KeithMoonsLiver
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
I did my first brew yesterday and I'm afraid it feels like a small disaster.
As I was boiling everything my A/C died, and as it's >95F outside my apartment quickly got to above 80F inside. I ran out of ice for my ice bath and wasn't able to get the wort below 85F or so before I put it in the carboy. I put it in the bathtub with a wet towel on it and a fan blowing on it. I'm not really sure the best way to measure the temperature inside the carboy as I don't have one of those thermometer strips that goes on the outside, but the water in the tub never got below 80F.
On the bright side the blow out I had over night was easy to clean up since it was in the bathroom. I thought I was supposed to be fine fermenting a 5 gallon batch inside a 6 gallon carboy without needing a blow off tube; would the higher temperature cause this? In the future I will try to get a dedicated refrigerator for fermenting. My A/C seems to be working at the moment and I think I can get the place down to the low-70's. Is there any way to fix the damage caused by the higher temperatures or do I just cross my fingers?
The other big problem I had was pouring the wort into the carboy. My funnel/filter would get clogged after only a few cups, so I had to clean it out constantly. I had a hard time physically lifting the pot and aiming it at the little funnel, I ended up spilling an unacceptable amount of wort. Are hop bags effective in reducing the amount of solids in the wort? Is siphoning it into the carboy a viable alternative to pouring?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
I did my first brew yesterday and I'm afraid it feels like a small disaster.
As I was boiling everything my A/C died, and as it's >95F outside my apartment quickly got to above 80F inside. I ran out of ice for my ice bath and wasn't able to get the wort below 85F or so before I put it in the carboy. I put it in the bathtub with a wet towel on it and a fan blowing on it. I'm not really sure the best way to measure the temperature inside the carboy as I don't have one of those thermometer strips that goes on the outside, but the water in the tub never got below 80F.
On the bright side the blow out I had over night was easy to clean up since it was in the bathroom. I thought I was supposed to be fine fermenting a 5 gallon batch inside a 6 gallon carboy without needing a blow off tube; would the higher temperature cause this? In the future I will try to get a dedicated refrigerator for fermenting. My A/C seems to be working at the moment and I think I can get the place down to the low-70's. Is there any way to fix the damage caused by the higher temperatures or do I just cross my fingers?
The other big problem I had was pouring the wort into the carboy. My funnel/filter would get clogged after only a few cups, so I had to clean it out constantly. I had a hard time physically lifting the pot and aiming it at the little funnel, I ended up spilling an unacceptable amount of wort. Are hop bags effective in reducing the amount of solids in the wort? Is siphoning it into the carboy a viable alternative to pouring?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions