user 163849
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2013
- Messages
- 296
- Reaction score
- 96
When my wife started making wine I decided I might as well try brewing beer as I do not drink wine. So, I ordered myself a basic brewery kit from William's Brewing, a propane burner and a 40 quart stock pot from Amazon.
After welding extended legs for the sq-14 burner and installing a weldless ball valve in the aluminum stock pot I thought that I was "ready to brew".
That first brew day was delayed by a very unexpected call from my doctor at the VA. To make a long story short I was diagnosed with stage 4a tonsil cancer. This led to chemo, radiation and other unpleasantness. Brewing was out of the question during that time. But I continued to read and accumulate many brewing related items. We also moved to a larger house during that time (with 3 times the yardwork).
A bit over a year had passed by the time the move was completed and I had regained the strength to tackle brewing. Now "cancer free" or more accurately "no evidence of disease". I finally got around to brewing that first batch.
I was all set up for full volume boils, recirculation cooling with immersion chiller and march pump, oxygenation, yeast starter on homemade stir plate, and a fermentation fridge under control of a stc-1000. I am sure that very few people start out so well equipped for their first batch. I do not however recommended the circumstances which led to me being so.
The brown ale kit which came with the equipment I bought from Williams Brewing did not survive the move due to expiration date, convenient trash bin, and lack of additional room on my truck. I ordered a new kit from William's, a Porter. Loosly followed the directions
that came with the kit combined with what I had learned from reading posts at this site. Hydrometer samples tasted very good but this changed after a short time in the bottle, it was a bit disappointing. After three weeks in the fermenter at 64f, three weeks in the bottle at 70f, and a little over two weeks in the fridge the porter is absolutely awesome!
My second batch, also a Williams extract kit, a stout this time is even better. Though it had only been in the fridge 2 days I just tried this one yesterday.
I can only hope that this is not all due to "beginner's luck".
After welding extended legs for the sq-14 burner and installing a weldless ball valve in the aluminum stock pot I thought that I was "ready to brew".
That first brew day was delayed by a very unexpected call from my doctor at the VA. To make a long story short I was diagnosed with stage 4a tonsil cancer. This led to chemo, radiation and other unpleasantness. Brewing was out of the question during that time. But I continued to read and accumulate many brewing related items. We also moved to a larger house during that time (with 3 times the yardwork).
A bit over a year had passed by the time the move was completed and I had regained the strength to tackle brewing. Now "cancer free" or more accurately "no evidence of disease". I finally got around to brewing that first batch.
I was all set up for full volume boils, recirculation cooling with immersion chiller and march pump, oxygenation, yeast starter on homemade stir plate, and a fermentation fridge under control of a stc-1000. I am sure that very few people start out so well equipped for their first batch. I do not however recommended the circumstances which led to me being so.
The brown ale kit which came with the equipment I bought from Williams Brewing did not survive the move due to expiration date, convenient trash bin, and lack of additional room on my truck. I ordered a new kit from William's, a Porter. Loosly followed the directions
that came with the kit combined with what I had learned from reading posts at this site. Hydrometer samples tasted very good but this changed after a short time in the bottle, it was a bit disappointing. After three weeks in the fermenter at 64f, three weeks in the bottle at 70f, and a little over two weeks in the fridge the porter is absolutely awesome!
My second batch, also a Williams extract kit, a stout this time is even better. Though it had only been in the fridge 2 days I just tried this one yesterday.
I can only hope that this is not all due to "beginner's luck".