Saturday I survived my first brew day. It took for-fn-ever but I'm sure it will be all worth it. I just received my intermediate brew kit from Midwest along with a Superior Strong Ale kit and a Imperial Stout kit. I was itching to start right away and jumped right in on Saturday with the strong ale.
Luckily, my sister had bought me one of those bayou classic turkey fryers for a Christmas a couple years ago. I used it once for a football party and it was a huge pain to use and clean so I put it away and wondered if Id ever use it again. Well it came in real handy for brewing. Unfortunately, I had to scrub the pot for over an hour to get it clean.
Once it was finally ready to go I started filtering my water with swmbo's brand new Brita water filter that I saw some guy off youtube use. Didnt know that it took so long to fill that thing up either. So in the meantime I had all my tools soaking in some oxiclean and laid out everything I was going to need. In between cooking some sausages on the grill. Once my water was finally ready I filled about 2.5 gal in my BK and lit up the burner outback. I got it up to 160º and threw in my crushed grains and stirred them around then killed the heat and let it sit with the lid on for 30 mins. I put my LME in a hot water bath and put .5 gal of water in a tea kettle to pour over my grain bag. Next, I pulled the grains out, dumped my kettle water over them and discarded, and then cranked the heat up to 190º. Then took BK off heat and slowly stirred in 2/3 of my LME. Put BK back on heat to a rolling boil and added my bittering hops. Almost had a few boil overs but kept stirring and managed heat to prevent.
The wort comes up really fast so you definitely have to stay right on top of it. After 40 mins of rolling boil I added the rest of my LME and started my ice bath. I froze a few blocks of water in the freezer the night before so I didnt have to use up all my ice. At 5 min left of my boil I added the aroma hops. Next I put the BK in the ice bath and added more ice and cold water. I got my sanitzed ferm bucket and strainer ready by the sink. Stirred the water around the BK and gently stirred the wort around. The temp dropped from 155º to 75º within 10 minutes. I added a couple gal of cool filtered water to my ferm bucket. I added some water to my sanitzed air lock. The wort temp got to around 65-60º in a half hour and I poured it thru my strainer into my bucket. I put my sanitized lid on and aerated the wort. Took my hydro reading and noted my journal. It was real close to 1.060 I believe. I dont have my notes with me so I will have to double check and edit. I put the lid back on and aerated gently a little longer. Took the lid off and put the airlock thru the bung. Then pitched my dry yeast on top of the wort and put the lid back on.
I placed the ferm in my office closet. I didnt check it until the following morning but when I did I had a very steady bubbling in the airlock.
The entire process took me over 5 hours. However, I wont have to scrub my pot for over an hour or wait for that slow water filter for hours either next time so I should be able to cut a couple hours off the bat.
I plan on letting it ferm for a couple weeks before I take another hydro reading. Once the prim ferm is done I will rack it to one of my glass carboys so I can free up my primary and brew up the next kit.
I had a great time on my first brew day and dont think I royally messed anything up so far. It was a pretty long process and I had to have my brewmate/swmbo pitch in a couple of times to help stir and what not while I went over my notes but all in all it was a very fun experience. When I did get stressed a couple of times with the close boilovers and exhausting slow water filtering process the RDWHAHB didnt really help cause I dont have any freaking home brews. So I had a Seirra Nevada instead.
So in closing to all you first timers that dont have home brew on hand yet: RDWHASN.
Luckily, my sister had bought me one of those bayou classic turkey fryers for a Christmas a couple years ago. I used it once for a football party and it was a huge pain to use and clean so I put it away and wondered if Id ever use it again. Well it came in real handy for brewing. Unfortunately, I had to scrub the pot for over an hour to get it clean.
Once it was finally ready to go I started filtering my water with swmbo's brand new Brita water filter that I saw some guy off youtube use. Didnt know that it took so long to fill that thing up either. So in the meantime I had all my tools soaking in some oxiclean and laid out everything I was going to need. In between cooking some sausages on the grill. Once my water was finally ready I filled about 2.5 gal in my BK and lit up the burner outback. I got it up to 160º and threw in my crushed grains and stirred them around then killed the heat and let it sit with the lid on for 30 mins. I put my LME in a hot water bath and put .5 gal of water in a tea kettle to pour over my grain bag. Next, I pulled the grains out, dumped my kettle water over them and discarded, and then cranked the heat up to 190º. Then took BK off heat and slowly stirred in 2/3 of my LME. Put BK back on heat to a rolling boil and added my bittering hops. Almost had a few boil overs but kept stirring and managed heat to prevent.
The wort comes up really fast so you definitely have to stay right on top of it. After 40 mins of rolling boil I added the rest of my LME and started my ice bath. I froze a few blocks of water in the freezer the night before so I didnt have to use up all my ice. At 5 min left of my boil I added the aroma hops. Next I put the BK in the ice bath and added more ice and cold water. I got my sanitzed ferm bucket and strainer ready by the sink. Stirred the water around the BK and gently stirred the wort around. The temp dropped from 155º to 75º within 10 minutes. I added a couple gal of cool filtered water to my ferm bucket. I added some water to my sanitzed air lock. The wort temp got to around 65-60º in a half hour and I poured it thru my strainer into my bucket. I put my sanitized lid on and aerated the wort. Took my hydro reading and noted my journal. It was real close to 1.060 I believe. I dont have my notes with me so I will have to double check and edit. I put the lid back on and aerated gently a little longer. Took the lid off and put the airlock thru the bung. Then pitched my dry yeast on top of the wort and put the lid back on.
I placed the ferm in my office closet. I didnt check it until the following morning but when I did I had a very steady bubbling in the airlock.
The entire process took me over 5 hours. However, I wont have to scrub my pot for over an hour or wait for that slow water filter for hours either next time so I should be able to cut a couple hours off the bat.
I plan on letting it ferm for a couple weeks before I take another hydro reading. Once the prim ferm is done I will rack it to one of my glass carboys so I can free up my primary and brew up the next kit.
I had a great time on my first brew day and dont think I royally messed anything up so far. It was a pretty long process and I had to have my brewmate/swmbo pitch in a couple of times to help stir and what not while I went over my notes but all in all it was a very fun experience. When I did get stressed a couple of times with the close boilovers and exhausting slow water filtering process the RDWHAHB didnt really help cause I dont have any freaking home brews. So I had a Seirra Nevada instead.
So in closing to all you first timers that dont have home brew on hand yet: RDWHASN.
