Pickettj
Well-Known Member
After much discussion about sanitizers I brewed my first batch Wednesday afternoon. I learned a lot in the brew process, found some pieces that I was missing and worried too much. After four hours of work and worry (yeah, I know, four hours) my yeast was pitched and my beer was on its way.
About 5 hours later I had a steady flow through the airlock and things were looking good. another hour or two and the airlock was bubbling fairly violently and basically non-stop. After 24 hours the bubbling had nearly stopped (about one bubble per couple of minutes) and I thought something was wrong but the LHBS guy assured me that it was normal so I relaxed again, picked up my used keg/co2 setup that I found on Craigslist for a steal and had a beer.
Now I have to decide if I want to leave it alone for 2-3 weeks or if I want to rack it out into a carboy to clarify. Either way, I'm less than 5 weeks from trying my first batch. I've already got a kit from the LHBS for my next batch that's a couple weeks longer to make than the first so I can brew it now and we will be looking at about a 2 week delay between the first and the second bottling. About perfect if you ask me!
I know this all seems random but I've found the best way to find out that you're doing something wrong is by telling people what you're doing. There's always one guy that will tell you that your an idiot, but I think most people really want to help.
I should also mention that I used the opportunity at the LHBS to pick up everything that I discovered I needed at my first brewing. I think this next time around it will go much smoother. I hope I'm about done buying the basics...I'm up to more than $500 already!
About 5 hours later I had a steady flow through the airlock and things were looking good. another hour or two and the airlock was bubbling fairly violently and basically non-stop. After 24 hours the bubbling had nearly stopped (about one bubble per couple of minutes) and I thought something was wrong but the LHBS guy assured me that it was normal so I relaxed again, picked up my used keg/co2 setup that I found on Craigslist for a steal and had a beer.
Now I have to decide if I want to leave it alone for 2-3 weeks or if I want to rack it out into a carboy to clarify. Either way, I'm less than 5 weeks from trying my first batch. I've already got a kit from the LHBS for my next batch that's a couple weeks longer to make than the first so I can brew it now and we will be looking at about a 2 week delay between the first and the second bottling. About perfect if you ask me!
I know this all seems random but I've found the best way to find out that you're doing something wrong is by telling people what you're doing. There's always one guy that will tell you that your an idiot, but I think most people really want to help.
I should also mention that I used the opportunity at the LHBS to pick up everything that I discovered I needed at my first brewing. I think this next time around it will go much smoother. I hope I'm about done buying the basics...I'm up to more than $500 already!