Newbie from North Carolina

[TarVolon]

Greetings (is that the most used noun in this subforum?)!

Working on my first batch right now, hoping I didn't screw anything up (from browsing, I'm seeing the answer is I didn't). Been browsing here for a couple weeks, finally decided to sign up. Awesome site.

 

[mvcorliss]

Welcome to the addiction. You will find that it takes some real doing to totally screw up a batch. On the other hand it takes some real doing to keep getting better each and every batch!

 

[TarVolon]

Welcome to the addiction. You will find that it takes some real doing to totally screw up a batch. On the other hand it takes some real doing to keep getting better each and every batch!

Thanks! And I think I'm already getting the addiction part. Right now, I'm simultaneously

1. Hoping I can use the bottlecapper right (today is my first bottling day)
2. Hoping I sanitized all the bottles properly (used dishwasher, heat cycle, no detergent, but there were an awful lot of bubbles for not putting any detergent in. Ran it twice just in case)
3. Planning for my second extract batch, which I hope to have ready in time for Dad's birthday (May 21)
4. Trying to figure out how to get into AG, which I'd like to do starting in May when school lets out.

Am I hopeless already?

 

[brew4thewife]

Welcome! Another NC member here as well. As for the dishwasher did you make sure that there wasn't any rinse agent in the door as well as not using any detergent. Right now I'm trying to get all of my rinse agent out. Stuff never seems to make a difference anyway.

 

[TarVolon]

Welcome! Another NC member here as well. As for the dishwasher did you make sure that there wasn't any rinse agent in the door as well as not using any detergent. Right now I'm trying to get all of my rinse agent out. Stuff never seems to make a difference anyway.

There was nothing in anywhere. My sister and I are the only ones who live here, and we don't even own rinse agent. I'm guessing just detergent that didn't fully rinse out from the last cycle is what caused the bubbles. Hope it's not a big problem. Next time, I'm buying Star-San. Bleach as the only sanitizer is a pain in the ass (he says as an hour passes in the wait for sterilized rinsing water to cool down after boiling)

 

[Jtd6628]

Welcome. I am in Durham too. You shop at bull city Homebrew? If you use this forum you should have no problem going AG by May. I did one extract then four partial batches BIAB and now I do AG with a 10 gallon cooler mash tun and a split boil on my range in a super small apartment.

 

[kapbrew13]

Welcome !! Nothing beats starsan and don't fear the foam.

 

[TarVolon]

Welcome. I am in Durham too. You shop at bull city Homebrew? If you use this forum you should have no problem going AG by May. I did one extract then four partial batches BIAB and now I do AG with a 10 gallon cooler mash tun and a split boil on my range in a super small apartment.

Nice. I'm definitely doubtful that my little stove will be able to get me to AG without a split boil. I keep reading DeathBrewer's AG BIAB thread and wondering whether I should try that or try building a mash tun. I keep having to remind myself that this is two batches down the road. If I'm not focusing on this one, I should at least focus on the next one. haha

I haven't been to Bull City HB yet (just got a True Brew starter kit for Christmas), but I plan on doing it after spring break to pick up some Star-San, a proper blowoff tube, a proper hydrometer-reading tube, and supplies for batch #2

 

[Jtd6628]

a proper blowoff tube

A three piece air lock and the tubbing that came with you kit for bottling works fine I did this for my most recent batch just to play it safe at SG. 1.081 IIPA. It fermented hard for 10 days with no blow off.

 

[TarVolon]

That's actually exactly what I did. . . after I cleaned krausen off the ceiling. But I figured getting a bigger tube would be good in case the fermentation is that vigorous again. I can imagine the 3/8 siphon tube gets clogged up more easily.

 

[TarVolon]

Well, bottling day is over and I now have one more thing to worry about:

OG of 1.051, FG of 1.021. I don't expect to have to worry about bottle bombs, because I waited 17 days before bottling and I'm pretty sure it was done whatever it was doing, but I do hope the resulting beer isn't undrinkably sweet.

 

[jesse55lv]

Congrats on getting to the bottling stage. I'm sure the beer will turn out just fine. After 12 brews I haven't had one that has been undrinkable (though some are certainly better than others).

 

[Kegcowboy]

Welcome TarVolon