So, my wife finally caved and I've got my first HB set-up (Williams). Also have a kit from them as well (American ale). Couple questions before I even begin:
1) They (Williams) mention a cooling time of 5-12 hours, but that it can be lowered considerably with an ice bath. Wouldn't 5-12 hours give you a much bigger chance to let bacteria into your brew? I've got cats and I don't trust 'em; they'd love to ruin my brew just to spite me!
2)They mention pouring the wort into the primary fermentor. Other people have mentioned not aerating your beer too much. Wouldn't this pouring aerate a whole bunch? Should I siphon instead, or is that just from the primary to the secondary? (and is there any trick for not getting a huge amount of trub into the primary?)
I guess that's it for now. I'll have a whole slew of questions later I'm sure.
Ok, Cover me... I'm going in!
1) They (Williams) mention a cooling time of 5-12 hours, but that it can be lowered considerably with an ice bath. Wouldn't 5-12 hours give you a much bigger chance to let bacteria into your brew? I've got cats and I don't trust 'em; they'd love to ruin my brew just to spite me!
2)They mention pouring the wort into the primary fermentor. Other people have mentioned not aerating your beer too much. Wouldn't this pouring aerate a whole bunch? Should I siphon instead, or is that just from the primary to the secondary? (and is there any trick for not getting a huge amount of trub into the primary?)
I guess that's it for now. I'll have a whole slew of questions later I'm sure.
Ok, Cover me... I'm going in!