First Brew

[Selfsufficient]

Well I think of myself as a fairly decent cook, not chef quality but I do alright. So once I read this forum, I had to try and brew my own beer. Well let me tell you, it was an experience that I will not soon forget. I purchased almost everything I needed including 2 Brewers Best kits for my first time. I couldn't find a brewpot until that Friday so I went to a restaurant supply store to get it. Saturday the 4th, I had everything together. I sanitized the crap outta everything, and began the boil of 5.5 to 6 gallons of water. And I waited and waited and..........propane stove..........and waited. Now, folks, I have seen your pots of bubbling goodness in pics before, mine never got that aggressive. I had 200 plus degree water simmering at best. Nervous as hell, I start the process. Its sorta rollin around, I add the extract, stir like mad. I add the rice solid, stir like hell and then some and then the hops, still never furiously boiling like the pictures I've seen on here. We have an open plan 2 story and my wife is yelling at me. Is that the beer, cuz it stinks up here. I told her that is was and not to worry, it only has to boil for an hour. So now, last 5 minutes, I add the flavor hops. I now have to maneuver this around 5 gallon pot of 200+ degree liquid to the deck. Done, hook up the wort chiller which I did not test. Freaking out about all the outside nastiness out the sticks that will blow into my first batch. Shaking like when my son was born. The chiller has a leak and is putting cold well water into my wort. I scream outside to my wife upstairs to bring me a flathead to tighten the hose clamp while trying to direct the flow of water into the flower garden off the edge of the deck. She finds one and brings it down with furled eyebrow. Shew, chilled to about 80, pitch the yeast and siphon to the carboy. This whole time, I have read, don't worry, have a homebrew. I am a nervous wreck despite what keeps going through my mind. 2-3 days of furious fermentation that I thoroughly enjoyed watching, I think I might have made beer. I racked to the secondary after 1 week, tasted the remnants of the racking hose, tasted good, albeit flat. It is clear as a bell. I'm going to force carbonate and let it sit for about a day and try it. It can always sit in there longer if it doesn't taste right. One thing that I neglected to say was that I completely forgot to take the OG. I was so caught up in the process and shaking like a dog ****tin a peach seed, it was in the carboy and capped before I remembered.

My first brew,,,,,,,,LOL

 

[Nurmey]

Sounds like a great brew day. I think you might have made beer! Just remember when you try it, it will be very green. Make sure to get the second batch started right away because even if it's green, you will drink it before its time.

 

[Selfsufficient]

Thanks for the encouragement, I will gain more patience as the beer starts to taste like beer, really good beer. However, I'm accustomed to Budweiser so even green beer will prolly taste better, LOL.

 

[slomo]

That sounds exactly like my first batch.

 

[Notnice]

Welcome to the Fun. hope it turns out great.

 

[WBC]

Ok, now you got your feet wet. Now is the time to review what will make the next brew session easier and plan your next brew day to be free of errors. Make a list of things you will need and have everything ready. You do need a bigger burner so get that before the next time you brew. Ferment at the lower range of the yeasts recommended temperatures as fermentation causes heat (It's exothermic up to 8 degrees F) so try to keep it cool. The first 3 days the fermentation will be the most vigorous. Leave it in the primary 14 days.

 

[Selfsufficient]

It's been two weeks since the first brew. I took your advice WBC and borrowed a turkey fryer from my father and wow what a difference. I bought a restaurant quality brew pot and I ended up turning off the burner to let the grains steep. Stayed at 170 for 20 minutes without heat. Unreal. Brought it back to a roiling boil and added everything else in the KIT with family present. They had such a good time watching this happen, plus we were enjoying crappy commercial beer. This time was alot different. I was relaxed and knew what to do and am more confident, I did it right. I had answers to questions from family members that I had no idea I could answer. Reading this forum is the bomb and all the help you people give is incredible. I will say that it was absolutely perfect, I started racking to the carboy with the yeast packet still in the bucket of sanitizer. I relaxed knowing there was only about .25 gallons in the primary, told father in law to hold the siphon, pitched at 70 this time, continued to rack. Woke up this morning, checked, yeast is very happy. Thanks again for all the help.