First Extract Brew

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Purebloom

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Tomorrow I will begin my first IPA extract brew. It's the LD Carlson Brewer's Best kit. I started this thread to sort of document the process and show the results. I'm very excited, but more than anything hoping that it turns out drinkable. I'm planning on simply following the instructions to a T, and then maybe on later batches experimenting a bit... and if I'm any good doing some all grain/partial mash brewing.

However, before I begin I'd like any last words of advice in aiding me on my first batch. Also, I don't have the kit in front of me (and the instructions I have don't say), but is there something I need to do with the yeast to "activate" it?

I'll be posting more later, including pictures. Wish me luck and thanks for the comments and advice in advance!
 
What type of yeast do you have? If it is Wyeast then there is a smack pak that needs to br broken roughly 12 hours or so before use. If it is dry then not to worry as it just needs to be re-hydrated prior to adding to the wort.
 
Purebloom said:
Tomorrow I will begin my first IPA extract brew. It's the LD Carlson Brewer's Best kit. I started this thread to sort of document the process and show the results. I'm very excited, but more than anything hoping that it turns out drinkable. I'm planning on simply following the instructions to a T, and then maybe on later batches experimenting a bit... and if I'm any good doing some all grain/partial mash brewing.

However, before I begin I'd like any last words of advice in aiding me on my first batch. Also, I don't have the kit in front of me (and the instructions I have don't say), but is there something I need to do with the yeast to "activate" it?

I'll be posting more later, including pictures. Wish me luck and thanks for the comments and advice in advance!

I would suggest a large starter if you're using liquid yeast.
 
If it's the brewers best kit, then it will be Nottinghams dry yeast. I'd recommend from doing many of these, to re-hydrate the yeast for about 15 minutes prior to pitching. Simply boil 4 ounces of water, cover it and let it sit to about room temperature. Add yeast and wait about 15 minutes, then pitch. Make sure your wort and yeast are about the same temperature. I'd recommend cooling the 2.5 gallons, then use cool room temperature water to make up to 5 gallons. Get an active dump going as it will add O2 to the wort or you can use a spoon and agitate the be-jesus out of it, then pitch. Should have active fermentation going on within 6 hours. Then wait, and wait some more, and wait, and wait......
 
It is the Nottinghams dry yeast. Thank you for the rehydration recommendation. I've read a little bit here and there that that is a good idea.

Thanks everyone for your comments, suggestions, advice.

Also, with this batch I think I'll be using a secondary.... I have one, so I mine as well. I'll do the intial fermenting in the food grade bucket, and then transfer it to the carboy for stage two.

I can't wait to get started!
 
RDWHAHB!

It's harder to screw up than you think.

And rehydrating would be a great idea, though we pitched our dry yeast straight onto the wort of our first beer and had no problems.

Have fun!
 
I use that kit as a base for my IPA's all the time, only I've started adding to the hops and grains, etc. the only suggestion I would have is consider dryhopping an ounce of cascade hops. other than that you're right on track.
 
Purebloom,

Don't worry about hydrating your yeast,
just throw it in the carbouy with your 'wort' and shake it 5 minutes!
A milk crate is great way to do so.
Go out and steal yourself a few crates from behind the convenience store.
They hold 25 -12 ounce bottles perfectly.
Or 16 -22 ouncers, a 5 gallon carbouy or a 7.5 gallon carbouy,
so well you won't know how you got along without one.
Still ... rest the thing on a towel!
If you ever break a full, glass carbouy in your kitchen floor in the middle of the night, then you will know why.

But as the 'greatmaster' says:
Don't worry... have a homebrew

jacksknifeshop.tripod.com
 
Well, the beer is in the fermentor and I'll be checking on it later today to see if there is any bubblin' going on. I won't be surprised if there isn't, I really managed to mess a lot of things up. It was pointless to even have instructions there, because I didn't follow them. You know, they say it's okay if you LEARN from your mistakes though - I did a whole bunch of learning yesterday.

So, I did all the sanitizing, added the two gallons to my stock pot and put the grain in my cheese cloth and threw it in at 12:40. Unfortunetly I did not have a floating thermometer (already my first mistake) so I didn't know if it was between 160 - 170F. It wasn't boiling and it was really hot, so I'm hoping it was somewhere close. I let it steep for a little longer than twenty minutes (which the directions called for) just in case it was a little cooler than that. I took out the grain at 1:05. At 1:10 I added the malt extract, but before it was a rapid boil.. it was just barely boiling (I think I've should've waited until it was really boiling.... already my second mistake). It didn't started boiling until 1:33, at which time I added the hops... we then had a VERY VERY slight boil over (my third mistake). Luckily only a slight amount went over the top - I felt like an idiot... at this point everything I'm doing is wrong. Also, during the whole boiling process we should've stirred more, because as you will see in some pictues I'll post it looks like some of the malt extract got crispy on the bottom of the pot.

At 2:28 we added the finishing hops and boiled another five minutes. After that we transferred it into the fermenter and added the additional three gallons of water. We put the lid on and set it outside in the snow to cool down.

By 4:30 it was done cooling (73F), so we brought it inside and waited a little longer. We took the OG and of course it wasn't what the starting gravity on the recipe calls for. However, I think our reading was pretty poor and we weren't very accurate.... so my fifth mistake was our OG read apprx. 1.045, the recipe calls for 1.050 - 1.055.

We put the airlock in and hid it in a dark place.

So, I only royally screwed this up. I don't know if it'll be any good... but I feel pretty confident in my sanitizing, so I'm hoping atleast it's fine in that regard.

I sure will be much better prepared for my second batch though. I feel way more confident that I'll do atleast 65% of it right.



Grains.jpg

Boiling.jpg

Maltburned.jpg

fermentor.jpg
 
im doing my first brew this way soon so ill try to learn from your mistakes!

hope it all goes well, cheers
 
It's been almost 25 hours and there are no bubbles yet. However, the temperature it should be stored at is 68-72 degrees and when we first checked it a couple hours ago it was 61. It's at my brothers house so he is putting it in a different location closer to a heating vent. We have it in the pail and we have a black trash bag draped over it to aid in keeping the sunlight out.

Any suggestions if it doesn't begin bubbling soon?

Should I take the lid off and stir it up good (with a sanitized spoon of course)? Other than the intial stirring when I added the yeast, is there anything else I can do to aerate it? Or how much can I aerate it?
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the lag time you're having. A few weeks ago I made a batch and it was at 62 degrees so it took about 56 hours to start really bubbling. higher temps will reduce your lag time, but your beer will be just fine. Congratulations on your first brew! :mug:
 
Purebloom said:
Well, the beer is in the fermenter ...

That sounds about like my first go. Few weeks later I had 5 gallons of great tasting beer.

Congrats.
 
My wort was not fermenting at 25 hours, because it is at my brother's I have not checked it since then. Tonight, when I check it it will be around 60 hours. If nothing is occuring at that time, what can I do with the batch? Pitch more yeast? Shake it?

I'm hoping that it has been bubbling, but I haven't had an opportunity to check and he forgot to check for me.

Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
First of all, it doesn't sound to me like you screwed anything up "royaly" as you put it, pretty minor stuff all around (I screwed up way more than that on my first go and still had great beer).

Secondly, as far as lag time goes, if it's still not bubbling the first thing I would do is open up the bucket and see if there are any signs of fermentation (ie. krausen). Opening the bucket won't hurt anything as long as you are careful and sometimes the lids on the plastic buckets don't seal tightly so you don't get any bubbles.

If there are no signs of fermentation give the bucket a little swirl (with the lid back on) to try and rouse the yeast. Give it another 24 hours and see what happens.

If there is still nothing, get another packet of yeast, re-hydrate (I recommend this even though it is not necessary, it will tell you if the yeast is good or not), and repitch.

All in all it sounds like you've probably made a pretty good brew; keep us posted.
 
I freaked out as I read that you dumped that hot wort into the fermenter, then I realized you had a plastic bucket... tip, dont try that with a glass carboy :D
 
My brother "sort of" checked for me last night, but I have a feeling he just glanced. He said the airlock was not bubbling at all.... who knows how long he looked and how well he inspected... that was all he said.

Next batch I'll be doing it at my place so I have a bit more control over "tending" to it. Tonight when I check it will be apprx 76 hours since it has been in the fermenter. I cannot relax and not worry and have a homebrew, because I have no homebrewed beer... this is my first batch! Oy!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll hopefully have some more info and pictures for this evening.
 
Purebloom said:
My brother "sort of" checked for me last night, but I have a feeling he just glanced. He said the airlock was not bubbling at all.... who knows how long he looked and how well he inspected... that was all he said.

At what point (temperature) did you pitch the yeast?
How did you aerate the wort and when?
Are you certain that the seal around the bucket is airtight and locked down?
Give us a list of your ingredients (lbs of DME, etc...)
Have you taken a sample and OF reading? (72 hours is more that enough time to have fermentation. My English Ale extract with dry yeast finished fermenting at around 72 hours.)

If your wort has a brownish sludgy film on top, you're fine. The lack of bubbling in the airlock may be due to a loose lid.


I say the gravity reading tright now is the key to determining if fermentation is taking place (or maybe even nearing completion)..

By the way, you made the average # of mistakes that I still make with AG brews.
 
Pitched at 73F.
Stirred the yeast in good (that was the only aeration I did for the wort)
I'm nearly certain I put the lid on tight, but I'll have to double check
6.6lbs of Plain Light Malt Extract, 1lb Crushed Crystal Malt 60L, 8oz Crushed Victory, 2oz Northern Brewer Hops, 1 oz Cascade Hops, 1 Nottingham Beer Yeast (dry)
I haven't taken any readings except for the OG.

I'll check on all these things this evening and see where I'm at.
 
Don't be in such a hurry to write it off. As BeirMuncher said it could be DONE by now. Next time you open the lid get a gravity reading. This will tell you how the beers been doing.

Must be tough having the fermentor at you brothers. I ferment in a glass carboy and peek at it at least twice a day. In the morning and when I get home from work. I head a story about a guy who hooked up a web cam so he could watch the brew from work!

Don't worry about you mistakes. The carmalized sugar on the bottow was the biggest but nothing we haven't all done. You'll come to find that it really pretty hard to mess up the brew. After all those ignorant monks did it with 0 science and no internet!!
 
Purebloom said:
Pitched at 73F.
Perfect


Purebloom said:
Stirred the yeast in good (that was the only aeration I did for the wort)
You have to absolutely stir that wort up into a frothy frenzy...at least that is what I've found.

Purebloom said:
I haven't taken any readings except for the OG.
You're a more patient man than be. My first extract, I swear I was checking the reading every few hours...like some sort of mad scientist. I kept a rediculous log like I was finding the cure for baldness or something.

It was fun though and surprizingly, I didn't contaminate the brew and it tasted great.

Wondering what the heck is going on with your primary is a good reason to get a better bottle or glass carboy (my preference) so you can watch the process. Just make sure and get a 6 1/2 gallon so you don't have to futz around with a blow off tube.

Oh yeah, dumb question but...did you put liquid in your air lock?
 
I did put liquid in the airlock and I do a have a glass carboy that is my secondary. I would be checking it more if it wasn't at my brother's house!

It's torture! I definitely have learned that I can no longer brew there or store my brew there. I am very curious and I haven't been able to get down there to check it out, and he hasn't really checked it much for me.

Although an additional glass carboy for a primary could/would be nice.

I think if nothing has happened I will stir it like crazy and wait another 24 hours and then repitch... and still if nothing has happened I will then look at it and cry (and then start my next batch).
 
Use the glass carboy for your primary next time. Rock the hell out of the carboy to aerate. Be patient...

And yes, I actually hooked up a webcam to my first few brews to watch it at work.

Also, you dont have to boil so hard. You just want to see a little motion in the wort, not vigorous bubbling. Boil too hard and you will boil off flavor from the hops.

All in all, you are doing ok. Just be patient...

:tank:
 
Purebloom said:
I think if nothing has happened I will stir it like crazy and wait another 24 hours and then repitch... and still if nothing has happened I will then look at it and cry (and then start my next batch).

Take that gravity reading. :cross:

You may be stirring and pitching and crying over a beer that is finished fermenting. :p
 
This is after 79 hours. I don't know if this is how it should look, but it looked good and smelled amazing to me! The gravity reading was 1.020 and it started at 1.045. The starting gravity on the recipe was supposed to be around 1.050 -1.055. And the ending gravity says it should be 1.012 - 1.015. So, should I let it sit for a couple more days? And then transfer to the secondary or will it be ready to bottle?

Thanks to everyone for the advice thus far! I appreciate it, it certainly makes my first batch a lot easier with great suggestions/comments.

fermented.jpg
 
Definitely more time, primary fermentation takes at least a week, usually more. I'd wait for at least 9 days, then shift to secondary. Or if you're only doing primary, ferment for 12 days. Make sure the gravity hasn't changed for at least 3 days, then you can bottle. Patience, patience--do not ruin the beer (and make two cases of bottle bombs), let it go! :D
 
Good thing I asked! Thanks for the advice.... I wasn't sure because my instructions say anywhere from 3-7 days it should stop bubbling completely and if the gravity reading is what it "should be" then to transfer to secondary or get ready to bottle if not using a secondary.
 
Looks just like it should. If you are going to secondary I would say 7 days in the primary plus another 14 in the secondary should do it. If you're staying in the primary give it at least 14 days.
 
TheJadedDog said:
Looks just like it should...

You have no idea how comforting it is to hear that! Oh man... I've been stressing these past few days for no reason. What's the benefit of transferring to a secondary.... just more clarity? It sounds like something I want to do, but if I didn't do it that would also mean a decreased possibility of infection. Also, my instructions say 3-7 days in primary and then if not using a secondary ready to bottle. Why do you recommend two weeks? Or one week in primary, two weeks in secondary?

Also some questions on gravity readings. My first reading 1.045 was a little low for what it "should be" 1.050 - 1.055.

And my second reading 1.020 is a little high for a final reading (but that's because it isn't done). So, the gravity number gets lower, but then if you look at alcohol percentage that is lower as well... like 3.8% or something. So, do you take a final reading after it's been bottled and ready to open? Or how do you determine your alcohol percentage from those two numbers. (I have a feeling I'll be flamed, as I have not looked this up very thoroughly... but I just thought of it as I was writing this post).
 
As you're racking to the bottling bucket, siphon off a bit to take a final reading...before you add the priming sugar.

Take the difference of 1.045 - last reading and multiply by 131. That should give you a good final ABV% so you can warn your customers accordingly.
 
Purebloom said:
What's the benefit of transferring to a secondary.... just more clarity?

That is it (plus I like mucking about in my beer just that little bit more).

Purebloom said:
Also, my instructions say 3-7 days in primary and then if not using a secondary ready to bottle. Why do you recommend two weeks? Or one week in primary, two weeks in secondary?

All the times you will see people talk about are just recommendations from their experience and they are just guidelines as every brew is different.

A general "rule" is 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 3 weeks in the bottle before drinking. This is mainly based on the fact that, as you will soon see, your beer will get better over time.

This being your first brew, I would suggest taking hydrometer readings on 3 consecutive days, if they don't change, you're ready to bottle.
 
Took another gravity reading last night (126 hours after putting in fermentor) and the reading went down a bit more 1.013. I'm planning on transferring to the secondary tomorrow. So far it seems everything is going accordingly!
 
Horrible news. Everything seems to be going to plan (fermentation wise), but I found out today that a bag of crushed victory wasn't put in to steep. We had two bags... one was crushed crystal malt, and one was crushed victory malt. The crystal malt was 1lb and the victory malt was 8oz. Is my beer going to taste like ****, will it be drinkable? Man... I messed up so bad.

Anyway, it's in the secondary for another two weeks then into the bottling bucket.

My brother took it out of the box and put it somewhere else and forgot, so I thought I had all the ingredients. I was confused with two steeping bags, but my brother's friend (who has brewed beer) assured me the second one was for filtering the trub when we transferred from the pot to the primary. Oy!!

Please let me know your opinions and if this will taste decent, or will be drinkable. Thanks!
 
Some of the best results were never intentional.

8 Oz of Victory missing won't ruin your brew. It will change your brew...but this being your first...you have nothing to compare it to. Do you know the exact ingredients and amounts of what did go into the brew?

I calc that you are at about 4% ABV. You'll have a nice session pale ale. Something you can drink in the afternoon but still function around the house.

That missing malt may explain your slight miss from your targetted OG.

My only advice? Relax and keep your brother away from your future brew sessions. :D

By the way, you'll probably be fine with 10 days in the secondary.
 
I didn't end up getting to transfer to the secondary... so chances are I'll be bottling tomorrow. It's been in the primary for 11 days now... and depending on the gravity reading being similar to my last reading... then I'll be bottling.

So, the best plan of attack is to siphon from primary to bottling bucket, then bottling bucket spigot with hose attached into bottles.... but first I'll be mixing in the priming sugar in the bottling bucket... should I stir this in really well or just dump it in?

As far as stopping between each bottle should I kink the hose, or turn the spigot off... and it will be the first time for me using a red, hand capper. I'll be capping while my brother is controlling flow.

Wish me luck!
 
First you need to boil your priming sugar in 2-3 cups of water for 10 minutes to sanitize and make a priming solution. Once the solution is cool, pour it into your bottling bucket. (I usually have this going while I am sanitizing my bottles)

Next rack your brew into the bottling bucket, the priming solution will mix in fairly evenly so you need not stir it.

As far as filling your bottles, I cannot stress enough the usefulness of a spring loaded bottle filler; get one ASAP. The bottle filler will take care of filling the bottle to the right level and shutting off the flow between bottles.

I usually fill 8 bottles or so before then cap them, then fill another 8, and so on.

Be prepared for a bit of a mess, and don't worry!
 
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