Pasta
Active Member
I got a nice 5 gallon brew kit for Christmas and bought myself a turkey fryer yesterday. I also read Palmer's book (everything so far but the AG section) and spent a lot of time lurking here. Got my first batch going last night, and considering the amount of hiccups I had I can't imagine just winging it lol. I think if anything does me in it'll be sanitation. I don't have a process yet, I'm unsure about good sanitation practices, and I brewed in a dirty garage. I got the recipe from my LHBS.
Simtra IPA
OG: 1.067
SRM: 11.2
IBU: 96.3
8.5 lbs Breiss light LME
.75 lbs Crystal 50L
.25 lbs Cara-Pils dextrine malt
.5 lbs Wheat malt
1.5 oz Simco whole @ 60min
.75 oz Citra whole @ 15min
.75 oz Citra whole @ 5min
.5 oz Simco whole dry hop
.5 oz Citra whole dry hop
WLP007 liquid dry English ale yeast
Supposed to have 1 tsp each of gypsum and Irish moss that I deleted for my own sanity.
Once I figured out I can just wedge blocks of wood under the stupid turkey fryer button to keep it lit, I got started. Here's the list of stuff I screwed up: :smack:
1. I have no faith in my sanitation practices. It doesn't help that I was in a filthy garage haha. I tried to spray everything I was worried about with iosomethingorother, hope that stuff works quick haha.
2. I had one boilover when I first got my LME heated up. I'm hoping since it's hot there's not really any risk of anything bad resulting from it. That happened quick. Just started to see a little rolling, 10 seconds later it's on the floor. :smack: And that spray bottle didn't help at all haha.
3. I probably didn't cool it quickly enough, but I'm not too worried about that.
4. After I poured the wort back and forth 5 times it got so foamy it filled the 6.5 gallon bucket. I completely forgot I was only in at about 4 gallons. Oh well, I like strong beer.
5. I left the yeast out for a couple hours before I needed it, but without thinking brought it out to the detached garage with the other ingredients. It was probably 40-45 degrees in there, and I didn't need the yeast for almost 2 hours. And then when I pitched it I forgot to stir it around. The wort was about 70 degrees, depending on which thermometer I decide to believe.
6. Once I got the bucket in the house and popped the airlock on, it was already pushing 0500 hours and I was getting tired. I decided to add some more fresh water but didn't want to mess with the lid (new bucket, looked like it has a ring you have to pull off, didn't want to mess with it). For some reason I thought it was a good idea to spray the top of the bucket with sanitizer, pull the airlock, and pour water into the hole. Some of the water of course puddled up on the lid. I stopped doing that when I realized how much I was risking infection and only got it up to about 4.5 gallons.
I'm giving myself about 50/50 that I end up with something drinkable haha. Before I went to bed I remembered I took a sample to play with my Hydrometer. I checked it (sample was before I added more water, was based off maybe 4 gallons) and it looked like it was way up to about 1.08. Could be wrong though because the sample had a lot of foamy bubbles that were clinging to the tube. So what odds would you guys give me to end up with palatable beer?
Simtra IPA
OG: 1.067
SRM: 11.2
IBU: 96.3
8.5 lbs Breiss light LME
.75 lbs Crystal 50L
.25 lbs Cara-Pils dextrine malt
.5 lbs Wheat malt
1.5 oz Simco whole @ 60min
.75 oz Citra whole @ 15min
.75 oz Citra whole @ 5min
.5 oz Simco whole dry hop
.5 oz Citra whole dry hop
WLP007 liquid dry English ale yeast
Supposed to have 1 tsp each of gypsum and Irish moss that I deleted for my own sanity.
Once I figured out I can just wedge blocks of wood under the stupid turkey fryer button to keep it lit, I got started. Here's the list of stuff I screwed up: :smack:
1. I have no faith in my sanitation practices. It doesn't help that I was in a filthy garage haha. I tried to spray everything I was worried about with iosomethingorother, hope that stuff works quick haha.
2. I had one boilover when I first got my LME heated up. I'm hoping since it's hot there's not really any risk of anything bad resulting from it. That happened quick. Just started to see a little rolling, 10 seconds later it's on the floor. :smack: And that spray bottle didn't help at all haha.
3. I probably didn't cool it quickly enough, but I'm not too worried about that.
4. After I poured the wort back and forth 5 times it got so foamy it filled the 6.5 gallon bucket. I completely forgot I was only in at about 4 gallons. Oh well, I like strong beer.
5. I left the yeast out for a couple hours before I needed it, but without thinking brought it out to the detached garage with the other ingredients. It was probably 40-45 degrees in there, and I didn't need the yeast for almost 2 hours. And then when I pitched it I forgot to stir it around. The wort was about 70 degrees, depending on which thermometer I decide to believe.
6. Once I got the bucket in the house and popped the airlock on, it was already pushing 0500 hours and I was getting tired. I decided to add some more fresh water but didn't want to mess with the lid (new bucket, looked like it has a ring you have to pull off, didn't want to mess with it). For some reason I thought it was a good idea to spray the top of the bucket with sanitizer, pull the airlock, and pour water into the hole. Some of the water of course puddled up on the lid. I stopped doing that when I realized how much I was risking infection and only got it up to about 4.5 gallons.
I'm giving myself about 50/50 that I end up with something drinkable haha. Before I went to bed I remembered I took a sample to play with my Hydrometer. I checked it (sample was before I added more water, was based off maybe 4 gallons) and it looked like it was way up to about 1.08. Could be wrong though because the sample had a lot of foamy bubbles that were clinging to the tube. So what odds would you guys give me to end up with palatable beer?