First Batch

[smokewater]

Got my first batch in the fermenting bucket last night and its bubbling happily away. SWMBO was a bit stirred up during the process but I cleaned out the storage room while it boiled and cooled so she is calmed down.

I did the Autumn Amber Ale. I was happily surprised at the temp control I had with my turkey fryer gas burner and was pretty much able to hit my recipe numbers on the nose. I was real glad I purchased a nylon reusable boiling bag. It made the hop additions easy. I just clipped it to the handle and added them straight to the bag as scheduled.

For next time I plan to have a lot of Ice around for cooling the wort. I have an old square igloo cooler that my pot fits in leaving space around it for Ice. It had about an inch of ice frozen in the bottom so I sat my pot on it. It worked well until the ice melted and water warmed up. Then I felt the insulation properties of the cooler was hurting the cool down process so I took it out.

Looking forward to bottling in about 3-4 weeks.

Known Mistakes:

1. Dropped the plastic ring on the LME bottle into the wort and had to fish it out
2. Steeped at 165F instead of 155 as called for in recipe.

Question:

I mixed my dry yeast in a measuring cup with 1/3 cup of distilled water. I sprayed star san in the measuring cup before hand and didn't rinse it. I know that won't hurt the beer but could that procedure hurt yeast before pitching.

Thanks for the site. It made my new years day brewing experience much more enjoyable. Now I just need to refill that Coors Light Mini Keg with some home brew to drink while brewing next time.

 

[Captain Damage]

Welcome to brewing! Sounds like you're off to a great start!

Steeping temperature isn't that critical, as long as you keep it below 170F. Under certain conditions temperatures over 170F can cause tannin to leach out of the grain husks. And you want to keep it above about 130F to make sure you dissolve as much of the caramelized sugar as you can from your crystal malts.

StarSan only kills when it's at normal concentration (i.e., after you mix the concentrate with the proper amount of water). When you dilute it the way you did by adding distilled water to the sprayed cup, it becomes ineffective, and actually is used by the yeast as a nutrient (or so the manufacturer claims).

 

[RM-MN]

For cooling next time, if you can put that cooler somewhere that you can run a hose into and drain out the excess you will cool the wort faster. Just make sure the level of the water never gets as high as the level of the wort or your kettle of wort will tip and spill.

In winter (when its too cold to stay outside, like below zero) I cool my wort in the sink and can arrange the water flow to constantly replenish and let the heat of the kettle cause circulation as it warm the water.

 

[smokewater]

For cooling next time, if you can put that cooler somewhere that you can run a hose into and drain out the excess you will cool the wort faster. Just make sure the level of the water never gets as high as the level of the wort or your kettle of wort will tip and spill.

In winter (when its too cold to stay outside, like below zero) I cool my wort in the sink and can arrange the water flow to constantly replenish and let the heat of the kettle cause circulation as it warm the water.

Thanks. That should work well. My cooler is only a little smaller than my pot so there is no way it can tip over. It doesn't have a drain valve so I will just set it on my deck and let it overflow with my hose in it.

 

[Captain Damage]

I cool in the kitchen sink. Close the drain stopper, put the kettle in, pour a gallon of ice-cold clean water in the wort, cover the kettle with my thermometer probe in it, fill the sink with ice (15 lbs), sprinkle salt on the ice liberally, and fill the sink with cold water. Spin the kettle for about a minute, let it rest for a few minutes, repeat. It's down to 75F or lower in fifteen minutes.

 

[smokewater]

Bottled this batch this morning. Took a final gravity and it was dead on what the kit said it should be 1.010. Unfortunately I forgot to take an initial gravity and once it was sealed in the pail I didn't want to open it. It fermented for 20 days at around 67F.

It looked a bit cloudy but as I got to the bottom I could see the yeast and crud that had settled out. Tasted a little like flat Bass Ale. I think it will turn out pretty well.

Next up is an extract batch of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale as soon as it gets here from Austin Home Brew Supply.

After that I plant to try a BIAB batch of that same beer with ingredients picked up at my LHBS.

Now I need to go out and buy some bottles to empty since I don't have any homebrew to drink yet.

 

[BaldManBrew]

That was my first beer - delicious, was a hit with all my friends/family. Will be making it again

 

[Captain Damage]

You can safely assume the OG of an extract beer is what the calculation/recipe says it should be. You have to screw things up pretty badly to be off by more than about half a point.

 

[smokewater]

You can safely assume the OG of an extract beer is what the calculation/recipe says it should be. You have to screw things up pretty badly to be off by more than about half a point.

That's what I had read before which is one reason I didn't worry about it.

Its funny what this hobby will make you do. I noticed some beer bottles at the end of my driveway in the green recycling bins. There are 3 houses that share the same driveway. I headed on down there and came away with about 18 more bottles for the next batch.

I don't know the neighbors very well but they have some pretty good taste in beer. I think I will give them a 6 pack and ask them to rinse and save bottles for me so I don't have to "dumpster dive".