thrlskr
Member
Today was my first brew day. Somethings went well, some not so well.
Dead Ringer IPA
I bought a 32 quart brew pot so I brewed a full 5 gallons instead of the 2.5 gallons that was suggested. Also, I didn't follow the directions for the extract because I read that it was better not to; I only boiled ~3lbs extract at 60min then the rest ~9lbs at 15min; however, I stuck to the hop schedule--hop utilization should better.
Though I used an immersion cooler to cool the wort, it took forever and I felt like I was wasting so much water (I'm from Nevada and remember a time when we could only shower on odd days because of the drought). About 20 min. into the chill I noticed a small leak in the hose fitting --even I after I checked for leaks the day before-- so unboiled garden hose water (yuck!) was in my wort at about 100 degrees.
I fixed the leak by adding another clamp, but I should have reboiled the wort --didn't think about it till later. Ugh. My tap water is ~80 degrees so I gave up the cooler at 84 degrees; poured into 6 gallon carboy, including half the hop sediment until I remember not to. Ended up with over 5 gallons in the carboy --it foamed over pretty good as I poured it in. And I still had to wait a bit for the wort too cool.
As I was waiting --wort still at 80-84 degrees-- I started to fear bacteria, from the hose water, infecting by wort without any yeast to fight them off. So... I pitched my yeast Safale 05--too hot I know-- and ran to the store to get a keg bucket and some ice to bring down the temps.
3.5 hours later with the wort @72 degrees I had Co2 bubbles coming out the tube. Fermentation had begun! I guess my yeast starter was ok even though I used the amount of powder suggested for 1L starter (half of a 2L) and the water for a 2L (1 packet of Safale 05). I stirred vigorously often and pitched after ~26 hours. If you've been paying attention you'll note that there is more than 5 gallons in my 6 gallon carboy, so there wasn't much head-space, hence the early CO2 bubbles --at least that's my guess.
Vigorous fermentation could end up messy.
Here's to drinking my first brew in about 6 weeks!
Dead Ringer IPA
I bought a 32 quart brew pot so I brewed a full 5 gallons instead of the 2.5 gallons that was suggested. Also, I didn't follow the directions for the extract because I read that it was better not to; I only boiled ~3lbs extract at 60min then the rest ~9lbs at 15min; however, I stuck to the hop schedule--hop utilization should better.
Though I used an immersion cooler to cool the wort, it took forever and I felt like I was wasting so much water (I'm from Nevada and remember a time when we could only shower on odd days because of the drought). About 20 min. into the chill I noticed a small leak in the hose fitting --even I after I checked for leaks the day before-- so unboiled garden hose water (yuck!) was in my wort at about 100 degrees.
I fixed the leak by adding another clamp, but I should have reboiled the wort --didn't think about it till later. Ugh. My tap water is ~80 degrees so I gave up the cooler at 84 degrees; poured into 6 gallon carboy, including half the hop sediment until I remember not to. Ended up with over 5 gallons in the carboy --it foamed over pretty good as I poured it in. And I still had to wait a bit for the wort too cool.
As I was waiting --wort still at 80-84 degrees-- I started to fear bacteria, from the hose water, infecting by wort without any yeast to fight them off. So... I pitched my yeast Safale 05--too hot I know-- and ran to the store to get a keg bucket and some ice to bring down the temps.
3.5 hours later with the wort @72 degrees I had Co2 bubbles coming out the tube. Fermentation had begun! I guess my yeast starter was ok even though I used the amount of powder suggested for 1L starter (half of a 2L) and the water for a 2L (1 packet of Safale 05). I stirred vigorously often and pitched after ~26 hours. If you've been paying attention you'll note that there is more than 5 gallons in my 6 gallon carboy, so there wasn't much head-space, hence the early CO2 bubbles --at least that's my guess.
Vigorous fermentation could end up messy.
Here's to drinking my first brew in about 6 weeks!
