Well, so much for a good first run!

so to start off the night, i began at 7ish to do a pale ale clone. being my first batch im excited. i know my way around a kitchen so following ingredients is cool. this is my night:

-while putting in my grains one of my wee helpers opened the valve on the tun, about 2 cups lost,

-mashed in at 174 added grain temp dropped to 154 added water went up to 158, at this point i should have known something was up.

- batch sparged, i think i did this a little off, drained and lit the propane.

- here comes the thunder and lightning.

- dragged it into the house on to the stove top.

- boil went smooth, no hot break though.

- started cooling with my chiller. remember when i said something was up? the temp stayed at 131 for 20 min! i took out my probe, and in an a/c house it rose to 144. great!!!!!!!!! airated to the bucket, bucket temp was 66, sprinkled the yeast on as per instructions swished, cap and stored.

on top of it all i think my hydrometer is off, or i hope it is.

so after several hours and several non hb beers, i think i just made malted tea with some hops.
ugh!

That's NO WHERE CLOSE to the worst brewday that's been talked about on these forums. Get back to us when your dog pees in the wort.



Some days are just better than others, eh? I try to look at experiences like this as a learning opportunity. For example, you learned to duct tape your wee helpers to the wall while brewing.

ya, thats why i do this at night so there in bed while all the sanitary stuff takes place. well im hoping that its not as bad as i think.

Sounds about like my first attempt, which, even though I did everything wrong turned out to be one of the best beers I brewed. In fact I may even want to figure out how to replicate it in the future.

Time to invest in a thermapen!

Well i am proud to anaunce that my closet smells AWESOME! but i am still worried about the amount of efficiency i am getting. i am going to invest in a refractometer, not the real pricey one, just one to do on the fly before pitching yeast then the hydrometer after.

refractometer is also good for determining your pre-boil gravity to get to the gravity that you need.

bxtzd3 said:

-mashed in at 174 added grain temp dropped to 154 added water went up to 158, at this point i should have known something was up.

on top of it all i think my hydrometer is off, or i hope it is.

i think i just made malted tea with some hops.
ugh!

Click to expand...

Mashing at high temps like that will yield less fermentable sugars vs lower temps. go any higher than 158-F and you risk denaturing the enzymes that convert the starches to sugars alltogether.

Did you iodine test for conversion at the end of your mash?

What was your hydrometers reading?

If you are shooting for more efficiency/sugars extracted from the grains try mashing at a lower temp for a longer time, like 148-F to 150-F for 90 minutes instead of 158-F for 60 minutes.It should get you a higher gravity and drier finish.

First batch you say? Re-read that part about getting back to us when your dog pees in your wort. Seriously, that does not sound all that bad. I am willing to bet that you still made beer.

Dog Pee Porter ???

IpeeA

Urinal Ale

evrose said:

That's NO WHERE CLOSE to the worst brewday that's been talked about on these forums. Get back to us when your dog pees in the wort.

Click to expand...

That's right, we want to hear about animal waste (toddlers and infants count) or an emergency room trip. It's just a matter of time.

Rdwhahb

so it is safe to say my hydrometer is broke. it gives the same reading for everything. so i bought a refractometer, after fermentation i have 4.5 brix. so that either means i have 2,8% abv or 6.3% if i use the reading from my hydrometer.