It's been 6 years since I retired and I'm finally getting around to brewing again. There is so much to do. I don't know how I got it all done while I was still working.
I still consider myself a brewing beginner, having only brewed around 25 batches and have a question.
I brewed an IPA (one I haven't done before). Feeling confident, I brewed a double batch. My daughter's wedding is on April 1 and wanted to have some homebrew for that.
The first thing that happened was I couldn't get the airlock to bubble. I waited the 72 hrs and still nothing. When I put the yeast in, I just sprinkled the 05 in and stirred. I used to always make a starter, but this time I decided not to. The yeast was fresh and the buckets, lids and airlocks were new. After the three days, I made a starter (I didn't have any DME so I used powdered dextrose with some old 05 I had in the fridge. It took off like it was supposed to. When I pried the covers off to add it, I could see that the original yeast was working. I added the starter anyhow and replaced the covers. Still no bubbling in the airlocks.
Today, about 2 1/2 weeks fermenting, I checked the hydrometer reading. My OG was 1040 and the FG was 1008. That tells me that it was working. When I tasted the test beer, it was extremely bitter. I must have done something wrong.
Per batch, I boiled 1lb of grains for 30 min, I added 5.5 lbs of DME and boiled it another 30 min then added 1.5 oz of Galena hops pellets for another 30 min, the added 1 oz of leaf Cascade hops and finished the last 30 min, topped it off to 5 gallons in each bucket and stirred in the yeast. I even fastened the bucket lid with a rubber mallet.
My plan is to continue on with it all anyhow. I have Citra hops pellets that I'll dry hop tomorrow with when I rack into the secondary for a week. I will be kegging it after that. I always said, it'll still be beer, but may be a limited edition brew.
Any ideas what went wrong?
Jody
I still consider myself a brewing beginner, having only brewed around 25 batches and have a question.
I brewed an IPA (one I haven't done before). Feeling confident, I brewed a double batch. My daughter's wedding is on April 1 and wanted to have some homebrew for that.
The first thing that happened was I couldn't get the airlock to bubble. I waited the 72 hrs and still nothing. When I put the yeast in, I just sprinkled the 05 in and stirred. I used to always make a starter, but this time I decided not to. The yeast was fresh and the buckets, lids and airlocks were new. After the three days, I made a starter (I didn't have any DME so I used powdered dextrose with some old 05 I had in the fridge. It took off like it was supposed to. When I pried the covers off to add it, I could see that the original yeast was working. I added the starter anyhow and replaced the covers. Still no bubbling in the airlocks.
Today, about 2 1/2 weeks fermenting, I checked the hydrometer reading. My OG was 1040 and the FG was 1008. That tells me that it was working. When I tasted the test beer, it was extremely bitter. I must have done something wrong.
Per batch, I boiled 1lb of grains for 30 min, I added 5.5 lbs of DME and boiled it another 30 min then added 1.5 oz of Galena hops pellets for another 30 min, the added 1 oz of leaf Cascade hops and finished the last 30 min, topped it off to 5 gallons in each bucket and stirred in the yeast. I even fastened the bucket lid with a rubber mallet.
My plan is to continue on with it all anyhow. I have Citra hops pellets that I'll dry hop tomorrow with when I rack into the secondary for a week. I will be kegging it after that. I always said, it'll still be beer, but may be a limited edition brew.
Any ideas what went wrong?
Jody