Hello - Intro and 1st Brew (Sierra Nevada Clone) Underway

Hey,

I wanted to introduce myself and tell everyone how much i appreciate this site.

I was lucky enough to have an active homebrew friend move to Hawaii, so he said i could use his stuff while he's away.

Last night i went with a Sierra Nevada Clone Kit. One thing i did do that i haven't seen very much of, is that i purchased an outside Natural Gas Burner so that i could use it with my Natural Gas line i have for my grill. The wife will not allow me to brew in her clean kitchen.. so needed it to be outside... yes she makes the rules in our house.. which is part of the reason i drink a lot.



Brewing went as expected with the following lessons learned.

1. make sure valve on kettle is closed prior to pouring in water! I swear I didn't pee myself.
2. don't leave malt liquid extract outside in 32 degree temperature while soaking grains... That stuff is thick and hard to pour.
3. it gets boring and cold staring at a boiling pot for two hours.. I need to grab one of the kid's DSIs next time.

Below is the finished batch. I plan on kegging, so i need to read up on the proper procedure for that.



I guess i have only really two questions for now.
- I used a wyeast activator pack thingy.. after breaking the inner seal.. is there a maximum time i should adhere to before pitching it? the directions say wait at least 3 hours .. and the kit said to do it the night before.. which i did..but then got delayed in the morning. So it did not get pitched until 15 hours after i activated it. I couldn't find anything that said how long it would be good for.
- The bubble lock i filled with water where it was even with the two lines on each side.. the CO2 is pushing all the water to one side.. but i'm assuming that is not a problem?

Thanks again everyone for all the great advice.

CHEERS!!

NICE! BBQ'd beer!

Here is a good link for a CO2 volumes.
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

One thing to note about the slap packs. You should wait until the package is completely swelled up. There is no set time for that to happen. It really depends on the born date on the package. The older the date, the longer the package will take to swell. Check out the FAQ on the Wyeast website.
http://www.wyeastlab.com/faqs.cfm?website=1
Hope this helps.

I'd love to hear more about that burner. where did he get it?

For a first timer, you look to have had a great first pass! Congrats and good luck on the final product. I bet it will be wonderful!

Buzzkill,

I bought burner from here (no affiliation.. not sure if moderators frown upon this sort of stuff.. apologies if not allowed).. http://www.outdoorstirfry.com/ProductsNaturalGasEF.shtm, and i went with the 11" EasyFlamer EF11SQN50: High Power Short Leg Natural Gas Stove with Quick Disconnect. Worked like a charm!

Thanks for the link to wyeast jkaylor.. the one piece of information i'm still curious on is how long after the pack expands is the yeast good for.

After 8 hours (when i woke up)..it was fully expanded... and was worried about having to wait another 8 before brewing started.

Looks like i'm getting good activity in the fermenter, although next time i don't think i'll do it the night before.