1st post, 1st Homebrew

So I've been lurking on the site since I converted my old fridge into a kegerator and have had an itching to do my own. I had one of those nasty DIY kits with the little cube that made a 6-pack, but I really wanted something that I could enjoy, so I went to www.cwinemakers.com 's retail location and picked up a two-stage homebrew kit. The guy there was knowledgeable and helped me pick up ingredients that would make a nice first brew. I used:

1 lb 20L Crystal Malt
3 lb 5 oz Munton's Canadian Style Ale ME
6.5 oz Light DME from the Lakeview Valley Kit
1 lb 10 oz Briess DME
.75 oz Hops that came with the Lakeview Valley kit
1 pkg Burton Water Salts

I also did a nice yeast starter for about 2 hours while I was prepping and boiling that included

Fermentis Safale s-04 Dry Yeast

2/3 c Briess DME
1 Tsp Dextrose
1/4 tsp Dried Yeast that came with the Muntons
1 pkg Yeast starter nutrients

It's now in the basement where its cooler and the airlock is chugging away.

I haven't decided whether or not force carbonate the beer or not.

My question is: Can I bottle about 2 gal first and then put the rest (3 gal) into a 5 gal corny keg and force carbonate that? They had some decent prices for refurbished ones so I'm going to go back when its time to bottle.

Welcome!
Congrats on the fist brew! As for the question, yes, you can bottle 2 gal and keg 3 gal. I bet you'll get tired of bottling after a couple of batches and switch to kegging exclusively.

Thanks, its really much darker than what I thought it would be.

There are two reasons why I'm considering bottling.

1. I want to be able to share it with other people. Birthday? Here's a six pack. Got laid off work? Here's a six pack. I'm into sharing.

2. I want to see the difference in the flavors.

Edit: Here's a pic of the krausen after six hours:

Looks good!
Sharing is a big part of homebrew, I just hope your friends like your beer more than mine! (They're into commercial brews, don't even think they know what real beer tastes like)

fine lookin' brew, congrats!

Did I count right? Over 11 lbs of extract?:rockin:

What was your OG?

regards,
Al

I had to look 3 times, but it says 6.5ozs of Light DME. instead of lbs. Would have been a burly first brew though! Welcome to the obsession

Cant go wrong with Canadian Style beer

I find sometimes it looks a little darker in the carboy then it actually is - when it is done and you are pouring it into a class to drink it will look a little lighter i think. Although from what I can see your right on track for what a Canadian ale should look like

Iordz said:

Welcome!
Congrats on the fist brew! As for the question, yes, you can bottle 2 gal and keg 3 gal. I bet you'll get tired of bottling after a couple of batches and switch to kegging exclusively.

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Yeah I agree... in fact I just bottled my second batch and I am already tired of cleaning bottles!

I do both bottle and keg. So it's not a problem. Once in the keg I find it harder to wait for the carb process. to finish.

Wow, that's great that you had your kegging equipment before you even did your first brew. I'm still working on kegging after 30+ brews.

grasshopper1917 said:

I find sometimes it looks a little darker in the carboy then it actually is - when it is done and you are pouring it into a class to drink it will look a little lighter i think. Although from what I can see your right on track for what a Canadian ale should look like

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Yep. You're looking through a lot more beer in a carboy that you do in a glass, so it looks darker.

It sounds like things are going nicely for your first batch. Congratulations, and welcome to the wonderful world of brewing!


TL

I agree with grasshopper. it always appears darker in the carboy. just did a english pale ale (extract w/grains) and was really a dark amber color in the carboy. not what i had expected. once in the keg and carbed, i poured my first glass and in the true color really came through.
Congrats on your first brew, they are like tattoos, after you get one, you have to have another.Good luck with the secondary if you are doing one.

Nice lookin' brew! Be careful with that carboy, they're heavy and slippery and they break easily! You might consider getting a brew hauler:

It is possible to bottle after you keg it for gifts. There are a number of gadgets to accomplish the task too.

I hope i can get my Keggerator completed by february of next year and then i wont have to clean so many bottles either! tho most importanty will get to enjoy my brew 13 days or so sooner

Those Brew Haulers are the best. I even use them with my Better Bottles. I use a chest freezer for fermentation and storage, and those Brew Haulers let me easily lower and raise the carboy or Better Bottle. When it comes time for racking, I hardly disturb the tub at all. And, then, there are all the safety concerns . . . .


TL

Thanks for the kudos guys. To haul the carboys around, they had some handles at the store that I'm thinking of picking up. Moving the full carboy into the basement was heavy, but I managed. I'm thinking of making some hard cider for Halloween out of this yeast cake.

Now I need to read up on how to transfer from the 1st to the 2ndary. The funnel that I got has a fine screen. Is it alright to pour it directly, or should I use the siphon? I used both to transfer the wort and got a lot of the trub out.

Slimer, don't use those handles that just go around the neck of the carboy. Those are fine for empty carboys, only. With a full carboy, the cantilever is too much, and the neck of the carboy can snap. Bad news there. Spend the extra bucks and get the Brew Hauler. It's stable, durable, and it won't break your carboy.


TL

Nice, I'll spring for those then.

The OG was around 1.05. There was about 2.75 gal of the wort after the boil and the gravity of that was 1.095. Multiplied out, that gives a OG of 1.052.

Definitely use a siphon and tubing to transfer to secondary, you want to avoid aerating the beer as much as you can. Welcome to the obsession!

slimer said:

...Can I bottle about 2 gal first and then put the rest (3 gal) into a 5 gal corny keg and force carbonate that? They had some decent prices for refurbished ones so I'm going to go back when its time to bottle.

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Good idea to split-carb the batch. There is definitley a taste difference. Force carbing does not kick up additional yeast and is therefore a cleaner tasting beer.

Once you get your kegging down, you can move to bottling from the keg pretty easily. A lot of us keggers like to bottle off a six pack or more for later consumption / sharing.

Your wort will always be darker than your finished beer in the glass. Don’t worry.

Extract beers will always be darker than all grain beers…no big issue.


Congrats on your new-born. :rockin:

Looks good; you can share with me anytime.

Bricetrine said:

Looks good; you can share with me anytime.

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And you can share your avatar with me anytime you'd like as well.

-Matt