Rockit
Well-Known Member
After spending weeks looking and comparing various starter kids from various vendors, I stumbled across a complete kit on craigslist. Glass carboy, buckets, stainless brew pot, bottles, ingredients and all the small stuff. $100! Exactly what I was looking for. Came home yesterday and laid it all out. Excited to apply the knowledge I had gained from DAYS of reading.
Boiled my first wort today and I think it's a success! I bought a new, but 2nd hand kit. It contained (almost) everything except directions. Using "The Complete Joy of HB" book, homebrewtalk.com and this website Illustrated Beer Brewing Primer - German Pilsner Partial Mash I've managed to muddle through.
After reading a LOT, I felt I had a grasp on the processes. Looking for any pointers from those of you with experience. Here is what I did:
Canadian Ale kit.
Sanitized EVERYTHING. Twice! Once with bleach and then with idophor.
0000 hours: Prepared yeast starter. 2 cups water boiled with tbs. extract 20 minutes and cooled to 85. Windsor yeast. Covered and airlocked.
0850: Began steeping grains. Water was 160 when I started. After grains were in, temp dropped to 156.
0940: Brought temp up to 170 and then removed grains. Used additional boiling water to rinse grains into wort water.
1000: Added liquid malt extract and malto-dextrin kicker. Cranked the heat up and started stirring.
1013: Full rolling boil. Heat reduced slightly to prevent boilover.
1015: Hops added. Full boil timing started.
1035: Re hydrated Irish Moss in small amount of wort.
1105: Finishing hops added.
1110: Irish Moss added.
1120: Removed from heat. Pot placed on first step of pool to cool. I figured 24,000 gallons of 50 degree water would work well. Lid was on from end of boil and only removed once to check temp.
1230: OOPS! 70 degree wort. I let it cool a little too long. Directions on the yeast said to pitch at 86-92 degrees. My starter was going strong so I was hoping this would not cause problems. Racked and pitched yeast. SG was 1.03 if I was reading it correctly. Realized after the fact I should have looked for a "Hydrometer Reading for Dummies" site before I started!
1245: Yeast pitched, blow off tube on and aquarium pump on.
1320: Air pump off/out. All is quiet. Carboy sitting wrapped in the corner.
1600: Nothing
1800: About 1 1/2 inch of krausen and a big bubble a second out of the blow tube.:rockin:
It is all looking like it's going to work!!!!!!
When fermentation is done, I'll rack to a bottling bucket. Add gelatin. Add priming sugar and bottle.
Should I cold condition for a day prior to adding priming sugar?
Suggestions? Feel free to critique!
Thanks.
Boiled my first wort today and I think it's a success! I bought a new, but 2nd hand kit. It contained (almost) everything except directions. Using "The Complete Joy of HB" book, homebrewtalk.com and this website Illustrated Beer Brewing Primer - German Pilsner Partial Mash I've managed to muddle through.
After reading a LOT, I felt I had a grasp on the processes. Looking for any pointers from those of you with experience. Here is what I did:
Canadian Ale kit.
Sanitized EVERYTHING. Twice! Once with bleach and then with idophor.
0000 hours: Prepared yeast starter. 2 cups water boiled with tbs. extract 20 minutes and cooled to 85. Windsor yeast. Covered and airlocked.
0850: Began steeping grains. Water was 160 when I started. After grains were in, temp dropped to 156.
0940: Brought temp up to 170 and then removed grains. Used additional boiling water to rinse grains into wort water.
1000: Added liquid malt extract and malto-dextrin kicker. Cranked the heat up and started stirring.
1013: Full rolling boil. Heat reduced slightly to prevent boilover.
1015: Hops added. Full boil timing started.
1035: Re hydrated Irish Moss in small amount of wort.
1105: Finishing hops added.
1110: Irish Moss added.
1120: Removed from heat. Pot placed on first step of pool to cool. I figured 24,000 gallons of 50 degree water would work well. Lid was on from end of boil and only removed once to check temp.
1230: OOPS! 70 degree wort. I let it cool a little too long. Directions on the yeast said to pitch at 86-92 degrees. My starter was going strong so I was hoping this would not cause problems. Racked and pitched yeast. SG was 1.03 if I was reading it correctly. Realized after the fact I should have looked for a "Hydrometer Reading for Dummies" site before I started!
1245: Yeast pitched, blow off tube on and aquarium pump on.
1320: Air pump off/out. All is quiet. Carboy sitting wrapped in the corner.
1600: Nothing
1800: About 1 1/2 inch of krausen and a big bubble a second out of the blow tube.:rockin:
It is all looking like it's going to work!!!!!!
When fermentation is done, I'll rack to a bottling bucket. Add gelatin. Add priming sugar and bottle.
Should I cold condition for a day prior to adding priming sugar?
Suggestions? Feel free to critique!
Thanks.