Would like your input on my process (and recipe).

Trying to fine tune my step-by-step and would like to hear what folks have to say. Just wondering if I'm missing a step or perhaps things are out of order. Yeah, I know my steps are painfully spelled out but I'm still trying to get my process down so I'm being fairly specific.

I found the clone of Stone Ruination so thanks to the OP; greatly modified the text so it makes more sense to me. Does this seem all fine-n-dandy (if not a little too annal)? Would you do anything different to my process?

1. Sterilize and prep yeast satchel (usually has a 3 hr lead time). Sterilize fermenter, air lock, and tools.
2. In sauce pan bring ½ gallon of water to 150F. In brew pot steep the 2 crushed grains in 2.5 gallons of water at 150 F for 30 minutes.
3. Sparge grains with sauce pan water into brew pot.
4. Remove wort from heat and add DME and LME. Stir thoroughly then return to heat and bring to boil.
5. Attain hot break.
6. Add Magnum hops and boil 45 mins.
7. Add 1 tsp Irish moss and boil 15 mins.
8. Remove from heat and add 1.5 oz of Centennial hops. Let steep for 5 minutes.
9. Chill wort in ice bath.
10. Add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter, and top off with cool water to achieve 5.5 gallons in fermenter.
11. Cool the wort to 70-75F. Take hydrometer reading and adjust to OG of 1.075.
12. Aerate the beer and pitch yeast.
13. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68 'F (20 'C) and hold at this temperature until the yeast has finished fermentation.
14. In aprox 7-10 days, the beer should reach FG of 1.010. Verify stable FG for 3 consecutive days then rack to carboy.
15. Allow beer to clear in carboy for 7 days.
16. Add 2oz of Centennial hops to carboy for dry hopping. Dry hop for about 4 days.
17. Bottle/keg with 3/4 cup corn sugar or force carbonation. Allow to condition for a few weeks.

Looks pretty good. One tip: Soak your LME containers in HOT (as in straight from the hot tap) water for 30+ minutes before opening them. Warm liquid extracts are easier to pour.

not familiar with this recipe, but your steps look pretty good, except if you cant do a full boil make sure any kind of top off water you use is sterile (boiled and cooled first) dont go crazy trying to meet your og, in my opinion sometimes you wont hit it, it is what it is... if its +/- 3 id say your fine.... its easy to get a lower og than to try and adjust after you boil and cool to get a higher og... (usually boiling longer helps get higher og)
dont be in a rush to transfer to secondary, make sure its done fermenting if you choose to transfer (many of us dont even transfer to a secondary) dont rush the secondary as well, 14 days minimum in secondary after at least 7 in primary should be good before you decide to bottle
with the gravity your looking to meet id say 10 days in primary, then if you transfer to secondary go 14-20 days in there then bottle and let sit min of 21 days for optimal carbonation.... just my opinion.....

jds said:

Looks pretty good. One tip: Soak your LME containers in HOT (as in straight from the hot tap) water for 30+ minutes before opening them. Warm liquid extracts are easier to pour.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that's right. Thanks for reminding me.... I'll add that to my instructions.

LIVETOBREW said:

not familiar with this recipe, but your steps look pretty good, except if you cant do a full boil make sure any kind of top off water you use is sterile (boiled and cooled first) dont go crazy trying to meet your og, in my opinion sometimes you wont hit it, it is what it is... if its +/- 3 id say your fine.... its easy to get a lower og than to try and adjust after you boil and cool to get a higher og... (usually boiling longer helps get higher og)
dont be in a rush to transfer to secondary, make sure its done fermenting if you choose to transfer (many of us dont even transfer to a secondary) dont rush the secondary as well, 14 days minimum in secondary after at least 7 in primary should be good before you decide to bottle
with the gravity your looking to meet id say 10 days in primary, then if you transfer to secondary go 14-20 days in there then bottle and let sit min of 21 days for optimal carbonation.... just my opinion.....

Click to expand...

Ok, seems reasonable and I certainly should air on the side of caution by waiting. I'll adjust my days accordingly.

I understand what you are saying about not stressing too much about the OG, but question... how exactly DO you adjust this? I understand if you are too low you can add more extract, but saying you have wort in your fermenter.... what to do you do, just dump some in the bucket, stir, and then take another reading?

I wouldn't worry much about the OG, for a couple of reasons:

1) It's an extract kit from a reputable supplier. The only real variable with extract is the amount of it you use and the amount of water you use. Get your kit close to the final volume, and you'll be fine.

2) It's a lot harder than it looks to completely mix the wort with the top-off water. so OG measurements are frequently inaccurate, especially if it's your first brew. Because of this, I would be wary of trying to adjust OG values after brewing. Just get your final volume right, and you'll be OK.

yeah +1 on what JDS says, worry about your final volume... adding anything to your brew after its cooled except sterile top off water is a big chance for infection...

worry about nailing gravitys later, after you do a few batches, for now just have fun brewing and drinking what you made, it only gets better.....

zippy -- you're well on your way to making good brew! Congrats!

Believe me, in less than a year you'll see a thread on here just like yours and shake your head about the n00b's nervousness (believe me, I had a thread almost identical to yours less than a year ago!)

post back and let us know how it turns out!

and as pointed already about step 11 -- you've made it this far, and your using extract, so your OG will be what it is; no need to try and adjust it at this point.

The biggest struggle you'll have is letting this thing sit in the bottles for 3 weeks!!!

Good procedures. Think about using bottled water to top off the fermenter. Alot of folks on here have noticed a band-aid flavor and one of the possible causes is chlorine in tap water. Search the site for 'chlorine' and read some of the posts. I usually pick up 2-3 of the largest size bottles of water at the grocery store. Just an extra measure to help make sure your beer is the best it can be.