Aloha from Oahu, Hawaii

[Aloha_Brew]

Just got a used kit locally on the verge of 3 years old now. I spent all day yesterday cleaning AND sanitizing everything until the stench of Iodophor was nearly overwhelming. Today I brewed a special grain batch of Paradise Pale Ale, a recipe from my local Homebrew in Paradise, and put it all together in my primary in about 5 hours...including cleaning time.

I was worried about a little splash of unboiled tap water in the wort minutes before finally putting it in the primary, but after seeing some bubble action from my air-lock I'm put at ease a bit. My biggest problem now seems to be keeping the fermenter cool enough during the fermentation process. My tap water runs at exactly 75 degrees and I don't have much space in my freezer to put in extra bottles (which I also don't have yet, but I might invest in...), but I do have the luxury of constant running tap water to ensure the tub holding the fermenter maintains at 75 degrees. I won't have much time available during the day to measure the temperature and make sure it maintains below 75 degrees...but who needs life to be so predictable!

But we shall see how things turn out. My goal is to develop something that eventually rivals Guinness or at least produce something to match the highest alcohol percentage of beer produced currently (50%!!!) and make it cost effective. All for personal use, of course.

Cheers!

 

[Rover]

Aloha, and welcome,

I moved from Oahu seven years ago where I first attempted brewing almost twelve years ago. The biggest problem I had there was also keeping the temps down. Out of five batches only one was good, that batch was brewed at work (I was a cook at the Halekulani Hotel). I was able to pay close attention to the temps every day, and it was much cooler in the hotel. By the way, the good beer I made was a porter and I brewed it with tap water. I wouldn't worry about the small splash.

Good luck!