I attempted my first batch today, things didn't go too well.
Let's see, I burned the extract as I was adding it to the water. Note to self: remove the cheap, thin-walled, kettle from the full-on burner before adding the extract. I guess I thought the extract would pour quicker (I did warm it) but it took a good 30 seconds to get it out. By which time it had started to burn.
While bringing this mixture to boil it foamed over. Given that I was standing literally right next to the pot, I'm glad it didn't scald me. The stove top was a mess, albeit nothing that 10 minutes of scrubbing couldn't fix, and I need a new shiny thing that goes under the burner now, but that's cheap enough.
Anyway, I added the hops and boiled for 40 minutes then added the flavoring hops and boiled for 10 more minutes. At this time, I added the aromatic hops and got my first good look inside the kettle -- holy cow, what is all this crap that has accumulated on the side of the kettle just above the waterline?
Then I cooled the wort, an interesting process that entailed a quick run to the convenience store for bags of ice. It took 45 minutes to get the temp down, but I got it there.
Pouring the cooled wort into the fermenting bucket was interesting. As if all the crap on the side of the pot didn't have me worried enough, man, was there a lot of gunk at the bottom of the pot. I just poured it all in to the fermenting bucket, why not.
So, it had been an interesting process to this point but I thought I was good. Then, after pitching the yeast, I tried to attach the airlock to the bucket top only to have the little rubber ring give way and plunge into the wort. Well, damn and double damn. I pulled the top off the fermenter hoping against hope that the ring would miraculously float on the wort. No such luck. So I had no choice but to go in the wort up to my (non-sanitized) elbow and fish around in all the muck at the bottom to get that ring out. Which obviously ruined everything.
So.. sigh. I'll try again in a few days or whenever I can get back to the shop and get another kit. Unfortunately, the shop is on the other side of town and this town ain't small. 2 hours round trip, on a good day.
Before I ruined the wort I had wanted to check my specific gravity but realized I didn't have a turkey baster, sanitized or otherwise. Now that it's ruined I went ahead and pulled a sample to find it was 1.025, at 64 degrees. The instructions say it should be around 1.045. How could this have happened?
Thank god for the good people at Newcastle, it's time for one.
Let's see, I burned the extract as I was adding it to the water. Note to self: remove the cheap, thin-walled, kettle from the full-on burner before adding the extract. I guess I thought the extract would pour quicker (I did warm it) but it took a good 30 seconds to get it out. By which time it had started to burn.
While bringing this mixture to boil it foamed over. Given that I was standing literally right next to the pot, I'm glad it didn't scald me. The stove top was a mess, albeit nothing that 10 minutes of scrubbing couldn't fix, and I need a new shiny thing that goes under the burner now, but that's cheap enough.
Anyway, I added the hops and boiled for 40 minutes then added the flavoring hops and boiled for 10 more minutes. At this time, I added the aromatic hops and got my first good look inside the kettle -- holy cow, what is all this crap that has accumulated on the side of the kettle just above the waterline?
Then I cooled the wort, an interesting process that entailed a quick run to the convenience store for bags of ice. It took 45 minutes to get the temp down, but I got it there.
Pouring the cooled wort into the fermenting bucket was interesting. As if all the crap on the side of the pot didn't have me worried enough, man, was there a lot of gunk at the bottom of the pot. I just poured it all in to the fermenting bucket, why not.
So, it had been an interesting process to this point but I thought I was good. Then, after pitching the yeast, I tried to attach the airlock to the bucket top only to have the little rubber ring give way and plunge into the wort. Well, damn and double damn. I pulled the top off the fermenter hoping against hope that the ring would miraculously float on the wort. No such luck. So I had no choice but to go in the wort up to my (non-sanitized) elbow and fish around in all the muck at the bottom to get that ring out. Which obviously ruined everything.
So.. sigh. I'll try again in a few days or whenever I can get back to the shop and get another kit. Unfortunately, the shop is on the other side of town and this town ain't small. 2 hours round trip, on a good day.
Before I ruined the wort I had wanted to check my specific gravity but realized I didn't have a turkey baster, sanitized or otherwise. Now that it's ruined I went ahead and pulled a sample to find it was 1.025, at 64 degrees. The instructions say it should be around 1.045. How could this have happened?
Thank god for the good people at Newcastle, it's time for one.