jaywbigred
New Member
So I bought my kettle yesterday. After repeatedly reading here, and elsewhere, that one should basically try to buy the most kettle one can afford, I dropped some decent coin on a 32 quart stainless steel kettle at a local restaurant store. The tipping factor was a perfect diameter to fit in my sink.
I picked up a cheap rubber/plastic bin from Walmart for sanitizing, and, luckily (bc my brew kit did not come with a siphon, though I thought it might) I grabbed a kerosene hand pump siphon (wound up working great).
Things I found during the process of my first batch:
1) My kettle is large enough to (just barely) completely cover 2 burners. I debated whether or not to use two, or use 1 centered burner, but eventually went with two.
This is a side view. I actually got it adjusted better shortly after this:
2) After reading various pages about using an extract kit but adjusting directions for a full boil, I decided to go that route and just reduce slightly the bittering hops I put in later. It took 30 minutes to initially boil the full 5 gallons, using a cookie sheet for a lid (forgot to buy this! Might have been fortuitous, bc I don't think a full lid was necessary, esp. since I didn't put a lid on after adding the extract).
I am going to have to do some research about measuring water and getting it into the kettle. I wound up using smaller pots. Do you guys etch or otherwise mark your kettles with a fill line?
I just used tap this go around, will wait to see if I think it had an adverse effect on the final product.
3) I steeped the whole grain malt as instructed for 30 minutes. It smelled like funky bread.
4) Meanwhile, I had a 5 gallon bath of Starsan going and let everything (siphon, spoon, hyrdometer, thermometer, hydrometer vessel) sit in there for awhile. I know it only takes a minute or 3, but I hadn't read of any harm in doing this.
5) Brought the steeped mixture up to a simmer and then added all the extract, stirring slowly. Waited a minute or two and then added most (but not all) of the hops. I tried to hold back about 10% (very unscientific). This was my favorite part. Hops smell so good to me.
6) I brought the mixture back to a boil (no lid now). Couldn't get a real rapid boil, but some googling around consoled me that most think "a boil is a boil" i.e. 212 degrees, whether it is rolling or not. I boiled for a good 35-40 minutes. Early on, it was real foamy, and I went to the internet to see if I was supposed to stir it. I found that this was the "hot break" and that some stir, and some don't. By the time I looked back at the pot, the foam was much lessened. I stirred it very occasionally throughout.
7) After 30 mins, I was dismayed that it wasn't boiling better, so I centered the pot over 1 burner and added the cookie sheet lid, leaving a decent vent area (having read about the sulphur+ fumes that need to escape, in some's opinion.) I left it another 10 mins or so, while I harvested ice chunks from my backyard into a bucket.
8) After a few minutes two let the kettle cool slightly, I transfered it to the sink into a cold half bath of water.
9) I then added the ice chunks around the outside:
It was down to 120 degrees after about 10 minutes, down to 90 after 15, and down into the 60s after 20. I was surprised how quickly it chilled. I gently added the yeast somewhere slightly north of 60 degrees. Is that too cold?
10) Before adding the yeast, I attempted to use the hydrometer. I didn't have a thief, so I was trying to use a sanitized glass water vase. The hydrometer did not float. I stupidly poured the wort back in (I say stupid because I know from other threads that you are not supposed to do this. I do not know why, however...once I read that I started to get upset and then remember to "Relax....etc"). I then (probably stupidly?) tried to take a reading in the kettle itself with the hydrometer. Again, it did not float. Should I be worried about this? I then proceeded to add the yeast, as discussed.
11) I kept resanitizing everything in the bath bin I had after each use (spoon, thermometer, hyrdometer). Is that appropriate? I noticed that after the first time I used the thermometer, it left a little oil slick in the wort. You can see it in the "northern" part of this photo:
Is that normal? I did my best not to "Fear the Foam".
12) With the yeast added and the wort chilled, I sanitized my 5 gallon carboy with a pitcher or two of the liquid from my bath. Wasn't sure if you are supposed to mix up new Starsan for this, but it still looked foamy and effective to my completely untrained eye, so I went with it. I swirled it around a lot, the motion was kind of like jumping rope, and it got everything nice and wet and foamy. I dumped out as much excess foam as I could, but didn't go crazy.
13) I then removed the kettle from the sink, and put the carboy in there, using the height advantage to help my kerosene siphon. It worked better than I imagined. Sidenote is that my beer kit came with a 6.8 gallon bucket that is ambiguously both a fermenting bucket and a bottling bucket. Therefore, I was lucky that I grabbed the siphon while in Walmart, because the kit didn't come with one, I think presuming that the bucket would be used as the primary fermenter. Here is the kerosene siphon at work:
Another sidenote. It didn't look to my naked eye that I had burned off that much liquid. Maybe a half gallon. However, to repeat, I probably need to learn more from this forum about measuring/fill lines on both the kettle and the carboy. Given that I had started with a 5 gallon batch and only had a 5 gallon carboy, I didn't want to over fill the carboy because I didn't have the parts for a blow tub/bucket set up, so I just left it. I also didn't have purified/bottled/boiled water ready at that second, and was a little lazy. In any event, I just went with it as it was.
14) My empty kettle had some remnants at the bottom. I assume that is normal:
15) With the carboy full, I put the stopper and Airlock in as tight as I could, and brought it downstairs to the colder corner of my basement. I don't have a thermometer down there (though I plan to change that ASAP), but I did get a fermometer with my kit, so I slapped that on too. Here she is resting comfortably (apologize for orientation). With that as a 5 gallon carboy, anyone want to venture to guess how much is in there? Again, I am not sure where the 5 gallon fill line would be on a 5 gallon carboy...all the way to the top? the neck? one of the rungs?:
16) This morning I checked the temp on the fermometer and it was hard to read. Best I can tell is it was 58-60. Is that too cold? I moved it more into the middle of my basement for fear that that was slightly too cold. Is moving it bad at this point? No action in Airlock yet. I repeated myself to "Relax, etc..."
So, that is my experience to this point. I am going to check it this afternoon, and then I am gone for a long weekend (back Sunday night). I hope I get to see some Airlock action at the backend.
Any comments are appreciated, but I am also writing this as a way to document everything for myself.
I picked up a cheap rubber/plastic bin from Walmart for sanitizing, and, luckily (bc my brew kit did not come with a siphon, though I thought it might) I grabbed a kerosene hand pump siphon (wound up working great).
Things I found during the process of my first batch:
1) My kettle is large enough to (just barely) completely cover 2 burners. I debated whether or not to use two, or use 1 centered burner, but eventually went with two.
This is a side view. I actually got it adjusted better shortly after this:
2) After reading various pages about using an extract kit but adjusting directions for a full boil, I decided to go that route and just reduce slightly the bittering hops I put in later. It took 30 minutes to initially boil the full 5 gallons, using a cookie sheet for a lid (forgot to buy this! Might have been fortuitous, bc I don't think a full lid was necessary, esp. since I didn't put a lid on after adding the extract).
I am going to have to do some research about measuring water and getting it into the kettle. I wound up using smaller pots. Do you guys etch or otherwise mark your kettles with a fill line?
I just used tap this go around, will wait to see if I think it had an adverse effect on the final product.
3) I steeped the whole grain malt as instructed for 30 minutes. It smelled like funky bread.
4) Meanwhile, I had a 5 gallon bath of Starsan going and let everything (siphon, spoon, hyrdometer, thermometer, hydrometer vessel) sit in there for awhile. I know it only takes a minute or 3, but I hadn't read of any harm in doing this.
5) Brought the steeped mixture up to a simmer and then added all the extract, stirring slowly. Waited a minute or two and then added most (but not all) of the hops. I tried to hold back about 10% (very unscientific). This was my favorite part. Hops smell so good to me.
6) I brought the mixture back to a boil (no lid now). Couldn't get a real rapid boil, but some googling around consoled me that most think "a boil is a boil" i.e. 212 degrees, whether it is rolling or not. I boiled for a good 35-40 minutes. Early on, it was real foamy, and I went to the internet to see if I was supposed to stir it. I found that this was the "hot break" and that some stir, and some don't. By the time I looked back at the pot, the foam was much lessened. I stirred it very occasionally throughout.
7) After 30 mins, I was dismayed that it wasn't boiling better, so I centered the pot over 1 burner and added the cookie sheet lid, leaving a decent vent area (having read about the sulphur+ fumes that need to escape, in some's opinion.) I left it another 10 mins or so, while I harvested ice chunks from my backyard into a bucket.
8) After a few minutes two let the kettle cool slightly, I transfered it to the sink into a cold half bath of water.
9) I then added the ice chunks around the outside:
It was down to 120 degrees after about 10 minutes, down to 90 after 15, and down into the 60s after 20. I was surprised how quickly it chilled. I gently added the yeast somewhere slightly north of 60 degrees. Is that too cold?
10) Before adding the yeast, I attempted to use the hydrometer. I didn't have a thief, so I was trying to use a sanitized glass water vase. The hydrometer did not float. I stupidly poured the wort back in (I say stupid because I know from other threads that you are not supposed to do this. I do not know why, however...once I read that I started to get upset and then remember to "Relax....etc"). I then (probably stupidly?) tried to take a reading in the kettle itself with the hydrometer. Again, it did not float. Should I be worried about this? I then proceeded to add the yeast, as discussed.
11) I kept resanitizing everything in the bath bin I had after each use (spoon, thermometer, hyrdometer). Is that appropriate? I noticed that after the first time I used the thermometer, it left a little oil slick in the wort. You can see it in the "northern" part of this photo:
Is that normal? I did my best not to "Fear the Foam".
12) With the yeast added and the wort chilled, I sanitized my 5 gallon carboy with a pitcher or two of the liquid from my bath. Wasn't sure if you are supposed to mix up new Starsan for this, but it still looked foamy and effective to my completely untrained eye, so I went with it. I swirled it around a lot, the motion was kind of like jumping rope, and it got everything nice and wet and foamy. I dumped out as much excess foam as I could, but didn't go crazy.
13) I then removed the kettle from the sink, and put the carboy in there, using the height advantage to help my kerosene siphon. It worked better than I imagined. Sidenote is that my beer kit came with a 6.8 gallon bucket that is ambiguously both a fermenting bucket and a bottling bucket. Therefore, I was lucky that I grabbed the siphon while in Walmart, because the kit didn't come with one, I think presuming that the bucket would be used as the primary fermenter. Here is the kerosene siphon at work:
Another sidenote. It didn't look to my naked eye that I had burned off that much liquid. Maybe a half gallon. However, to repeat, I probably need to learn more from this forum about measuring/fill lines on both the kettle and the carboy. Given that I had started with a 5 gallon batch and only had a 5 gallon carboy, I didn't want to over fill the carboy because I didn't have the parts for a blow tub/bucket set up, so I just left it. I also didn't have purified/bottled/boiled water ready at that second, and was a little lazy. In any event, I just went with it as it was.
14) My empty kettle had some remnants at the bottom. I assume that is normal:
15) With the carboy full, I put the stopper and Airlock in as tight as I could, and brought it downstairs to the colder corner of my basement. I don't have a thermometer down there (though I plan to change that ASAP), but I did get a fermometer with my kit, so I slapped that on too. Here she is resting comfortably (apologize for orientation). With that as a 5 gallon carboy, anyone want to venture to guess how much is in there? Again, I am not sure where the 5 gallon fill line would be on a 5 gallon carboy...all the way to the top? the neck? one of the rungs?:
16) This morning I checked the temp on the fermometer and it was hard to read. Best I can tell is it was 58-60. Is that too cold? I moved it more into the middle of my basement for fear that that was slightly too cold. Is moving it bad at this point? No action in Airlock yet. I repeated myself to "Relax, etc..."
So, that is my experience to this point. I am going to check it this afternoon, and then I am gone for a long weekend (back Sunday night). I hope I get to see some Airlock action at the backend.
Any comments are appreciated, but I am also writing this as a way to document everything for myself.
