Hey Folks.
I finally got my first batch under my belt today. It certainly didn't go completely as planned (I'm pretty sure that I screwed it up pretty bad), but I'm pleased none the less that I made it through it. It can only get better from here!
Here's a brief journal of what I did. Since this is my first go around, I'd really appreciate any feedback I can get...
Recipe:
3.85 lb (1.75 kg) . amber malt extract
12 oz (350 g) . crystal malt
3.5 oz (100 g) . munich malt
1 oz (28.5 g) . northern brewer hops
1 oz (28.5 g) . east kent golding hops
.4 oz (11.4 g) . safale s-04 ale yeast
I kind of winged the recipe based on the ingredients that I happened to have picked up, but I have realised afterward that I totaly screwed it up! My malt extract came in 1KG containers, but all of the recipes that I have read measure the extract in lbs. I was aiming for 6-7 lbs , but somehow messed up the conversion and only put in 1.75 kg, which is only 3.85 lb.. I'm assuming my beer is going to turn out extremely watery? .. Crap.
Procedure:
2:15 - Start boling 3 gal of water in a 5 gal steel canning pot. I'm using a single burner hotplate to boil the water in order to keep the entire process in my basement and leave the wife's kitchen out of it.. crystal malt and munich malt are placed in a muslin bag and begin steeping in water as it heats up.
Oh my god. It's taking the water forever to boil. It heats up to 160F (70C) quite quickly and then proceeds to heat up about 1F every century from there on in. I have the lid on the pot the whole time to assist the boiling process. I'm not sure if this is good for the steeping process though?
4:00 - Water has been heating and grains have been steeping for nearly two hours. The water is now nearing 200F (93C) and I can feel it wanting to boil. I remove the steeping grains from the water.
6:00 - Okay, this is getting plain silly. The water simply won't boil. It's been on the cusp of boiling for the past two hours but it just won't get there. At least it has given me time to properly sanitize all of my fermenting equipment.. I finally give in and take the pot up to the kitchen and put it on the stove.
6:01 - Water is at a full boil. Geez. I should have just done that 4 hours ago.. Malt extract is added.
6:05 - Add northern brewer hops in muslin bag
Stirring, smelling, stirring, smelling.
6:55 - Add east kent golding hops in muslin bag
7:00 - Remove muslin bags from wort and remove wort from stove. Take downstairs to laundry room and plunge pot into ice bath.
7:30 - Realise that I forgot to rehydrate the yeast. Start freaking out. Rush to boil a cup of water and get the yeast hydrated. Place hydrated yeast mixture in fridge in a glass covered with saran wrap.
7:40 - Wort has cooled to 77F (25C).. At this point I'm ready to move the wort into my fermenting vessel which is a 7gal (27L) glass carboy. I realise that I don't have an auto syphon yet, can't find a funnel, and that pouring the wort into the narrow spout of the carboy isn't going to be easy. I remember that I purchased a pail with a spiggot as a bottling bucket so I quickly sanatize the bucket and pour the cooled wort into it, swooshing it back and forth to aerate. I put the spiggot over the carboy and let the wort run through. Once the wort is transferred I give the carboy another couple of shakes for good luck. I run another 2 gallons of cold water into the carboy. The temperature has now cooled further to 65F (18C) , am I to cold now for a propper pitch? Oh well. The yeast comes out of the fridge and goes into the carboy. The airlock is filled with water and the carboy is plugged.
It's now 8:00, nearly six hours after i first filled my pot with water. The carboy is sitting quietly in the corner and I am splendidly exhausted. I close my eyes and realise that I forget to take a sample of the wort and check the specific gravity. Oh well. Next time.
I finally got my first batch under my belt today. It certainly didn't go completely as planned (I'm pretty sure that I screwed it up pretty bad), but I'm pleased none the less that I made it through it. It can only get better from here!
Here's a brief journal of what I did. Since this is my first go around, I'd really appreciate any feedback I can get...
Recipe:
3.85 lb (1.75 kg) . amber malt extract
12 oz (350 g) . crystal malt
3.5 oz (100 g) . munich malt
1 oz (28.5 g) . northern brewer hops
1 oz (28.5 g) . east kent golding hops
.4 oz (11.4 g) . safale s-04 ale yeast
I kind of winged the recipe based on the ingredients that I happened to have picked up, but I have realised afterward that I totaly screwed it up! My malt extract came in 1KG containers, but all of the recipes that I have read measure the extract in lbs. I was aiming for 6-7 lbs , but somehow messed up the conversion and only put in 1.75 kg, which is only 3.85 lb.. I'm assuming my beer is going to turn out extremely watery? .. Crap.
Procedure:
2:15 - Start boling 3 gal of water in a 5 gal steel canning pot. I'm using a single burner hotplate to boil the water in order to keep the entire process in my basement and leave the wife's kitchen out of it.. crystal malt and munich malt are placed in a muslin bag and begin steeping in water as it heats up.
Oh my god. It's taking the water forever to boil. It heats up to 160F (70C) quite quickly and then proceeds to heat up about 1F every century from there on in. I have the lid on the pot the whole time to assist the boiling process. I'm not sure if this is good for the steeping process though?
4:00 - Water has been heating and grains have been steeping for nearly two hours. The water is now nearing 200F (93C) and I can feel it wanting to boil. I remove the steeping grains from the water.
6:00 - Okay, this is getting plain silly. The water simply won't boil. It's been on the cusp of boiling for the past two hours but it just won't get there. At least it has given me time to properly sanitize all of my fermenting equipment.. I finally give in and take the pot up to the kitchen and put it on the stove.
6:01 - Water is at a full boil. Geez. I should have just done that 4 hours ago.. Malt extract is added.
6:05 - Add northern brewer hops in muslin bag
Stirring, smelling, stirring, smelling.
6:55 - Add east kent golding hops in muslin bag
7:00 - Remove muslin bags from wort and remove wort from stove. Take downstairs to laundry room and plunge pot into ice bath.
7:30 - Realise that I forgot to rehydrate the yeast. Start freaking out. Rush to boil a cup of water and get the yeast hydrated. Place hydrated yeast mixture in fridge in a glass covered with saran wrap.
7:40 - Wort has cooled to 77F (25C).. At this point I'm ready to move the wort into my fermenting vessel which is a 7gal (27L) glass carboy. I realise that I don't have an auto syphon yet, can't find a funnel, and that pouring the wort into the narrow spout of the carboy isn't going to be easy. I remember that I purchased a pail with a spiggot as a bottling bucket so I quickly sanatize the bucket and pour the cooled wort into it, swooshing it back and forth to aerate. I put the spiggot over the carboy and let the wort run through. Once the wort is transferred I give the carboy another couple of shakes for good luck. I run another 2 gallons of cold water into the carboy. The temperature has now cooled further to 65F (18C) , am I to cold now for a propper pitch? Oh well. The yeast comes out of the fridge and goes into the carboy. The airlock is filled with water and the carboy is plugged.
It's now 8:00, nearly six hours after i first filled my pot with water. The carboy is sitting quietly in the corner and I am splendidly exhausted. I close my eyes and realise that I forget to take a sample of the wort and check the specific gravity. Oh well. Next time.