Today is my first brew day!

Hey guys,

So I took the plunge, bought the equipment, tried to build my own wort chiller (and failed), got all of my ingredients for John Palmer's Cincinnati Pale Ale yesterday and for the last two hours have been brewing. My brewing pot is now sitting in a bathtub full of cold water, which I'll have to change periodically. The only thing I was worrying about was my yeast. I added them to water which was a little over 105F (the max recommended by Palmer) and was afraid I'd killed them. I added a bit of sugar to proof it and it seems to slowly be doing the good old foaming thing so I think I'll be okay...

It's been an interesting experience so far I have to say. I thought the malt extract would be sweet tasting, and I thought the hops would smell bitter but it appears the extract smells a bit like soy sauce (and doesn't taste that sweet) and the hops smell nice and flowery, a nice aroma!

So, in about 45 more minutes my wort might be chilled to the necessary temp for me to pour it in the fermenter bucket. I hope this turns out well!

You're on your way!

Probably your beer is going to be good enough that you will be hooked.

Before you start your second brew get a thermometer. Even the $2.99 one at the grocery store.

For your second brew try something (anything) that comes with a half pound of steeping grains. Youprobably have a suace pan and a strainer. Heat the water to 155°F, dump in the grains, coverand forget for thirty minutes. Strain, pour barley juice in brewkettle, carry on. You'll need your thermometer a second time to be certain your wort is cool enough to pitch yeast.

Welcome.

I'm a big fan of scottish ale and barley wine; I'll have to make one of those two next; though from the sound of it; barley wine is a bit complicated.

I'll have to get a better thermometer. My friend has one but it goes down only to 80°F and up to about 400°F. Probably not too useful seeing as I'll never be above 212°F for boiling the water.

EDIT: Just put the beer in my fermenter so it's going strong. I took an OG reading and it seemed quite high (1.055); then again, I did use a bit more malt extract than was called for and since the hydrometer measures sugar to water ratio, perhaps that is to blame? Oh well, maybe I'll just have a strong pale ale...

No turning back now. Welcome to the club.

So...first brew in primary at 5pm. Have you ordered a second primary yet...it's getting on 8.

Welcome to the addiction. Write down what you did, keeping a record is pretty key to consistency/learning curve.

So your homework is once this his the fermenter and the first 24 hours of jubilation is subsiding.... start the next beer... Recipe/Ingredients/etc...

Start building your arsenal of equipment...

Welcome to the obsession!

I was excited to look at my airlock today, 24 hours later, to notice the periodic bubbling. I guess my yeast is alive and kicking!

I'm really excited to see how this is going to turn out. Is there a certain time after which my concoction actually starts to smell like beer?

As for my next creation; I'm thinking scottish ale; but I'll have to wait 'til my primary empties out. Or should I just wait to see if my beer actually tastes good?