First brew...done. Nice.

Started about 11 AM, in the primary, cleaned up by 3.

The day really went well, last minute decision delayed the start. I ran out and grabbed some new sponges, 4 gallons of distilled water, and a spray bottle. Two gallons went into the freezer for cooling, 2+ gallons were mixed for Star San. What the heck was I going to do with 5 gallons of sanitizer, that stuff goes far, cut the batch in half. After cleaning the new pot with some real hot water, I loaded 3 gallons and it was under way.

I followed the directions closely, steeped grain, added extract, bittering added, 60 minute boil, with a bit of finishing thrown in at the end. Done.

I dumped the wort in with two gallons of near frozen water, dropped the temp to about 120, cold water bath brought the temp down in an hour to 78+-.

I aerated from the bottle bucket back into the primary, as seen on HBT. Worked well. Grabbed a reading, 1045. Pitched. Snapped the lid on put the air lock, now I'm on bubble watch.

I have to say I had concerns but man with thought and prep it went well. Thanks for all the info on the site.

Couple of pictures

Wow...sounds like it went smooth.What did u brew? How long u fermenting?

Well done! I'm expecting my BK to arrive tomorrow, just LME/partial boil but hoping it goes as smoothly as yours!

As above, what did you brew?

I brewed a Midwest Supply extract kit, Autumn Amber Ale, that came with the kit. I had some trepidation, silly. Now I understand all the comments about drinking before its time, before the brewing I thought c'mon its only 3 weeks, now maybe a week.....lol

One issue I had was trying to read the hydrometer, bigger numbers please.

I'm thinking 7 days primary, 2 weeks secondary? But being a noob I'm looking into that now.


930PM, I got bubbles!

From what I've read it's best to leave it in primary until fermentation has pretty much stopped. Some don't move to secondary some do. I'll move mine to secondary for a week once fermentations stopped just to let the beer clear up a bit.

scrapes said:

I dumped the wort in with two gallons of near frozen water, dropped the temp to about 120, cold water bath brought the temp down in an hour to 78+-.

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For next time: I think it would be faster and easier if you cooled your boil in the ice bath, then dumped the cooled wort into your near frozen water. Just a thought.

You should be rightly proud of yourself!

You always remember your first !

Did you leave your bag of steeping grains in during the boil? Couldn't really tell from your pics.

Nice pot!! I've a firend who will not buy a real pot to brew with and to see him strugle is crazy. He is not poor, just crazy.

wherestheyeast said:

Did you leave your bag of steeping grains in during the boil? Couldn't really tell from your pics.

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I steeped the grains at 155 for 30 minutes, its the first picture. It worked well instant color with the dip. I kept a close eye on the temp, with a bit of fluctuation, 155-158. I then took it off the heat, added the extract, stirred, back on the heat and stirred a lot more. Hit rolling boil in 30+ minutes.

My last decision to buy a better thermometer was a good call, clipped on the pot, hanging in the wort. My other plan was a short meat style digital, would have been a true noob mistake.

The other pics show the hops bag.

I had an enamel pot, maybe 3 gallon from a brew effort 19 years ago, the pot in the picture is soooo much nicer.

Todays activity.....the fermentation has slowed a bit after 24 hours of good bubblin'.

Congrats on your first! I just cracked the bottles on my first last week and its great!

Very happy with the way mine came out, hope the same goes for you!

unionrdr said:

I just leave mine in the primary till it hits FG. Then another 3-7 days to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty. At any rate,don't rack to secondary till the beer is at FG. Otherwise,it can stall.

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What is an average time to hit FG? Then you use the secondary strictly for clearing?

I would suggest skipping secondary for an extra week in primary. You won't hurt anything doing that and cut the chances of infecting/oxidizing your beer.

scrapes said:

What is an average time to hit FG? Then you use the secondary strictly for clearing?

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Depends a lot on the brew, temp, pitching, etc. for a "standard" beer (maybe 1.060 or lower) you can often hit FG in a couple of days.

The secondary is used for clearing as well as certain additions - fruit, oak, etc. and also hops, but many dry hop in primary if they aren't going to harvest the yeast.

freisste said:

For next time: I think it would be faster and easier if you cooled your boil in the ice bath, then dumped the cooled wort into your near frozen water. Just a thought.

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^^^^^^^ this. It will cool the wort down quickly that way. You only need to get it to 80-85 and then adding the cold water will bring it down to mid 60's.

Much faster to cool a smaller volume of liquid than a larger volume.


Congrats on the first brew and welcome to the hobby/addiction.

at what point do you guys take your first reading from the fermenter?

so if I leave it in the primary, minimal 2 weeks maybe to hit FG, then when thats determined 2-3 days for clearing?

I really want a clear beer, so I don't have to hear......but its cloudy....from the wife. She likes clear beer, know what I mean?

Let it it sit 3 weeks then take reading. Move fermenter if needed for racking to bottle bucket and let sit a couples days to let it settle again take another reading, rack and bottle.

scrapes said:

at what point do you guys take your first reading from the fermenter?

so if I leave it in the primary, minimal 2 weeks maybe to hit FG, then when thats determined 2-3 days for clearing?

I really want a clear beer, so I don't have to hear......but its cloudy....from the wife. She likes clear beer, know what I mean?

Click to expand...

I usually take my first (only?) gravity reading about two weeks after krausen falls (glass carboy makes it easy to see). Then bottle/keg if I'm at/near expected FG. I know this goes against the conventional advice regarding gravity readings (multiple readings over consecutive days to ensure stability), but if I'm at FG I don't worry about bottle bombs.

The longer you let the bottles condition, the clearer the beer will be. However, you will have yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle; you will need to pour slowly & leave a little behind.

8 days in I took my first reading, 1.022, its down from 1.045. The aroma was very pleasant, the color a nice amber, some flotsam on top, and it tasted like a nice beer, yes. The beer was cloudy, as expected.

Getting there, FG 1.010! Cold crash today, bottle on Monday. The taste has improved just over the few days checking for the FG. Its time to rock the second brew...whats next?

I hate to keep talking Midwest up, but don't you love their kits? Everything's right there, directions even I could follow, and awesome beer at the end. I've been real happy with their kits, and I'm looking forward to using those directions when I brew my first all grain batch this week.

BTW, I don't work for or have any connection to Midwest, but I've learned a ton from their kits (and this forum!) and they seem to make some very good beer.

I have no complaints with them. Their shipping seems a bit pricey, but I like the company. That said I believe in supporting the local businesses and Brewers Apprentice is 10 minutes from home, so most of my post brew kit buys will be there. Nothing like walking into a shop and smelling that great malt/hop as they brew in house.

Bottled today, it went well, somewhat disappointed with the quantity. I ended up with about 4.25 gallons. I have it in an open cooler in the basement. Have to check on temp to see if it stays there. Cleaned up, sanitized all the stuff. I have to add, cleaning the Better Bottle was no big deal, hot water, swirl it like a demon, rinse, sanitize, rinze, good to go.....now next up?

Ahhhh beer! The first official pint! Actually pretty good. 2 weeks conditioning, 3 days in fridge, very drinkable.