Grains are steeping!!!

I was up at 630 today... couldn't sleep cause I was so excited to start brewing... the grains are steeping. Items are in sanitizer. Fermernter is sanitzed. Extra water is boiled. LME is warming up. Water is in fridge to cool... Hops are opened... man not what I thought they'd smell like....

Happy Brew Day. Looks like you're on your way to some good brew!

Going to the boil point to add the LME.... man this is awesome.

Its posts like these that I love to see! Its nice to see someone get really excited for their first brew day, make me want a brew even more!

Congrats on your first brew, and hopefully everything goes well for you!

sok454 said:

Going to the boil point to add the LME.... man this is awesome.

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Congrats! Be sure to turn down the heat (move the pot off of the burner) when adding the LME so that you don't scorch any on the bottom of the pot.

Traditional advice to noobs: Patience, do not try to rush it along.

I'm getting a vicarious rush from him too. Makes me wanna get out and brew this hefe I have on deck. Might just hafta do it tommorrow.
Wheelchair Bob

Ok so its boiling... The recipe says to boil for an hr. w the hops. How do I know if this is long enough?

Included a picture! Its dark....

Bittering hops are typically a 60 minute boil. Are there other hops to add? Looks great btw

This recipe did not have any other hops to add. Is the recipe wrong? Its the Irish Carbomb.

Yeah. 1oz of fuggles 60 min.

Just a light bittering addition.. Pretty typical for the style.

Cool! Congratulations! We will be looking forward to your "Is my yeast ok" and "will my beer ever carbonate" threads

bottlebomber said:

Just a light bittering addition.. Pretty typical for the style.

Cool! Congratulations! We will be looking forward to your "Is my yeast ok" and "will my beer ever carbonate" threads

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You just made me snort coffee through my nose. You magnificent bastage.

AHHAHAH i'm sure i'll come up with some dumber questions... like... why is the sanitizer foamy... is the foam ok???

Wort in the ice bath as we speak.

Ok so lets just cut to the business.. Are you using dry yeast or liquid?

Dry. Nottingham. bout to take a reading before pitching. and a first taste.... kinda scared...

Looks like itsw right at 1.60 for og.

So you did a full volume boil?

Boiled 3 gallons. Added 2 to fermenter. Got it cooled pretty quick. Getting ready to pitch the yeast....

Yeast pitched.... topper on. ready for the basement...

sok454 said:

Boiled 3 gallons. Added 2 to fermenter. Got it cooled pretty quick. Getting ready to pitch the yeast....

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Your OG may not be 100% accurate depending on how you were able to mix the solution. It's very difficult to get the rich wort to mix with the water. What was the recipe?

Never mind, found it. Likely you're not at 1.060 if you used the recipe and are actually at 5 gallons. If you used a wine thief to draw a sample and took it from the bottom you're getting richer wort than what's at the top. This happens 90% of the time with partials, and is responsible for 2 bazillion "my OG is too low/high!" Threads.

Ill post it here in a bit... had to change it up as midwest was out... it actually tastes damn good... I'm surprised for a first time!!!

sok454 said:

Ill post it here in a bit... had to change it up as midwest was out... it actually tastes damn good... I'm surprised for a first time!!!

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It sounds like you researched very well before your first attempt. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the results.

I actually didn't take it from the bottom. It was from the top 1/3.... uh oh. I used a sanitized glass. Ill post a pic of the reading.

It's nothing to fret over. If you post the recipe you used anyone with brewing software can tell you more or less exactly what your OG is, since extracts are very predictable.

Awesome. I posted a pic of the hydrometer in another thread. Thanks for the information. Soon as I get some time today I'll post the recipe.

That's it!!!.....I'm jones'en to run off a batch now. I am gonna tell the SWMBO that it is HBT's fault I would rather brew than hang out in the AC with her. I have a Hanks Hefe thats just dieing to get boiled up, and a traditional bavarian hefe or wait til Wed and get the Dark Lager from AHS. I know I have way too many unused kits, but in my defense I have been ill and unable to work on my brew tower or whip up a batch lately. So the next best thing was order ingredients kits so I could brew my butt off when I feel better... Plus I gotta make SWMBO a batch of traditional root beer and keg it and put it on tap for her. Lots to do, little time... It's all you guys fault!!!
Wheelchair Bob