First brew! With pictures

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nostalgia

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True Brew "Red Ale". Here's my setup, outdoors because I just know I'll make a mess.

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Brought almost 2 gallons of spring water to a boil, then turned off the heat and dropped in the sock with an unknown quantity of Weyermann Melanoidin Malt, 2 row barley malt. Let that steep for 25 minutes and discarded the sock.

Brought it back to a boil, then took it off the heat to add 1.5 kilos of Hopped Light malt extract and 1.5 kilos of Light malt extract, cutting myself on a can lid.

Back onto the flame, where it promptly boiled over. I put it on and off the heat until it stopped boiling over, then set a timer for 25 minutes per the directions. A few minutes later I finally remembered to put in half of the 1 ounce of Liberty hop pellets.

firstbrew2.jpg


While that was going on, I made up a sanitizing solution (C-Star. I think) in a fresh bucket and soaked my airlock, thermometer and hydrometer. At about 5 minutes to go I put a bunch of the solution in my primary fermenter and thoroughly swished it around and rinsed everything off.

When the timer went off I put the other half of the hop pellets in and set the timer for 1 more minute. Then down into a sink full of cold water for a few minutes.

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to be continued...
 
The wort was then added to almost 3 gallons of spring water in my primary fermenter bucket. I added almost another gallon to bring it up to the 5 gallon mark on the bucket.

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After the temperature finally came down below 90F I took a hydrometer reading at 86F - 11.5 / 1.044 / 6%. Then I pitched the yeast, gave it 10 minutes and stirred once with a sanitized spoon. Snap on the lid, put the airlock on and fill with water. As you can see, I was careful to have some good beer on hand to keep me company.

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Then came time to clean up. Oh, the humanity!

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Lots of fun, and can't wait to do my next batch :) I'll likely start the second batch shortly after this one gets into the secondary then go out and pick up another carboy.

Thanks to all who gave advice and encouragement, and any more of either is welcome!

-Joe
 
Nice job...looks like it went smoothly. The only advice I can give is get more carboys/buckets. Believe me, you'll be hooked very soon if not already, and end up with something like this...

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or this...

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or this...

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Sounds like a good brew day. I might suggest when you pull out the grain bag, place it in a funnel and pour a quart of hot water over it to rinse some of the sweet goodness from the grains into your wort. In other words a quick sparge. Now don't open that lid every hour!
 
Evan, I have a bad feeling that's going to be my basement in a few short weeks ;)

Thanks, Milhouse, I'll do that for the next batch.

I just watched Bobby M's video on reading a hydrometer. Pretty cool stuff. So adjusting my reading for 84F, that's 1.047. The True Brew's instructions say OG should be 1.052-1.054. Does that mean anything to me? Should I have done something differently?

If I understood the video correctly, I'd be looking for a FG of 1.03 then - OG / 15, yes? That's when I'd rack to my secondary?

Thanks again!

-Joe
 
Lookin' good! If I understood correctly though you steeped your grains in boiling water? Next time do your steeping at ~155-160F and do a small sparge like Milhouse suggested, that way you get all the goodness but none of the badness. :mug:
 
Well, my brew is merrily bubbling away. I must have done something right ;)

Lookin' good! If I understood correctly though you steeped your grains in boiling water? Next time do your steeping at ~155-160F and do a small sparge like Milhouse suggested, that way you get all the goodness but none of the badness. :mug:

Thanks for the tip. I was following the directions in the kit, which say to come up to a full boil, take it off the heat and toss the grain in.

-Joe
 
Today is the second full day in the fermenter, and I don't see any more bubbles in the airlock. Is this normal? Is it possible that the 64-68F temperature in my basement is too cool?

I don't mind waiting, but I don't want to wait if nothing's going to happen ;)

-Joe
 
Have a read through this thread. It should put your mind at ease AND keep you from staring at the airlock. ;)

Thanks Brad. I had read similar threads before and was aware it could take time for the fermentation to start. My concern is that I had vigorous bubbling yesterday and none today. I expected bubbles for at least a few days.

Is it possible that gas is getting past the seal between the lid and airlock? This particular pail doesn't have a rubber grommet; the airlock just fits in the hole in the lid.

But again, I can wait ;) I'm not fretting, I just want to make sure things are normal.

-Joe
 
Totally normal, don't worry about it. As long as the CO2 is escaping and not about to launch your lid into the ceiling that's all the really matters, how it gets out isn't important.
 
ah HA! There is supposed to be a grommet on the lid. I called my LHBS and she said, "Yes, there's supposed to be a grommet but people steal them out of the kit."

Nice :)

-Joe
 
Day 5, and I finally couldn't resist a peek. Sanitized my hands and wine thief and took a sample.

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Hydrometer reading (temperature adjusted for 72F) was 1.017. So I'm going in the right direction :)

Tasted like...well...beer! Clean taste with no funky flavors. My wife said it smelled like beer bread.

-Joe
 
Two days later and the hydrometer still reads 1.016 at 70F, which adjusts to 1.017.

So that's two consecutive readings that are the same, time for the secondary, right? It's been in the primary since 5/28: 6 days.

OG was 1.047, so I should expect an FG of what, 1.012? What does this mean for my beer and/or technique so I get it right next time?

Thanks!

-Joe
 
Give it another week in primary before you take another reading. Don't rush to secondary yet, the yeast need time to clean up after themselves even once fermentation is complete.

You're only at 64% attenuation right now, I very much doubt it's finished yet.
 
I made this same kit a few months back. It turned out excellent. I let sit in the primary for 2 weeks and then secondary for 3 weeks. After bottle conditioning for 3 weeks it was OK. But now after 2 months it is fantastic, unfortunately I'm down to my last 6-pack.
 
I did notice in the picture, your fermetor was really high up there when you siphoned. Your beer may have really rushed into the secondary causing a little foam. You really want a slow and quiet transfer. This should prevent any splashing and oxygen in your beer. It should be OK so relax... Next time you siphon by candlelight, lower the fermentor so that its one carboy above the secondary,put on some soft music and take it nice and slow. Trust me, your beer will respect you in the morning.
 
I did notice in the picture, your fermetor was really high up there when you siphoned. Your beer may have really rushed into the secondary causing a little foam. You really want a slow and quiet transfer. This should prevent any splashing and oxygen in your beer. It should be OK so relax... Next time you siphon by candlelight, lower the fermentor so that its one carboy above the secondary,put on some soft music and take it nice and slow. Trust me, your beer will respect you in the morning.
Thanks for the advice. All of the foam was the fault of the Star-San - it was foamy in the carboy before I started and it just floated on the beer. The siphon itself was gentle and quiet. I think setting the mood with the candles helped a lot. ;)

-Joe
 
I know it isn't a problem if you are careful with the splashing, but damn clean that sink if you are going to be brewing in there. I mean I play fast and loose with the sanitation sometimes, but yuck. :p
That doesn't look delicious to you? I added a bit to the wort for flavor.

In all seriousness, I didn't expect to be using the sink when I started the brew. It was only after the boil that I realized I should probably make an ice bath to cool the wort. I didn't think it would be necessary to sanitize the sink, since the outside of the brewpot wasn't going to come in contact with the wort.

Point taken, though.

-Joe
 
When I came home today I was getting a bubble every 10 seconds. So I guess we had some lazy yeasties in there that needed a good shove to wake up ;)
And this morning it's bubbling once every 5 seconds. I'm guessing this is because I didn't aerate the wort, beyond pouring it into the fermenter bucket. I'll know for next time.

-Joe
 
6th day in the secondary and fermentation has *finally* slowed down to about a minute per bubble.

Gravity was 1.012 at 65F. That's a little more like it!

The beer is clearing nicely (doesn't look like OJ any more) and tastes pretty good. It had very fine bubbles in it in the test tube.

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Going to take another reading tomorrow and likely bottle on Wednesday.

-Joe
 

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