First batch in the bucket

Quite literally in the bucket.

Been interested in brewing for a long time and I was finally giving the chance to try it when my father in law gifted all his old brewing gear to me for my birthday.

I just brewed my first batch today. A best brew (i think, can't recall at the moment) kit for an Oatmeal stout. Extract with specialty grains. Did everything as outlined by the instructions and Palmers book which I have printed out to have on hand.


Guess we'll see how it goes. OG came out at 1.056 which is on the high end of the kits recommended OG.

Plan is 2-3 weeks then bottle it. Currently relaxing at 68*.

68F is good. Welcome. I leave it primary for three weeks, then bottle and let sit for another three weeks. Oh, go ahead and try one after a week in bottle. Just to see... good luck!

Thanks.

If this comes out well I may jump into the hobby a bit deeper. But for now I'm playing the wait and see game.

ean knows...

Sounds like good advice from Ean. It's what I had planned on anyways. But having one after a week is definitely a plus.


Thanks guys.

2 days of heavy bubbling. Now it's died down a bit. I'm assuming since the yeast activated and went nuts for 2 days that I didn't kill it. So all good so far I hope.

Sounds like it's on the right track, congrats on the brew!

Welcome to HBT and good luck with the beer! Now that you've gone down the path you are never to return!

When you taste your first brew, you'll put more on straight away, everyone does. "Just in case you run out."
Welcome!

deezy said:

Sounds like it's on the right track, congrats on the brew!

Click to expand...

That's perfect. Did you smell the aroma as it was bubbling? Mmmmm, I always do that. You need to run out and get a six in the stlye you brewed. Let your fermenter sit for another two weeks. When you bottle it you get to drink any that doesn't fill the last bottle. Sometimes I pour it in a glass and toss the flat beer in the fridge for a half hour before I drink it. Then another week and try one! Oh, and get your next recipe ready. You will be brewing as soon as you bottle. I have four fermenters that I rotate. I can brew four times every three weeks, roughly. Maybe I need a couple more fermenters...

Thanks for the input peoples. I just have the one 6ish gallon ferment bucket as it was a gift.

Hoping to pick up some glass carboys. I've read a lot on whether to rack to secondary or not. I'm thinking of just doing the single bucket system as thats what I'm doing now and I hear a lot of support for the single stage method. But that way I can start brewing a batch every week or two.

Got a nice layer of yeast settling on the bottom (Trub?) So all is well.

Tomorrow is 2 weeks. So hydrometer test and perhaps a taste then its time for bottles if all is well.

Excited and nervous.

Since the equipment was gifted be sure to give it a thorough cleaning with Oxiclean and then sanitize it well. The last thing you want to do is contaminate a batch at bottling time. If he gave you a bottling wand you will want to take it apart. There are typically four pieces to the wand: the main wand, the cap, the plastic insert that moves inside the cap and a spring.

Thanks for the input. Just checked gravity and it's at 1.029 which is higher then I expected. OG was 1.059 which is whats recommended in the kit.

The formula I've seen says that comes out to 3.9 which is lower then expected.

Thoughts on this. Been in the primary for 2 weeks.

1.029 is too high to bottle. That's only 50% attenuation. What temperature are you fermenting at?

Fermenting at 68*.

It very well could be a bad reading or mess up somewhere along the way. Or yeast maybe since it was a kit. This is my first batch after all.

Well it's been bottled for 2 weeks. I thought I had messed something up and very well may have.

But the taste has improved. Holds a decent head. Has a slight coating aftertaste somewhat like oil. Which is probably from my aluminum pot even though I cleaned it 3 times and boiled water in it twice to get the oil outta the damn thing.

Not the best beer in the world but I've definitely had worse. So I'd call my first attempt at home brew a near success. lol.