MetallHed's First Brew Adventure

[MetallHed]

I'd just like to say thanks for all of the help and information I've gathered to start my new hobby, which I'm loving so far.

This is my first brew thread that I will continue to update throughout the course of my first brew, asking questions and bringing up concerns along the way.

PLEASE: point out my mistakes or give me some pointers on how to improve.. I want to get better and that can't be done if I dont know that I'm doing something wrong!!

I've already been keeping a brew journal and have made a few mistakes that I will be correcting next batch... hopefully.

My first brew is Liberty Cream Ale from Midwest Supplies.

Got the stuff ready to go

Bringing 2.5 gallons of water to 155*F

After steeping the grains for 25 minutes, removing, and bringing to a boil, I removed from heat and added the gold malt extract

"Can I drink it yet?!"

Bringin the temp to 210*, first sign of boil, add 1oz hops

Boil for 58 minutes, then add another 1oz hopps. Boil for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Put in cold water bath.

Needless to say my helpers didn't really help much

Coolin the wort down took a bit, probably between 30-45 minutes, until it came down to about 80* which is what the directions said to pitch at.... I realize now that I want to cool it down even further, to around what the wort will be fermenting at. ~70*

Also, I believe I should have been more "vigorous" on stirring the wort before pitching the yeast. I also did not stir much after pitching, but rather let the wort do a "whirlpool" effect.

Here it is in the bucket going into the closet.

The first brew day went Okay. I see things right away that need to be improved. I also need to pace myself and dont rush! Will keep this thread updated (whether anyone follows it or not) right up until I drink this batch!!

Rock on! :rockin:
MetallHed

 

[MetallHed]

Bored at work last weekend and got inspired by the labels/logos thread. I decided that I would keep and label a few bottles from each batch and save them. I came up with this logo and name:

and this label:

I tested one out on a bottle and I think it looks pretty nice... I'll post a pic of that tomorrow as I dont have one here at work.

 

[Zamial]

Looks good. I would swap out the airlock in favor of a blow off tube to primary with. (Don't worry the air lock is fine for now.)

 

[MetallHed]

One more update for now.

I forgot to mention that I had a starting gravity of 1.046. I noticed that after about a week of fermenting that my airlock had stopped bubbling for almost two days.

I know that the airlock is not an indication of fermentation progress so I decided to take a sample and test the gravity.

It was 1.0096 after I adjusted for temperature. I believe this results in an ABV of ~4.11%.

The fermentation happened fairly quick, but I will be leaving it in the primary for a total of three weeks..

I tasted the sample.... and.... it was goooooooood... even if it was flat. SWMBO thought it was a little too hoppy/bitter.. so i might cut down the hops a little next time i brew this

 

[ctufano]

Congrats man! Nice lookin label, too

 

[TheWeeb]

Very cool start! How is the electric when it comes to time to get to a boil? My gas stove seems to take forever.

Nice label as well!

 

[Lepersquatch]

Nice congrats on your brew. Welcome to the obsession :rockin:

 

[MetallHed]

Looks good. I would swap out the airlock in favor of a blow off tube to primary with. (Don't worry the air lock is fine for now.)

I am looking into using a blow off... this brew didn't give me problems at all. The krausen was a good 4 inches down from the top of the bucket.. but a heavier beer might give me some worries.

Very cool start! How is the electric when it comes to time to get to a boil? My gas stove seems to take forever.

Nice label as well!

This stove brought 3 gallons of water to a boil in about 40 minutes. I tested it out and timed it a few days before brewing. During brew day, it kept a nice rolling boil the whole time on just below "high." I think if this stove would have been any more powerful (or newer) it might have given me boil-over problems. So far so good though!!

Nice congrats on your brew. Welcome to the obsession :rockin:

With as much money as I have dropped on my motorcycle another obsession is just what i need right?

I just tell my GF that from now on I won't buy any other beer except the stuff for my brews... we will see how long that lasts... six weeks is lookin like a long time.

Congrats man! Nice lookin label, too

Thanks!!

Here is the label on a bottle (obviously I haven't actually bottled it yet.. the neck label is just a tester..) :cross:

 

[TheWeeb]

Six weeks is WAY long, tell your GF that you will have to augment once in a while. Awesome bottle!Next batch, like your user name, maybe include some symbology similar to what is on my jeep:

 

[MetallHed]

Six weeks is WAY long, tell your GF that you will have to augment once in a while. Awesome bottle!Next batch, like your user name, maybe include some symbology similar to what is on my jeep:

yesssss...
:rockin:

 

[MetallHed]

i should tell you that my dog is named Hammett and my cat is Hetfield.. heh heh

 

[mr_bell]

Nice...that label is impressive. Wish I were that creative and / or had a smidge of artistic talent, but unfortunately I don't.

 

[ErieShores]

I tasted the sample.... and.... it was goooooooood... even if it was flat. SWMBO thought it was a little too hoppy/bitter.. so i might cut down the hops a little next time i brew this

That "bitter" taste will really mellow after a few weeks in the bottle. Don't go adjusting your recipes based on your early hydrometer sample. Oh, isn't Jack Dawson from Chippewa Falls?

 

[MetallHed]

Nice...that label is impressive. Wish I were that creative and / or had a smidge of artistic talent, but unfortunately I don't.

I half about a half an ounce of artistic talent compared to most people on this site. This was done using microsoft publisher and a bunch of clip art and word art. lol

That "bitter" taste will really mellow after a few weeks in the bottle. Don't go adjusting your recipes based on your early hydrometer sample. Oh, isn't Jack Dawson from Chippewa Falls?

Yeah I'm not going to change anything till after the final final test. I.e. after i drink the last bottle...

oh and jack was from chippewa falls.. but he stated that he fished on Lake Wissota. Lake Wissota is a man-made lake that wasn't made until well after the Titanic... so naturally the city was pissed..

 

[wulfsburg]

Congrats on your first brew. Considering you wrote a long narration and took multiple pictures... I commend you. I just bottled my 4th batch 2 weeks ago, primaried another batch last week, and have 2 more recipes coming in the mail which I plan to have turned around and thrown into bottles by the end of the month.

Due to economic reasons I have not been going to the bar, or buying that store made crap. You will develop an even better taste in beer (I noticed all the liney bottles), and also a taste that is more partial to your own "brand".

My friends are mainly "beer bitches" because all they drink is Coors Light and Budweiser. I only drink that crap if its free. I have shared my beer with them, and they cannot appreciate the flavor of the few batches I have made and stick with their crap. I brought over about 16 hefeweizens to a pool party and they cracked 2 to share with each other to try it, and all I got was "it's pretty good", as with my homebrew friends.... they drink that like its no tomorrow.

As for the metal part of it...... nice names for the cats. You ever listen to any death metal?

Black Dahlia Murder for the win............

 

[MetallHed]

thanx for the comments wulf.

my buddies actually took me to a microbrewery tasting festival earlier this year. they went last few years without me. we always liked to go down to the store and build a six-pack of different brews from microbreweries... so they do like this kind of beer. i haven't told them about me brewin my own.. i'm lookin forward to bringing a cooler full of unmarked bottles and pouring them one, without saying anything, and seeing what they say.. only then revealing that i had brewed it myself... should be pretty cool

i've heard of BDM.. i think i have heard their stuff, but i'll check em out.

 

[MetallHed]

I went back, recalculated and realized that I had my approximate ABV wrong in an earlier post, it's 3.66... which is kind of low. I looked back at my notes and realized that I took the OG reading after pitching the yeast..... so that may have thrown off the OG.. but that's okay.

took a second hydro reading today and it was 1.0116 after adjusting for temp. I am going to buy a different cylinder to test in.. as my meter was touching the sides of the one that was provided. Anyway it's fairly close to the first reading, so I will take another reading tomorrow to see if its the same, if it is.. i might bottle this weekend. Anyway here's a shot:

it tasted lighter than before, but less bitter. It almost seems a little watery, so I will have to pay more attention to volumes next brew. I know i started out with 2.5 gallons for the boil, lost about a half gallon.. then topped out after putting in primary.

 

[ctufano]

mmmm beerrrrrrrrrr

 

[TheWeeb]

quite a bit of "sample" for a specific gravity "test," eh?

 

[fatmoose]

Awesome label and I'm loving the Leinie Lodge you got going on there.

I tasted the sample.... and.... it was goooooooood... even if it was flat. SWMBO thought it was a little too hoppy/bitter.. so i might cut down the hops a little next time i brew this

I just drank the first one from this kit. The bitterness mellowed quite a bit after about two months in primary/secondary and a bit over 2 weeks in the bottle. Give it some time to mellow before making a call to scale back the hops.

 

[roxtar]

I would also recommend you split the first addition of hops up in to 2 x 0.5 oz additions. 1 at 60 min and one at maybe 30 min. Your first addition is bittering hops and second is flavor hops. I would think you would get a better flavor adding some half way through the boil.

 

[MetallHed]

quite a bit of "sample" for a specific gravity "test," eh?

LOL. Actually thats only a 4 oz. glass.... I just did the "epic" close-up shot for effect.

Awesome label and I'm loving the Leinie Lodge you got going on there.

I just drank the first one from this kit. The bitterness mellowed quite a bit after about two months in primary/secondary and a bit over 2 weeks in the bottle. Give it some time to mellow before making a call to scale back the hops.

Thanks! Now I can brew beer in my beer kitchen! I noticed that the bitterness did mellow down quite a bit just from my last tester. I like the bitterness and I also like IPA.... it's the other half that doesn't care for it as much... she can stick with the busch light then! more for me! :cross:

I would also recommend you split the first addition of hops up in to 2 x 0.5 oz additions. 1 at 60 min and one at maybe 30 min. Your first addition is bittering hops and second is flavor hops. I would think you would get a better flavor adding some half way through the boil.

I will definately write that down in my notes for this brew. I am going to do another batch in the future and save a bottle from this batch to compare them. I'm not sure if it was my general mess-ups that may have caused a loss in flavor or what. It was still decent and I'm sure it will get better after it's been in the bottle.


Thanks for the comments!!

 

[MetallHed]

plannin next batch.. gonna do the Lemon Coriander Weiss from Midwest. I figured I would keep doing kits for a while until I really get the hang of it.. before I start "building" my own kit (i.e. following other recipes and buying ingredients separately). Here is a label I made for the lemon:

 

[MetallHed]

I am planning on bottling on Thursday.

just a question for anyone following:

If I were to wash my bottles this weekend (dishsoap and water, then rinse), would I be okay to cover the tops with saran-wrap until I bottle? On bottling day I would soak about six bottles or so at a time in StarSan right up until I use them, use the six, soak more, repeat.

Sound okay?

 

[erkwist]

sounds good, or if you've got an awesome dishwasher like mine, load it up and run a cycle with no soap and make sure you have sanitize turned on. Or run it twice, once with and once without soap. I can fit all the bottles I need for a full batch except for 6 into the dishwasher

 

[MetallHed]

i have a dishwasher, her name is Megan, but she won't help with the bottles.

thanks for the tip!

 

[erkwist]

I didn't have a dishwasher till I bought a house, it came with a bonus, basement. really helps in the summer to keep temps in the right place.

 

[fatmoose]

Don't use soap, at least not the basic dish kind. It leaves a residue that's very hard to get off and tends to kill the head on your beer. Use some sort of non-foaming cleaner, PBW probably being the cleaner of choice. That's relatively expensive, lots of folks on the board use OxyClean or a generic similar, make sure it's the unscented variety.

 

[ctufano]

If you use oxyclean, try using a vinegar rinse after to get rid of the residue and tehn some water, then bottle day just sanitize a few, bottle, sanitize, bottle

 

[MetallHed]

my kit came with "Easy Clean" no-rinse cleanser.. how about that? otherwise i'll go get some oxi-clean

 

[MetallHed]

nevermind..

"read the stoopid label you stoopid idiot."

It's a bleaching compound that can be used for all brewing equipment, including SS..

... im going to use that then, cover 'em with the wrap, and use StarSan just before and during bottling.

 

[TheWeeb]

Enjoy the process of bottling, it is one step closer to the goal! It looks like you have the same starter kit that I purchased; one of the things I learned (from this forum) in between my first batch and my second, which I just bottled last night, was to attach the filling wand right to the valve on the bottling bucket:

This really made it easy to simply sit there and fill the bottles with barely any waste or mess.

 

[fatmoose]

my kit came with "Easy Clean" no-rinse cleanser.. how about that? otherwise i'll go get some oxi-clean

That ought to work fine.

 

[fatmoose]

Enjoy the process of bottling, it is one step closer to the goal! It looks like you have the same starter kit that I purchased; one of the things I learned (from this forum) in between my first batch and my second, which I just bottled last night, was to attach the filling wand right to the valve on the bottling bucket:

(Image link removed)

This really made it easy to simply sit there and fill the bottles with barely any waste or mess.

This works so well! I got the idea out of one of Revvy's threads, can't remember if it was his idea or someone else in the thread. For me I didn't even need hose clamps, the 3/8 hose piece slips snugly over my bottling wand and the tip of the valve on my bottling bucket. I had to run it under hot water for a minute or so to give it the needed stretch to get it on both of these so once it cools down it's quite snug.

 

[MetallHed]

Enjoy the process of bottling, it is one step closer to the goal! It looks like you have the same starter kit that I purchased; one of the things I learned (from this forum) in between my first batch and my second, which I just bottled last night, was to attach the filling wand right to the valve on the bottling bucket:

This really made it easy to simply sit there and fill the bottles with barely any waste or mess.

sweet!

i practiced earlier in the week with water for about an hour.. this looks way easier!

thanks!

 

[TheWeeb]

This works so well! I got the idea out of one of Revvy's threads, can't remember if it was his idea or someone else in the thread. For me I didn't even need hose clamps, the 3/8 hose piece slips snugly over my bottling wand and the tip of the valve on my bottling bucket. I had to run it under hot water for a minute or so to give it the needed stretch to get it on both of these so once it cools down it's quite snug.

The hose clamps are probably overkill I was just a bit paranoid about an accident and loosing PRECIOUS

 

[MetallHed]

Alrighty so I bottled my first brew on Sunday night. I was expecting it to be a lot worse... it wasn't that bad actually, but I had help. I'm just hoping that I didn't screw it up as far as oxidizing or causing an infection.. but i'm not going to worry about it. I soaked all the bottles in starsan as well as all of the equipment. Here are some pics:

Opened the primary and saw this... smelled GREAT

Boiling priming sugar

Racking into bottling bucket onto the sugar, auto siphon was niiiice, glad that came with the kit

Meg was sanitizing bottles. She handed me the bottles, i filled then handed back to her so she could cap them

Overall, not too bad.. will get better as we do more. Total time from set-up to clean-up was about 1.5 hours.. so it didnt take too long.

Can't wait to drink it.. c'mon few weeks!! On to the lemon coriander weiss in a week or two..

 

[MetallHed]

oh and the FG ended up being 1.0086 three days in a row. ABV about 3.8%

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

Wow, That is one precise hydrometer you have got there. Mine reads to about 1.00X and even then I am not always sure lol could be +/- .001

 

[MetallHed]

well it was between 1.006 and 1.008 so i figured 1.007. The temp was at 67 degrees, so I adjusted the reading to reflect the temp at 70 degrees as per the hydrometer instructions. so add .0016 to the hydro reading..

:rockin: