Been lurking the forums for a few weeks, picking up hints, tips, general information, and best practices.
Two weeks ago I brewed my first kit beer, NB Nut Brown Ale.
The smell from the boil was wonderful, even my wife was enjoying the aroma, and I think the whole process went fairly well. I made a mistake by using my bottling bucket as the fermenter.
I put the fermenter in the basement, which turned out to be a bit a bit colder than the ferment temperature (65 °F-75 °F), so after a day I dragged the bucket upstairs, hid it under a table, wrapped a towel around it, and set the heat to 65 °F. I had airlock activity for about two days, and the nothing, but I just bit my lip and let it sit resisting the temptation to mess with it.
Last night I racked it into secondary, to clean and free up my bottling bucket, going to leave it in secondary for a week before bottling.
I went into racking with a plan and expectations of getting it done quick and clean, this did not happen.
I had problems with the siphon leaking past the clip, my racking cane holder did not hold my cane stable and I hit down into the cake a few times. When I finally did get everything transferring fine, big dumb dumb me, insisted on getting a taste, and that started the whole process again. (It did taste great)
I probably introduced too much air, and in the flurry of trying to get and or fix my siphon transfer I may have introduced infection.
My beer looks muddy, and my bung repeatedly worked its way out of the bung hole.
Two weeks ago I brewed my first kit beer, NB Nut Brown Ale.
The smell from the boil was wonderful, even my wife was enjoying the aroma, and I think the whole process went fairly well. I made a mistake by using my bottling bucket as the fermenter.
I put the fermenter in the basement, which turned out to be a bit a bit colder than the ferment temperature (65 °F-75 °F), so after a day I dragged the bucket upstairs, hid it under a table, wrapped a towel around it, and set the heat to 65 °F. I had airlock activity for about two days, and the nothing, but I just bit my lip and let it sit resisting the temptation to mess with it.
Last night I racked it into secondary, to clean and free up my bottling bucket, going to leave it in secondary for a week before bottling.
I went into racking with a plan and expectations of getting it done quick and clean, this did not happen.
I had problems with the siphon leaking past the clip, my racking cane holder did not hold my cane stable and I hit down into the cake a few times. When I finally did get everything transferring fine, big dumb dumb me, insisted on getting a taste, and that started the whole process again. (It did taste great)
I probably introduced too much air, and in the flurry of trying to get and or fix my siphon transfer I may have introduced infection.
My beer looks muddy, and my bung repeatedly worked its way out of the bung hole.