First Brew is done!

[justinbrew]

Hey everyone, I just finished my first brew! I made a Raspberry Ale using an extract kit I found at my local brew supply store!

I had been planning my brew day for a few weeks and was very excited when the time finally came. I had a few issues with getting my 6 gallons of water to a boil, as I am in my apartment using an electric stove top. My wort also took a long time to cool, as my sink is pretty shallow, and an ice bath was a bit ineffective. Despite this, I had a good feeling about my brew day.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, my wort had finally finished fermenting. I waited an extra week, 21 days total, before bottling. Bottling was challenging at first, but I had my girlfriend come help me, and with two people the process was much easier.

After a week of bottle conditioning, I have 47 beers sitting in my fridge chilling for a few days. I had 48, but I couldn't resist putting one in the freezer so I could drink it today. The beer turned out GREAT! I added a bit too much raspberry extract, as the final product is a bit too fruity for me, but it is still delicious!

For my next brew, I am doing a Blonde Ale. I'll be using an extract kit before trying my hand at all-grain in the future. I decided to insulate my kettle, and after a test run, it makes boiling a lot easier. I also bought a stainless steel wort chiller which should help me cool my wort faster.

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all the advice and tips! I'm really happy to dive further into brewing! Cheers!

 

[ncbrewer]

Congrats! Welcome to HBT.

 

[bracconiere]

47-48 beers, huh...you're going to have to get used to having more then that.....

glad the session went well...and, Welcome!

edit: in fact now that i think about it, you're going to need a spare fridge for it all...most people here have at least three...not sure where you'll stick them in an apartment!

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Congrats and welcome to the obsession!
If you are going to use an ice bath for chilling, you should stir it gently often to keep the wort moving in the kettle. Otherwise it just insulates itself.

 

[RM-MN]

After a week of bottle conditioning, I have 47 beers sitting in my fridge chilling for a few days. I had 48, but I couldn't resist putting one in the freezer so I could drink it today. The beer turned out GREAT! I added a bit too much raspberry extract, as the final product is a bit too fruity for me, but it is still delicious!

Take all but a few (3-4) bottles back out of the fridge. With a little more time where it is warm the beer will mature and the raspberry flavor is likely to mellow some. In another few days you can put 3-5 bottles in the fridge for a comparison but wait until 3 weeks have passed before putting in the rest.

 

[justinbrew]

Take all but a few (3-4) bottles back out of the fridge. With a little more time where it is warm the beer will mature and the raspberry flavor is likely to mellow some. In another few days you can put 3-5 bottles in the fridge for a comparison but wait until 3 weeks have passed before putting in the rest.

Good idea. Thanks!

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Definitely +1 on what RM-MN said. You'll get a handle on how beers mature by style, age, etc. I have way more bottles in the dark pantry conditioning than those ready to drink in the fridge (I'm not counting the kegs).

Congrats and welcome!

 

[Jag75]

Congrats on your first beer!
I noticed you said you were trying to boil 6 gallons and doing an extract kit. For future extract brews you can put about 2.5 gallons in your pot for steeping and boiling the LME or DME, then top off with cool water to get you 5 gallons. This will help with cooling your wort big time.

 

[TwistedGray]

Hey everyone, I just finished my first brew! I made a Raspberry Ale using an extract kit I found at my local brew supply store!

I had been planning my brew day for a few weeks and was very excited when the time finally came. I had a few issues with getting my 6 gallons of water to a boil, as I am in my apartment using an electric stove top. My wort also took a long time to cool, as my sink is pretty shallow, and an ice bath was a bit ineffective. Despite this, I had a good feeling about my brew day.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, my wort had finally finished fermenting. I waited an extra week, 21 days total, before bottling. Bottling was challenging at first, but I had my girlfriend come help me, and with two people the process was much easier.

After a week of bottle conditioning, I have 47 beers sitting in my fridge chilling for a few days. I had 48, but I couldn't resist putting one in the freezer so I could drink it today. The beer turned out GREAT! I added a bit too much raspberry extract, as the final product is a bit too fruity for me, but it is still delicious!

For my next brew, I am doing a Blonde Ale. I'll be using an extract kit before trying my hand at all-grain in the future. I decided to insulate my kettle, and after a test run, it makes boiling a lot easier. I also bought a stainless steel wort chiller which should help me cool my wort faster.

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all the advice and tips! I'm really happy to dive further into brewing! Cheers!

Boil water issue = Try this, run hot water from your sink and start with the hottest water that you can. That might help drive down the time a bit...that is if you didn't already try that; although, I am sure you did.

Time line = Letting them run 2-3 weeks is usually a safe bet..."set it and forget it" attitude.When you start doing adjuncts (say, real raspberries) you will want to take gravity readings to ensure that it's done fermenting. In addition, that'll give you your ABV...perhaps you are already doing this?

All-grain = You will quickly find out that a BIAB set up is the exact same as your boiling set-up except you will substitute more pounds of a grain for extract. The issue you will likely run into here is the volume of grains in relationship to your kettle size. To that end, you may not be able to do a full volume boil and should otherwise follow @Jag75 advice.

I'll also add that with all-grain (BIAB for some of us) you can easily tone down the recipe to say 2-3 gallon instead of 5 gallon. It's a matter of scaling the recipe accordingly.

Anyways, enjoy the fruits of your labor!!

ps: If you are using a wing style caper, consider swapping to a bench style. It'll make the bottling process much quicker, and it sure feels a lot safer! Also, I individually bottle prime which means I add 1/2tsp table sugar per 12oz bottle. You can do that or you can use the solution in a bottling bucket, swirling to mix well...both are accepted practices : )

 

[justinbrew]

Congrats on your first beer!
I noticed you said you were trying to boil 6 gallons and doing an extract kit. For future extract brews you can put about 2.5 gallons in your pot for steeping and boiling the LME or DME, then top off with cool water to get you 5 gallons. This will help with cooling your wort big time.

I’ll definitely be doing this! Thanks

 

[jcav]

Hey Congrats on the first brew! Now that you've been bitten by the home brew bug, it's a wild ride from here on out!


John