First brew tomorrow - final questions

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MooDaddy

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I am psyched - got everything ready (famous last words) and I'm set to jet. The Extract Kit I'm using is Austin Homebrew Supply Double Chocolate Stout. This is my first set of kit instructions and it appears somewhat different from some of the first time home brew videos I've watched. I'm kinda assuming since this a chocolate stout the instructions are a bit different from a standard extract kit. A couple of final questions:

1. The instructions say: Bring 2 gallons of water to 155 deg, turn off heat and put crushed grains in the grain bag. However, by looking in the sealed plastic bag if appears as if all the malts and barley are already in the mesh bag, unless it's an optical illusion or something. This normal? I thought this stuff had to be put into the mesh bag and tied before dropping in the water. Also looks kinda dusty inside the bag as if some of the grains/barley have come out of the bag. This normal? I assumed the grains/barley would leach out of the grain bag into the water but that there wouldn't actually be any physical particles floating around outside the bag, no?

2. Instructions say: Add the bittering hops and set timer for 60 minutes, but, there are no bittering hops, instead there is something called a Nugget which I assume I put in instead for the 60 minute boil, yes? Is this Nugget some kind of hop, and if so, do I just drop it in as is or does it go into something else once I open it's foil packet?

3. Instructions say: Add flavor hops for last 15 minutes of boil, then underneath this line it says NONE, which I guess means there are no flavor hops put in this particular kit. Is this normal?

4.Instructions say: Once the boil time has elapsed since the bittering hops were added, remove the wort from the heat . . . . . Aren't the bittering hops, or I suppose the Nugget in this case, added at the beginning of the 60 minute boil? This makes it sound to me like it was added later on or something. Does the "Nugget" go in at the beginning of the boil or doesn't it?

5. Last, Instructions say that once the completed wort is added to the primary fermenter, add enough cool water to make 5 and 1/4 gallons. Again, not trying to be anal here, but I assumed these brews were usually 5 gallon. Is the extra quart just a peculiarity of this particular kit?

Thanks for the help, I'm not nervous about the brew, but by the same token don't want to screw it up right off the bat - plenty of time for that later LOL
 
MooDaddy said:
1. The instructions say: Bring 2 gallons of water to 155 deg, turn off heat and put crushed grains in the grain bag. However, by looking in the sealed plastic bag if appears as if all the malts and barley are already in the mesh bag, unless it's an optical illusion or something. This normal? I thought this stuff had to be put into the mesh bag and tied before dropping in the water. Also looks kinda dusty inside the bag as if some of the grains/barley have come out of the bag. This normal? I assumed the grains/barley would leach out of the grain bag into the water but that there wouldn't actually be any physical particles floating around outside the bag, no?
Click to expand...

AHS extract kits come with milled grains in a muslin bag. Don't worry about anything leaching out of the grain bag into the water.

MooDaddy said:
2. Instructions say: Add the bittering hops and set timer for 60 minutes, but, there are no bittering hops, instead there is something called a Nugget which I assume I put in instead for the 60 minute boil, yes? Is this Nugget some kind of hop, and if so, do I just drop it in as is or does it go into something else once I open it's foil packet?
Click to expand...

Nugget hops is the bittering hops that the recipe calls for. Just drop the pellets in once you reach a rolling boil and then start your timer. Watch your boil closely because boil overs can happen at hops additions.

MooDaddy said:
3. Instructions say: Add flavor hops for last 15 minutes of boil, then underneath this line it says NONE, which I guess means there are no flavor hops put in this particular kit. Is this normal?
Click to expand...

Correct. Hops additions are dependent on the style of beer. Your recipe doesn't call for any.

MooDaddy said:
4.Instructions say: Once the boil time has elapsed since the bittering hops were added, remove the wort from the heat . . . . . Aren't the bittering hops, or I suppose the Nugget in this case, added at the beginning of the 60 minute boil? This makes it sound to me like it was added later on or something. Does the "Nugget" go in at the beginning of the boil or doesn't it?
Click to expand...

Yes, Nugget is added at the beginning of the boil.

MooDaddy said:
5. Last, Instructions say that once the completed wort is added to the primary fermenter, add enough cool water to make 5 and 1/4 gallons. Again, not trying to be anal here, but I assumed these brews were usually 5 gallon. Is the extra quart just a peculiarity of this particular kit?
Click to expand...

The recipe if probably formulated for 5.25 gallons. More than likely it assumes there will be losses when transferring the beer to secondary and/or bottling bucket.
 
1. Unless you have more than 1 type of grain, all crushed grains should be in their own plastic sealed bag. Combine all (if appropriate) into your mesh bag. Hold at about 160 or so for about 20 minutes and rinse with about 1 gallon of water at about 180. Don't squeeze the bag that contains the grain when rinsing.
2. Nugget is a bittering hop. Once you get your water boiling, set the timer, add the hops and the 'tea' from step one. You can add the nugget hops directly to your boiling wort.
3. Depends upon the beer. Some have flavor hops, others don't. Continue.
4. Yes, they are added at the beginning of the boil. That is when you set your timer, after you add the Nugget, once it has reached a boil.
5. Just top off to whatever your fermenter can handle, usually a total of about 5 gallons.

RDWHAHB (or commercial brew) when you make this. It will turn out fine.
 
It sounds like a really easy beer to make. Steep your grains, bring to a boil, add hops, boil for 60 minutes, remove from heat, cool, then top off with water to target volume.

If you have time tonight I would boil about 4 gallons of water to sterilize it, and then cool it down in the pot. Once it is cool enough, transfer it to sanitized gallon jugs and put them in the fridge over night. When you are cooling your wort after the boil, you only have to get down to like 80-90ish and then you add the 45 degree water from the fridge and the wort will drop down to 60 in no time. Saves a lot of time and ice.
 
1. You usually don't get grains already in a mesh bag. I'd have one ready just in case that is an optical illusion because you will need to have them contained. The dust at the bottom is a normal part of grinding the grains. Nothing to worry about as it will settle out in the end.

2. Nugget is a type of hop. If you just got one packet, I assume this is your bittering hop. The bittering hops usually have a higher alpha acid 8-15% which will allow the bitterness of the hops to be added to the beer without having to add a ton. Just drop it in. It will settle out in the end.

3. Strange the instructions would even say anything about flavor hops at 15 minutes if you have none. Some beers usually just have one hop addition at 60 minutes. Not odd for a stout.

4. Once the wort starts to boil drop your hops in and set the timer for 60 minutes unless it indicates to boil longer. Either way, the hops boil for 60 minutes.

5. They probably say to fill it to 5 1/4 gallons to compensate for the wort loss through the trub that will settle out. A suggestion is to check your gravity at 4.5 gallons and see where you're at. If you hit the gravity the recipe calls for, you can stop adding water unless you are more concerned over volume than you are over the abv.

Have fun. It's a great time!
 
trevorc13 said:
5. They probably say to fill it to 5 1/4 gallons to compensate for the wort loss through the trub that will settle out. A suggestion is to check your gravity at 4.5 gallons and see where you're at. If you hit the gravity the recipe calls for, you can stop adding water unless you are more concerned over volume than you are over the abv.

Have fun. It's a great time!
Click to expand...

This is a good idea, but make sure you thoroughly mix the wort before you take a gravity sample Millions of people freak out b/c they add the water and take a grav reading and its like 30 points below what they expected. The water will just sit on top and you are basically just taking a gravity reading of the top layer and not everything mixed together.
 
coypoo said:
This is a good idea, but make sure you thoroughly mix the wort before you take a gravity sample Millions of people freak out b/c they add the water and take a grav reading and its like 30 points below what they expected. The water will just sit on top and you are basically just taking a gravity reading of the top layer and not everything mixed together.
Click to expand...

Agreed...good point:mug:
 
Thanks very much for all the help and suggestions - I really do appreciate it. I feel a lot better about things. It looks like maybe the instruction sheet is a generic thing with blanks where alterations to the basic instructions can be added depending on the kit being used.

Oh, and I picked up 4 gallons of bottled distilled water at the store today and was going to add this water to the primary fermenter once the wort had cooled to make the 5.25 gallon total. Given it's around 35 degrees for daytime highs around here, I was going to pre-chill the distilled water outside prior to using it. Do I need to boil the distilled water as well or should it be ready to roll? At the very least I thought I would sanitize the tops and mouths of the distilled water bottles prior to pouring.

Also, since I'm adding cold water to the cooled wort, am I still shooting for 80 degrees on the cooled wort prior to adding the additional water, or is it possible to get the whole thing too cool?
 
You're good to go. You don't need to boil the water since it's distilled. Make sure to give the carboy a shake before it ferments because it's best to get some o2 in the wort for the yeast to start up. Don't add any oxygen once fermentation has started though. You don't need to do this step, but it helps.
 
MooDaddy said:
Also, since I'm adding cold water to the cooled wort, am I still shooting for 80 degrees on the cooled wort prior to adding the additional water, or is it possible to get the whole thing too cool?
Click to expand...

You will need to to calculate what temperature the wort needs to be before adding the additional water in order to reach your desired pitching temperature.
 
You will need to to calculate what temperature the wort needs to be before adding the additional water in order to reach your desired pitching temperature/QUOTE]



How do I do that? The instructions say to cool the wort to 80 degrees and add cool water to make 5.25 gallons. Can I assume this will result in the correct final temp (I'll check it of course), and what is the definition of cool? Is having my water fairly cold going to be overkill?
Click to expand...
 
MooDaddy said:
How do I do that? The instructions say to cool the wort to 80 degrees and add cool water to make 5.25 gallons. Can I assume this will result in the correct final temp (I'll check it of course), and what is the definition of cool? Is having my water fairly cold going to be overkill?
Click to expand...

Give this calculator a try.

http://www.brewheads.com/tempchange.php

The inputs are current wort volume, current wort temperature, target temperature, and temperature of additional water. Basically you will want to iterate you current worth temperature to get the calculated additional volume to be the volume required to reach 5.25. Your pitching temperature should be at or a little lower than your fermentation temperature.
 
As long as you end up with the recommended final temperature and final volume, the manner in which you arrive is not end-of-the-world critical. I ice bath my kettle until it's near 80 F or preferably a little lower (~70F), then transfer to primary and top up with room-temp or fridge-temp bottled water depending on if I remembered to fridge it the night before. You can get the wort too cool but you'll be hard pressed to achieve it with just adding cool water. Let us know how it goes! Kyle
 

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