baystatebrew
Well-Known Member
Hi-
I brewed my second batch of beer I've ever made last night. I made an American Wheat beer about a year and ahalf ago from a kit and it turned out fine. This time, I went for a regular Pale Ale. I also didn't use a kit but got a recipe and got my own ingredients. It was more complicated than the first time.
So, I brewed this thing last night and followed the directions to (what I thought) a "T." I encountered what I think were some problems late in the brewing process and I'm hoping some experts on here can provide some insight.
Everything seemed to be going fine until I started to siphon the wort into hte fermenter. After the 1 hr boil, I cooled my wort in the brewing kettle in an ice bath to get the temp down fast. It worked and I got the wort down to about 93 degrees F before siphoning into the fermenter.
When I started siphoning, I had problems getting it to work, because hops kept clogging the hose. I mean, a lot of hops. It took FOREVER to get the wort into the fermenter.
This did not happen last time I brewed. Is this a problem? Could I have used to much hops? I don't think so. I'm pretty darn sure I followed the recipe correctly but maybe not. I used 1.25 oz fuggles first flavoring; 1.75 oz fuggles second flavoring; and .5 oz goldings for aromatic. The hops I got were plugs and came in bags marked "2 x .5 oz" which I assume means 2 plugs in the packet, each measured at .5 oz, right? I
steeped 12 oz. 20 lvbnd amber crystal malt prior to the boil, and used 6.6 lbs Munton's light extract and 1 lb dry light extract. This is what the recipe called for.
I also took a final gravity reading at 1.022 which I was not happy about. I might be rusty with the hydrometer but I'm pretty sure I wasn't. Any idea what the most likely cause of a really low SG like that is? Could it be that the 2 gallons of H20 I put into the wort prior to taking the SG and priot to adding yeast caused a weird reading on my SG?
I don't know. Feeling frustrated but I figure I'll just let the thing sit for a month, bottle it for a month, and see how it tastes.
I brewed my second batch of beer I've ever made last night. I made an American Wheat beer about a year and ahalf ago from a kit and it turned out fine. This time, I went for a regular Pale Ale. I also didn't use a kit but got a recipe and got my own ingredients. It was more complicated than the first time.
So, I brewed this thing last night and followed the directions to (what I thought) a "T." I encountered what I think were some problems late in the brewing process and I'm hoping some experts on here can provide some insight.
Everything seemed to be going fine until I started to siphon the wort into hte fermenter. After the 1 hr boil, I cooled my wort in the brewing kettle in an ice bath to get the temp down fast. It worked and I got the wort down to about 93 degrees F before siphoning into the fermenter.
When I started siphoning, I had problems getting it to work, because hops kept clogging the hose. I mean, a lot of hops. It took FOREVER to get the wort into the fermenter.
This did not happen last time I brewed. Is this a problem? Could I have used to much hops? I don't think so. I'm pretty darn sure I followed the recipe correctly but maybe not. I used 1.25 oz fuggles first flavoring; 1.75 oz fuggles second flavoring; and .5 oz goldings for aromatic. The hops I got were plugs and came in bags marked "2 x .5 oz" which I assume means 2 plugs in the packet, each measured at .5 oz, right? I
steeped 12 oz. 20 lvbnd amber crystal malt prior to the boil, and used 6.6 lbs Munton's light extract and 1 lb dry light extract. This is what the recipe called for.
I also took a final gravity reading at 1.022 which I was not happy about. I might be rusty with the hydrometer but I'm pretty sure I wasn't. Any idea what the most likely cause of a really low SG like that is? Could it be that the 2 gallons of H20 I put into the wort prior to taking the SG and priot to adding yeast caused a weird reading on my SG?
I don't know. Feeling frustrated but I figure I'll just let the thing sit for a month, bottle it for a month, and see how it tastes.