whathits14
Member
Just finished my first homebrew tonight! Here the skinny:
MoreBeer! American IPA ingredients kit.
Came with:
9LBS ultralight malt extract
1 oz gal hops for bittering (11.3 % AA)
4 oz cascade hops, 2 oz for flavoring and 2 for aroma. (7.5% AA)
I took a chance and ordered a turkey fryer kit (Bayou Classic, 30L aluminum stock pot and outdoor gas stove) that I found off amazon for ~$50. Considering I couldn't find a decent kettle or stockpot for less than about 75 on craigslist or at the local homebrew store, I felt it was a reasonable purchase. Downside is that aluminum is not durable and I have heard can impart some undesirable metallic tastes to the beer....we will see. Plus is that the stockpot is 7.5 gallons and allows me to do a full boil. Also, there is NO way my old POS electric stove could boil enough liquid in a reasonable amount of time to do even a partial boil, and I can work outside so messes are a lesser concern.
The actual brewing went great, the turkey fryer throws out plenty of heat and it was easy to control the boil. Only minor mistake I made was putting in the flavoring hops ten mins too early, but I think it will be OK . Working outside is great in case there were any spills, which I was fortunate enough to avoid. Cooled the entire batch down in a large 10+ gallon bucket that I had lying around in the garage, ran water from the hose to it and got a few packs of ice in there. Very quick cooling, got the wort down from ~190 to around 70-80 in about 20 min. Transferred to a carboy, and set in the garage to ferment. I have an airlock on there for tonight, but I will check in the morning to see if it looks like I need to place a blow off tube on there.
My only complaints with the ingredient kit are that it comes with pelleted hops. Oh well. Next time I will be buying ingredients separately and will be sure to get fresh hops, might even try a mini mash. Looking to do a Imperial Stout, or maybe a nice holiday spiced porter... I was thinking nutmeg, a little chili powder, and a hint of orange rind, any thoughts? Total investment in this setup was around $200, and that includes the ingredients for the first batch ($35). Considering me and my roommates drink like fish, we should actually be able to save some money over the next year versus paying $8 a sixer for some good micro.
I'd love to hear about any similar experiences people have had with malt extract kits, and also any suggestions going forward on how to make this beer as good as possible....I'm also sure I will run into trouble somewhere down the line so any preemptive advice would be great!
Thanks for reading
-Erik
MoreBeer! American IPA ingredients kit.
Came with:
9LBS ultralight malt extract
1 oz gal hops for bittering (11.3 % AA)
4 oz cascade hops, 2 oz for flavoring and 2 for aroma. (7.5% AA)
I took a chance and ordered a turkey fryer kit (Bayou Classic, 30L aluminum stock pot and outdoor gas stove) that I found off amazon for ~$50. Considering I couldn't find a decent kettle or stockpot for less than about 75 on craigslist or at the local homebrew store, I felt it was a reasonable purchase. Downside is that aluminum is not durable and I have heard can impart some undesirable metallic tastes to the beer....we will see. Plus is that the stockpot is 7.5 gallons and allows me to do a full boil. Also, there is NO way my old POS electric stove could boil enough liquid in a reasonable amount of time to do even a partial boil, and I can work outside so messes are a lesser concern.
The actual brewing went great, the turkey fryer throws out plenty of heat and it was easy to control the boil. Only minor mistake I made was putting in the flavoring hops ten mins too early, but I think it will be OK . Working outside is great in case there were any spills, which I was fortunate enough to avoid. Cooled the entire batch down in a large 10+ gallon bucket that I had lying around in the garage, ran water from the hose to it and got a few packs of ice in there. Very quick cooling, got the wort down from ~190 to around 70-80 in about 20 min. Transferred to a carboy, and set in the garage to ferment. I have an airlock on there for tonight, but I will check in the morning to see if it looks like I need to place a blow off tube on there.
My only complaints with the ingredient kit are that it comes with pelleted hops. Oh well. Next time I will be buying ingredients separately and will be sure to get fresh hops, might even try a mini mash. Looking to do a Imperial Stout, or maybe a nice holiday spiced porter... I was thinking nutmeg, a little chili powder, and a hint of orange rind, any thoughts? Total investment in this setup was around $200, and that includes the ingredients for the first batch ($35). Considering me and my roommates drink like fish, we should actually be able to save some money over the next year versus paying $8 a sixer for some good micro.
I'd love to hear about any similar experiences people have had with malt extract kits, and also any suggestions going forward on how to make this beer as good as possible....I'm also sure I will run into trouble somewhere down the line so any preemptive advice would be great!
Thanks for reading
-Erik