Ok so before I begin it seems that there could be about a million things that could go wrong in one of the many steps in the brewing process. I just recently purchased a brew kit from AustinHomeBrew. I bought the Fat Tire Amber Ale (Extract) Kit that I will attempt for my first brew.
Ok first thing and most important thing. Sanitize everything!! I understand that everything needs to be as clean as possible to prevent the growth of unwanted bacteria. Then I will add 2 1/2 gallons of water to my stockpot and bring to 155 F and turn off heat. Do I remove the pot off the stove eye or just turn the heat off and allow the eye and pot to cool together?
I then have my crushed grains which I will put into my grain bag and soak like a teabag for the next 15 minutes. Lift the bag out and let the water drip out of the grain bag. Turn the heat up so that the it is now boiling. Then it says to turn the heat off and move to a cool burner. Would the cool burner be one that is off? When it says to bring to boiling to I bring it to boil for a second and then stop it or let it run for several minutes?
I then add my 4lbs and 3 lbs of extract to the pot. I currently have this in my fridge. Should it be at room temperature when I plan on starting the brew?? Is it necessary to keep my dry yeast in the fridge as well or is that only with liquid yeast, my understanding is to have that at room temp when beginning the brew process? I am reading that I need to rehydrate the yeast. 80F water with the yeast sprinkled on top for 15minutes and then stirred? Should this be poured into the wort before I dump it into my fermenter or after?
I am now supposed to return heat to the mixture. What temperature should I use?? 155? Something less than boiling because my instructions dont say so.
After added my extract and stirring with heat I am to raise it to boil.
I now have three different hops to add to my mixture. Bittering, flavor, and aroma hops. These are the pellets. How do I add them to the mixture? Just drop them in? Do they stay in the mixture as sediment or do they boil out or do I use a grain bag?
Sorry I have a ton of questions and my have not made this clear at all. ThankyouQ
Ok first thing and most important thing. Sanitize everything!! I understand that everything needs to be as clean as possible to prevent the growth of unwanted bacteria. Then I will add 2 1/2 gallons of water to my stockpot and bring to 155 F and turn off heat. Do I remove the pot off the stove eye or just turn the heat off and allow the eye and pot to cool together?
I then have my crushed grains which I will put into my grain bag and soak like a teabag for the next 15 minutes. Lift the bag out and let the water drip out of the grain bag. Turn the heat up so that the it is now boiling. Then it says to turn the heat off and move to a cool burner. Would the cool burner be one that is off? When it says to bring to boiling to I bring it to boil for a second and then stop it or let it run for several minutes?
I then add my 4lbs and 3 lbs of extract to the pot. I currently have this in my fridge. Should it be at room temperature when I plan on starting the brew?? Is it necessary to keep my dry yeast in the fridge as well or is that only with liquid yeast, my understanding is to have that at room temp when beginning the brew process? I am reading that I need to rehydrate the yeast. 80F water with the yeast sprinkled on top for 15minutes and then stirred? Should this be poured into the wort before I dump it into my fermenter or after?
I am now supposed to return heat to the mixture. What temperature should I use?? 155? Something less than boiling because my instructions dont say so.
After added my extract and stirring with heat I am to raise it to boil.
I now have three different hops to add to my mixture. Bittering, flavor, and aroma hops. These are the pellets. How do I add them to the mixture? Just drop them in? Do they stay in the mixture as sediment or do they boil out or do I use a grain bag?
Sorry I have a ton of questions and my have not made this clear at all. ThankyouQ