probably shouldn't have messed with it since this is my first brew, but I was having fun. I don't think it did much good, though. I'm going to keep working with it, though. WHat I'd like to do is siphon icewater out of a bucket pressurized by an air compressor. I'm guessing the plastic tubing needs a high temp difference since it doesn't conduct heat well.

Thanks for you comments!
 
video of fermentation. I can't believe how much activity there is. (10 seconds, 5 MB!! sorry; I tried to compress it more, but then you couldn't see inside the carboy!)

forget it. link deleted. video sucks, anyway. (didn't see a way to kill post outright). I'll make a good one when there's more light so you can really see it.
 
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