northernbrewin
Member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2012
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 1
I decided to finally brew my first beer tonight! I did a lot of reading and a lot of searching off of this site and just figured I can document my experience. I put my recipe together from several I had seen. A friend of mine who has brewed a few time talked me into keeping it "stupid simple" for the first few rounds. I got my list of "needed" items and put my order in.
Midwest beginner buckets kit
6 - 3.3lbs amber lme
6 - 3.3lbs Pilsen lme
6lbs amber dme
5 - Muntons Gold dry yeast
5 - saflager-s23 dry yeast
16oz Willamette pellet hops - I repackaged in 2oz bags
16oz Whole Saaz hops - i need to repackage in 1oz bags
16oz Whole Hallertau hops - I need to repackage in 1oz bags
When I decided I was going to do this I decided to buy bulk and save, while also having the goods to mix it up a bit. I also decided to go all extract for simple time restraints I have at this point in my life. I borrowed a propane turkey fryer burner from my dad and made a 30qt pot investment. Here is the ingredients I decided to use on my first batch
6.6lbs amber lme
2oz Willamette hops.
I decided to only boil for a total of 45 minutes and do a partial boil. I started with 3 gallons of good water and brought that to a boil. While the water was working itself to a boil I had placed my "cooling" water, which was 2.5 gallons in the freezer to chill. I also sanitized all of my utensils while the water was getting to a boil. Once my water got to a boil I took the pot off of the flame and slowly poured in my first 3.3lbs amber lme while stirring. After that had all been added I dumped in 1oz Willamette hops. I replaced the pot on to the flame and cranked her up. I set my timer to 45 minutes as it started to reboil.
I went ahead and added 1/2oz Willamette hops once my timer reached 15 minutes left. I added the last 1/2oz when the timer said 5 minutes left. After adding the last batch of hops I got my chilled water and added it to my fermenter. when the timer went off as I shut down the propane. I poured the now wort into my chilled fermenter. The wort had not chilled quiet enough so I stuck the fermenter in the tub and filled with cold tap water. Stirring occasionally it cooled to 80 after about 20 minutes. I sealed up the lid, filled and placed the airlock, then stuck in a 70-75 degree dark spot.
On my next batch I will place the pot into the cool tub water first before I add to fermenter to try and speed that process up a little. Other than that I am happy with the way everything played out today. The only other thing is I did not take an og reading but plan to around day 10 and every 2-3 days after that.
I do have one question as I have considered using amber dme as my priming sugar verses dextrose. Anybody with a few pros and cons to this I would like a little input. I am very excited to get my first batch in the fermenter and ready to keep on learning!! I will try to stay up with updates as I progress through this first brew.
Midwest beginner buckets kit
6 - 3.3lbs amber lme
6 - 3.3lbs Pilsen lme
6lbs amber dme
5 - Muntons Gold dry yeast
5 - saflager-s23 dry yeast
16oz Willamette pellet hops - I repackaged in 2oz bags
16oz Whole Saaz hops - i need to repackage in 1oz bags
16oz Whole Hallertau hops - I need to repackage in 1oz bags
When I decided I was going to do this I decided to buy bulk and save, while also having the goods to mix it up a bit. I also decided to go all extract for simple time restraints I have at this point in my life. I borrowed a propane turkey fryer burner from my dad and made a 30qt pot investment. Here is the ingredients I decided to use on my first batch
6.6lbs amber lme
2oz Willamette hops.
I decided to only boil for a total of 45 minutes and do a partial boil. I started with 3 gallons of good water and brought that to a boil. While the water was working itself to a boil I had placed my "cooling" water, which was 2.5 gallons in the freezer to chill. I also sanitized all of my utensils while the water was getting to a boil. Once my water got to a boil I took the pot off of the flame and slowly poured in my first 3.3lbs amber lme while stirring. After that had all been added I dumped in 1oz Willamette hops. I replaced the pot on to the flame and cranked her up. I set my timer to 45 minutes as it started to reboil.
I went ahead and added 1/2oz Willamette hops once my timer reached 15 minutes left. I added the last 1/2oz when the timer said 5 minutes left. After adding the last batch of hops I got my chilled water and added it to my fermenter. when the timer went off as I shut down the propane. I poured the now wort into my chilled fermenter. The wort had not chilled quiet enough so I stuck the fermenter in the tub and filled with cold tap water. Stirring occasionally it cooled to 80 after about 20 minutes. I sealed up the lid, filled and placed the airlock, then stuck in a 70-75 degree dark spot.
On my next batch I will place the pot into the cool tub water first before I add to fermenter to try and speed that process up a little. Other than that I am happy with the way everything played out today. The only other thing is I did not take an og reading but plan to around day 10 and every 2-3 days after that.
I do have one question as I have considered using amber dme as my priming sugar verses dextrose. Anybody with a few pros and cons to this I would like a little input. I am very excited to get my first batch in the fermenter and ready to keep on learning!! I will try to stay up with updates as I progress through this first brew.