Burgs
Well-Known Member
So, last night I did my first batch with my own equip - and my first batch brewing by myself...
First off, the good:
-- I was impressed with the quality of the stuff I got from MoreBeer, that kettle is niiice!
-- All my connections proved to be tight.. the wort chiller and the ball valve on the kettle were invaluable
Now, the bad:
-- Why did I pick the heaviest kit that I had purchased (Grateful Dead Guy from NB) to do on my own? Stirring in that last 5 or 6.5 lbs of extract with one hand while stirring with the other was pretty much a *****.
-- I seriously need to leave the kettle alone. The stove was definitely capable of bringing my 6-ish gallons of water to a nice rolling boil, but I was constantly paranoid about not having enough headspace and boil overs and a bunch of other stuff that didn't happen.
So yeah, I'm tired as hell this morning... and worried like I have a newborn at home that I should be watching.
The instructions and stuff said that this particular beer ferments best at 60-70 F. It had been less than 8 hours in primary & this morning I didn't see any foam or activity, but it's probably barely 60 downstairs.
I moved it up to the kitchen this morning, where it's closer to 65-70 throughout the day. Think I'll see some activity when I get home? Oh, my yeast was the Wyeast Pacman and I had activated it yesterday morning and let the package swell all day - they seemed viable and good.
Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, well-wishing!
* edit: it's fine... *
First off, the good:
-- I was impressed with the quality of the stuff I got from MoreBeer, that kettle is niiice!
-- All my connections proved to be tight.. the wort chiller and the ball valve on the kettle were invaluable
Now, the bad:
-- Why did I pick the heaviest kit that I had purchased (Grateful Dead Guy from NB) to do on my own? Stirring in that last 5 or 6.5 lbs of extract with one hand while stirring with the other was pretty much a *****.
-- I seriously need to leave the kettle alone. The stove was definitely capable of bringing my 6-ish gallons of water to a nice rolling boil, but I was constantly paranoid about not having enough headspace and boil overs and a bunch of other stuff that didn't happen.
So yeah, I'm tired as hell this morning... and worried like I have a newborn at home that I should be watching.
The instructions and stuff said that this particular beer ferments best at 60-70 F. It had been less than 8 hours in primary & this morning I didn't see any foam or activity, but it's probably barely 60 downstairs.
I moved it up to the kitchen this morning, where it's closer to 65-70 throughout the day. Think I'll see some activity when I get home? Oh, my yeast was the Wyeast Pacman and I had activated it yesterday morning and let the package swell all day - they seemed viable and good.
Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, well-wishing!
* edit: it's fine... *