OK, so I purchased my True Brew kit after hours upon hours of reading and making certain I knew what I was doing. I decided to take the plunge and brew a very simple (according to my LHBS) beer that would get me introduced - Hefeweizen. They gave me a very simple (albeit confusing at times) set of directions to brew this beer.
Well, I goofed in the first step. Instead of steeping the grains at around 150-165, I actually had them in at around 180, but then quickly brought it down within 10 minutes, and it steeped at 158-160 for about 30....Strike #1.
Next, my instructions said after mixing in the malts and bringing to a rolling boil to enter 1 packet (of 2) of hops. Boil for 40 minutes. Then it says "use 2nd pack of hops at end of boil." I'm not quite sure what that means, so I threw them in the last 5 minutes of the brew cycle, removed from heat after time expired, let sit for 5 minutes, then moved to my cold bath in the sink....Possibly strike 2??
I quickly got the wort down to a beautiful 68 degrees after combining with cold water in my fermenter. Here it says to "aerate." I stirred a little, but that was it. I pitched my yeast (white labs, liquid). Again, I stirred a little, but that was it. Is this enough to aerate? After securing my lid, I did a little "shake" again. If not, is it safe to reopen and "aerate" again. It will be 24 hours at 8pm eastern time tonight. ....Possibly strike 3?
Finally, I was anxious to wake up this morning to see if I had any activity in my airlock. NONE. It's only been about 10 hours, but I have no airlock activity. My fermenter temp is 68 degrees. I've read NOT to freak out about this as it takes some time (sometimes), but being my first batch I cannot help but be concerned.
I also wanted to note that I took several precautions to keep things sanitary, cleaning everything thoroughly and using that iodine solution. I'm sure this will improve as I brew more and more.
I'm a real quick learner, so I'll chalk this up to a learning experience. Thoughts?
Well, I goofed in the first step. Instead of steeping the grains at around 150-165, I actually had them in at around 180, but then quickly brought it down within 10 minutes, and it steeped at 158-160 for about 30....Strike #1.
Next, my instructions said after mixing in the malts and bringing to a rolling boil to enter 1 packet (of 2) of hops. Boil for 40 minutes. Then it says "use 2nd pack of hops at end of boil." I'm not quite sure what that means, so I threw them in the last 5 minutes of the brew cycle, removed from heat after time expired, let sit for 5 minutes, then moved to my cold bath in the sink....Possibly strike 2??
I quickly got the wort down to a beautiful 68 degrees after combining with cold water in my fermenter. Here it says to "aerate." I stirred a little, but that was it. I pitched my yeast (white labs, liquid). Again, I stirred a little, but that was it. Is this enough to aerate? After securing my lid, I did a little "shake" again. If not, is it safe to reopen and "aerate" again. It will be 24 hours at 8pm eastern time tonight. ....Possibly strike 3?
Finally, I was anxious to wake up this morning to see if I had any activity in my airlock. NONE. It's only been about 10 hours, but I have no airlock activity. My fermenter temp is 68 degrees. I've read NOT to freak out about this as it takes some time (sometimes), but being my first batch I cannot help but be concerned.
I also wanted to note that I took several precautions to keep things sanitary, cleaning everything thoroughly and using that iodine solution. I'm sure this will improve as I brew more and more.
I'm a real quick learner, so I'll chalk this up to a learning experience. Thoughts?