I brewed several years ago and frequented this forum. My friends don't really drink beer, my neighbors at the time rarely spoke to me or each other, and my wife does not like the same style beer as I do. So I was really just doing it for me (2.5 gallon and 1 gallon batches) After two infected batches in a row, I decided to walk away. Between not having anyone to share it with and the frustration of spending resources to get only sour gushing bottles caught up.
Times change, friends change, and I moved. My neighbors are the biggest bunch of drinkers I've seen. Any given weekend someone is cracking a cold one or two on their porch to share with whomever stops by. With that in mind, I decided to take a crack at brewing again and here begins our tale of terror....
I wanted a basic style beer. Something middle of the road in terms of ABV and IBU's. I settled on lovely red ale recipe that was listed in beersmith,
Rapture Red Ale .
Brew day started late. I was planning on getting going around 5pm, but I didn't mash in until 8:30. Now before I go further.. I cook a lot. I know most measurements and conversions in my head, tablespoons to teaspoons, cups, oz etc. This took a brain fart of epic proportions to do..
I BIAB (sort of), and wanted to hit 1.75 qts per lb or about 17.89 qts. What actually happened was I used 17.89 CUPS..... I didn't think it looked like enough water when I was heating it in my giant 8 gallon pot, but I kept going. As soon as I added the grain in, I figured it out... and then came the mad scramble.. I tossed the pot in the oven to store it and started heating water in my next largest 2 pots, which could hold a whopping gallon tops. By my math I was 3 gallons and some change off the water to grain ratio I was looking for, not to mention about 10 degrees cooler as well (aiming for 150, hit 140).
So I started heating water to random temperatures and adding it.
Mash-in +13 min - 4 qts @ 167 brought temp to 144
Mash-in +21 min - 4 qts @ 165 brought temp to 156 (CRUD TO HIGH)
Mash-in +26 min - 4 qts @ 145 brought the temp down to 151
Mash-in +38 min - 1 qts @ 145 brought it down to 150
Held it there for a total mash time of 75 minutes. Added in 7.3 QTS boiled in two pots and brought the mash to 167 for 10 minutes. Pulled out the bag squeezed it and rinsed it slowly with 6 qts over 10 or so minutes.
Poured it all in the brew pot, topped off to the pre-boil volume of about 7 gallons (math says it should have been 7.5 but I was afraid of boil over at that volume).. and pulled a sample.. 1.041 when adjusted for temp.
I didn't need a calculator to know if my OG was going to be off. I wasn't expecting quite so high a conversion rate!
Anyway, the rest of the brew went fine, OG came in at 1.064, it chilled overnight to 65 degrees and I pitched the San Diego Super yeast in the morning. It's been 4 days, so I have no idea what the final gravity is going to be, but it'll be beer.
I'm planning on giving it 3 days at FG and then cold crashing, fining with gelatin, and kegging it. My only thought is should I let it sit @ 70 for some time 2-3 weeks since it's likely going to be a bigger beer than planned or go ahead and carb it up. I was hoping to use it on July 4th, but I'd rather have good beer than timely beer.
Times change, friends change, and I moved. My neighbors are the biggest bunch of drinkers I've seen. Any given weekend someone is cracking a cold one or two on their porch to share with whomever stops by. With that in mind, I decided to take a crack at brewing again and here begins our tale of terror....
I wanted a basic style beer. Something middle of the road in terms of ABV and IBU's. I settled on lovely red ale recipe that was listed in beersmith,
Rapture Red Ale .
Brew day started late. I was planning on getting going around 5pm, but I didn't mash in until 8:30. Now before I go further.. I cook a lot. I know most measurements and conversions in my head, tablespoons to teaspoons, cups, oz etc. This took a brain fart of epic proportions to do..
I BIAB (sort of), and wanted to hit 1.75 qts per lb or about 17.89 qts. What actually happened was I used 17.89 CUPS..... I didn't think it looked like enough water when I was heating it in my giant 8 gallon pot, but I kept going. As soon as I added the grain in, I figured it out... and then came the mad scramble.. I tossed the pot in the oven to store it and started heating water in my next largest 2 pots, which could hold a whopping gallon tops. By my math I was 3 gallons and some change off the water to grain ratio I was looking for, not to mention about 10 degrees cooler as well (aiming for 150, hit 140).
So I started heating water to random temperatures and adding it.
Mash-in +13 min - 4 qts @ 167 brought temp to 144
Mash-in +21 min - 4 qts @ 165 brought temp to 156 (CRUD TO HIGH)
Mash-in +26 min - 4 qts @ 145 brought the temp down to 151
Mash-in +38 min - 1 qts @ 145 brought it down to 150
Held it there for a total mash time of 75 minutes. Added in 7.3 QTS boiled in two pots and brought the mash to 167 for 10 minutes. Pulled out the bag squeezed it and rinsed it slowly with 6 qts over 10 or so minutes.
Poured it all in the brew pot, topped off to the pre-boil volume of about 7 gallons (math says it should have been 7.5 but I was afraid of boil over at that volume).. and pulled a sample.. 1.041 when adjusted for temp.
I didn't need a calculator to know if my OG was going to be off. I wasn't expecting quite so high a conversion rate!
Anyway, the rest of the brew went fine, OG came in at 1.064, it chilled overnight to 65 degrees and I pitched the San Diego Super yeast in the morning. It's been 4 days, so I have no idea what the final gravity is going to be, but it'll be beer.
I'm planning on giving it 3 days at FG and then cold crashing, fining with gelatin, and kegging it. My only thought is should I let it sit @ 70 for some time 2-3 weeks since it's likely going to be a bigger beer than planned or go ahead and carb it up. I was hoping to use it on July 4th, but I'd rather have good beer than timely beer.
