First Brew Day - Play by Play

NB Nut Brown Ale extract kit

I decided to write this up because I don't have any brew friends yet, and I wanted to share it with people....

The day went pretty well, and I have to say it was a ton of fun!! I took notes of everything I did so I could have an accurate record of how things went. Now that I have a brew under my belt I am going to re-read a lot of what I have read because I have something to reference the information against.
Brew day was Sunday and the weather was great – Mid 50’s sunny with a little wind.

8:00AM – Smacked my “smack pack” – I didn’t realize it but the instructions for the kit said to take the pack out of the fridge and do this a few days before brewing…. However the packet swelled totally in about 2 hours. I am assuming it’s fine.

9:30AM – Built up passive oxide layer on my new Aluminum pot

12:50PM - Started my burner with 6 gallons of water and dropped in specialty grains to steep.

1:10PM – The temp in my kettle hit 170 so I squeezed the bag to get the excess water out and removed grains

1:18PM – Kettle started to boil, so I turned the flame off and stirred in the LME – that stuff is thick!!! I got out what I could and dropped the jug in a pot of hot tap water to warm it up so I could get the rest out later.

1:25PM – Flame back on

1:31PM – Wort started to boil. I added the hops and got myself a nice little boil over! Damn it!  I bought a 10 gallon pot assuming that would be big enough to avoid dealing with boil overs. I guess I was wrong…. I had to laugh.

1:44PM – I started some water flowing through my brand new wort chiller just to make sure it was working correctly, which is when I discovered it was leaking at both sides of the connection…. That sucked.

1:55PM – Ran to local Exxon to pick up ice 

2:25PM – Added the rest of the LME that had been warming up

2:34PM – Flame out and set kettle in ice bath in the kitchen sink – this was unexpected, but I guess it was worth doing just to have the experience.

2:45PM – Began sanitizing everything in sight, even sprayed the cat to keep her the hell away from me while I was working…. Ha ha ha

3:24PM – Wort reached 72 degrees and I poured it in the primary (bucket). I stopped short of pouring everything to keep most of the trub out. It filled the primary to 4 gallons, so I added 2 gallons of tap water to get it up to 5 gallons

3:37PM – Scrambled to take a hydro reading. I felt like my wort had been exposed to the air for too long and I was starting to worry a little bit. The problem was that I realized I didn’t know how to use it or what to put the sample in. So, I sanitized a glass and poured the wort into the plastic container the hydro came in and took the reading in that…. The OG was 1.044 which was right on.

3:47PM – Pitched yeast and sealed the fermenter. I added vodka to the airlock and called it a day…..

This was a great introduction to brewing for me. I realized immediately some of the mistakes I made, but I think I was as prepared as I could have been for my first time. Thanks to many people on the forum for information I gained just by lurking and reading.

Any feedback on my brew day is welcomed. Constructive criticism will only make my next brew day better!

Looks great! Smack pack is fine. I use a strainer when pouring into fermenter bucket. Strains out hops and adds aeration. Note you will have to empty the strainer of hops 2 or 3 times.

Thanks Mike - good idea on the strainer. Didn't even think of that!

Always a good idea to sanitize the cat.

You never know when those pesky felines will decide to jump in your wort.

Looks good except never squeeze the grain bag. It may introduce some unwanted tannins into your beer.

g-love said:

1:44PM – I started some water flowing through my brand new wort chiller just to make sure it was working correctly, which is when I discovered it was leaking at both sides of the connection…. That sucked.

Click to expand...

Good thing you tested it before you put it in the wort I had to tighten mine down when I first set it up as well.

g-love said:

1:55PM – Ran to local Exxon to pick up ice 

Click to expand...

I would always forget to pick up ice BEFORE brewing. Having to leave in the middle of brewday for ice or other misc things is always a pain.

g-love said:

3:37PM – Scrambled to take a hydro reading. I felt like my wort had been exposed to the air for too long and I was starting to worry a little bit. The problem was that I realized I didn’t know how to use it or what to put the sample in. So, I sanitized a glass and poured the wort into the plastic container the hydro came in and took the reading in that…. The OG was 1.044 which was right on.

Click to expand...

I just recently bought a legit hydrometer test cylinder...I would always just use the plastic container that the hydro came in. Works OK until you try to take your pre-boil gravity with 150+ degree fluid. Luckily you don't really have that problem with extract.

g-love said:

8:00AM – Smacked my “smack pack” – I didn’t realize it but the instructions for the kit said to take the pack out of the fridge and do this a few days before brewing…. However the packet swelled totally in about 2 hours. I am assuming it’s fine.

Click to expand...

The next time, you will want to use a starter with liquid yeasts. There is info on that in here, check in the YEAST section. Starters are good things, they give you lots of young, healthy yeasts to kick start your fermentation!

g-love said:

2:45PM – Began sanitizing everything in sight, even sprayed the cat to keep her the hell away from me while I was working…. Ha ha ha

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We have 11 cats so brewday is quite fun. I actually have 2 that are my brew helpers. I don't sanitize them, they get really pissy when I try...

Looks like a great brew day! I love the Nut Brown Ales, they are really good and my friends keep asking me to make more.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I will definitely look into the starter for my next batch.... I am new to this hobby, but I love it already. It's like having an adult chemistry set!

nepatsfan1 said:

Looks good except never squeeze the grain bag. It may introduce some unwanted tannins into your beer.

Click to expand...

heavy emphasis on "may". I think its BS and doesn't matter

Good to read threads like this, because Saturday will be my first brew day. Getting a Brewer's Best Porter kit.

Good brew day!

g-love said:

The day went pretty well, and I have to say it was a ton of fun!! I took notes of everything I did so I could have an accurate record of how things went. Now that I have a brew under my belt I am going to re-read a lot of what I have read because I have something to reference the information against.

Click to expand...

This is so true! There are so many things you don't understand until you do them yourself. Notes are also very important.

Brew day was Sunday and the weather was great – Mid 50’s sunny with a little wind.

8:00AM – Smacked my “smack pack” – I didn’t realize it but the instructions for the kit said to take the pack out of the fridge and do this a few days before brewing…. However the packet swelled totally in about 2 hours. I am assuming it’s fine.

Click to expand...

I only use dry yeast... it's simpler. Eventually I'll be forced to use wet... but up to this point dry has been good.

9:30AM – Built up passive oxide layer on my new Aluminum pot

12:50PM - Started my burner with 6 gallons of water and dropped in specialty grains to steep.

1:10PM – The temp in my kettle hit 170 so I squeezed the bag to get the excess water out and removed grains

Click to expand...

I don't think you steeped long enough. What were the instructions? It looks like you steeped only 20 min... it's usually more like 30-45 min...

1:18PM – Kettle started to boil, so I turned the flame off and stirred in the LME – that stuff is thick!!! I got out what I could and dropped the jug in a pot of hot tap water to warm it up so I could get the rest out later.

1:25PM – Flame back on

Click to expand...

A lot of people put LME into a pan of hot water to loosen it up before they open it. I just don't use the stuff anymore.

1:31PM – Wort started to boil. I added the hops and got myself a nice little boil over! Damn it!  I bought a 10 gallon pot assuming that would be big enough to avoid dealing with boil overs. I guess I was wrong…. I had to laugh.

Click to expand...

Fermcap-S. It's magic, a gift from the Beer Fairy. Try it. Then I'll say, "You're welcome"... b/c I know you will thank me.

1:44PM – I started some water flowing through my brand new wort chiller just to make sure it was working correctly, which is when I discovered it was leaking at both sides of the connection…. That sucked.

Click to expand...

If you built it yourself you should know how to fix it. If you didn't, contact the builder. This is one of those things I'm really glad I tested before I tried to use it, but it sprung a different leak the day I did use it. Wort chillers are not "maintenance free", in my opinion. Just one of those things!

1:55PM – Ran to local Exxon to pick up ice 

2:25PM – Added the rest of the LME that had been warming up

2:34PM – Flame out and set kettle in ice bath in the kitchen sink – this was unexpected, but I guess it was worth doing just to have the experience.

2:45PM – Began sanitizing everything in sight, even sprayed the cat to keep her the hell away from me while I was working…. Ha ha ha

Click to expand...

I know you were messing around, but people should know that high doses of sanitizer can be dangerous to animals if they ingest it. I don't know if it can affect eyes. Also, don't spray iodine at random -- lots of stains.

3:24PM – Wort reached 72 degrees and I poured it in the primary (bucket). I stopped short of pouring everything to keep most of the trub out. It filled the primary to 4 gallons, so I added 2 gallons of tap water to get it up to 5 gallons

Click to expand...

+1 on the strainer

3:37PM – Scrambled to take a hydro reading. I felt like my wort had been exposed to the air for too long and I was starting to worry a little bit. The problem was that I realized I didn’t know how to use it or what to put the sample in. So, I sanitized a glass and poured the wort into the plastic container the hydro came in and took the reading in that…. The OG was 1.044 which was right on.

Click to expand...

+1 on the test jar for your hydro.

3:47PM – Pitched yeast and sealed the fermenter. I added vodka to the airlock and called it a day…..

This was a great introduction to brewing for me. I realized immediately some of the mistakes I made, but I think I was as prepared as I could have been for my first time. Thanks to many people on the forum for information I gained just by lurking and reading.

Any feedback on my brew day is welcomed. Constructive criticism will only make my next brew day better!

Click to expand...

Constructive criticism: avoid LME!

Why do you say avoid LME? Just curious...

KC

1) expensive
2) messy
3) color (too dark)
4) harder to measure out than DME
5) sometimes overhopped, so too bitter, IMO

Thanks... wasn't aware of that. So 1 can of LME is about equal to 3 lbs of DME?

Nevermind... I searched the site and found that 0.8lb DME = 1.0 lb LME...

Invest in a wine thief. Perfect size for holding the hydrometer for a random reading and super easy to steal a sample and drain into a glass for "testing"...

And for extracting all of the LME out of the jugs, I just dip them slightly into the near-boiling wort and then cap and shake. Make sure you're wearing good, thick gloves though...

As for the "don't squeeze the steeping grains" comments, I took 1st place in round 1 of the NHC category 19 2 years ago with an old ale that I squeezed the hell out of. Don't believe the naysayers.

sounds like fun! Can't wait till I brew my first.

if you have the option for LME or DME... Should you choose the DME... Or will you not have the option when getting a kit? (im going to the LHBS for my kit... Hopefully this weekend)

Sean

I went with the LME because it seemed easiest to me. I will try DME next time. I want to try a little bit of everything so I can speak about these things somewhat intelligently.

I will try the fermcap too....

"Canned" kits will usually be LME. Kits with specialty grains will usually be DME. No, you can't choose, in most cases.

You will love Fermcap-S. You can and should put it in the boil... the directions only mention putting it in the fermenter.

ArtVandelay said:

heavy emphasis on "may". I think its BS and doesn't matter

Click to expand...

Well with the heavy emphasis on may, why take any chances when the most you'll gain by squeezing the bag would be no more than a quart of wort. You could just let the bag drain longer.

Also adding the bulk of your extract later in the boil is usually better than adding most of it at the start.

boo boo said:

Also adding the bulk of your extract later in the boil is usually better than adding most of it at the start.

Click to expand...

Yep, unless you want the sugars to carmelize to change the flavor and give a darker color.