Second Batch is in the Bucket! Let's Review...

[project_dc1]

Well, the quest to make my super hoppy IPA continues. And based on the aroma I have going with this batch, I think I might have a winner! Did this one last night and WOW does my house still smell amazing!

Nothing complicated here, but I just want to double-check my procedure with some of you more experienced brewers.

Ingredients:

-3 qt. water in pot
-4 gallons water in bucket
-6 lbs. plain light dry malt extract
-1 lb. crystal malt in steeping bag
-1 oz. Columbus hop pellets (60 minutes)
-1 oz. Chinook hop pellets (60 minutes)
-1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (15 minutes)
-11.5 g dry ale yeast
-2 oz. American oak cubes (in bucket)

I had to substitute Columbus hops for the Magnums that I wanted, as the store was out of the Magnums and recommended the Columbus as a good substitute. Think that will be ok?

Process:

I steeped the crystal for 20 minutes on a simmer, then pulled it. I brought my wort to a boil and then added the 6 lbs. of dry malt, and my Columbus and Chinook hops for a 60 minute boil.

Once I brought it back to boiling, I had to constantly turn the stove on and off to avoid boil-over. Made sure to keep it rolling though. Generally speaking, how large a pot do you guys use to avoid boil-over, and how high do you have your flame going? I got a little nervous about having to control the boil so much.

With 15 minutes to go, I added in my Cascade hops. Kept stirring over the course of the boil.

After 60 minutes of boiling, I transfered the wort to the bucket. Let it sit until it got below 80 degrees, took my initial gravity (1.061) and pitched my yeast. Covered it for 10 minutes before stirring it in.

I sanitized and rinsed my American oak chips, and then steamed them for about 5 minutes. I then pitched them into the bucket.

Sealed her up, and she's bubbling like crazy today. I'm going for a 3 week fermentation. Would you recommend 3 weeks in the bucket, as well as 3 weeks in the bottles as well? My last beer carbonated in about 1 week, but I've seen a lot of you guys go longer.

So that's it! Thanks guys! Cheerz!

 

[malkore]

hot hot was the simmer? you need to watch the temperature. put grain in water above 170F and you can leech tannins out, which adds a weird astringent flavor to the beer.

what was the alpha acid percentage on the Columbus? Magnum is about 13%.

I wouldn't expect the hoppiness you're probably after. You had a very small boil volume, which hinders hop utilization. The bigger the brewpot you can use, the better. even for extract brewing. a cheap enameled pot (like you use for canning stuff) is a good start. You can also easily throw $100 at a brew pot.

next time, give the brew pot a cold water bath..get it down to under 90F before you pour it into the bucket. Hot side aeration can lower long term stability of the beer.

I would recommend it stay in the bucket until the hydrometer says its done. then i'd put it into secondary for a couple weeks. you might look into dry hopping in the secondary AFTER you taste it. if its lacking the hoppy character of a pale ale, dry hop.

all said, you did a good job. looks like you're keeping track of things properly, and log keeping is important...else you can't duplicate success or avoid mistakes in the future.

 

[PseudoChef]

3 qts isn't even a gallon. I would really recommend having a larger boil. Just bite the bullet and buy the biggest pot you can get (30qts or bigger). This is a great and addicting hobby and you're just bound to move onto bigger and better things in the future.

Bigger boils = better beer.

 

[project_dc1]

I'm definitely keeping very accurate records. I want to make sure everything is accurate, so I can duplicate a batch if I really dig it.

I don't know the temperature of the simmer during steeping. The guy at the store is really knowledgeable and just said to simmer it for about 20 minutes and it should be fine if I can't measure the temperature. I will have to invest in a thermometer though down the road.

The Columbus alpha acid was 13.6%. So cross those fingers.

I definitely need to get my wort cooler in the future. But I didn't have any problems with my previous batch, and I pitched my yeast when the wort was much hotter than this batch. I think I should be ok. But yes, definitely to be considering going forward.

How much water should I be boiling to get the hoppiness I'm looking for?

Thanks a lot man. I really appreciate the comments.

 

[DeathBrewer]

3 qts might be good for steeping your grains, but you'll want to raise your water to at least 2 gallons for your boil. you can still cool that amount in a sink or bathtub in a short period of time without a wort chiller.

you should buy a thermometer immediately. try to keep those steeping grains between 150 - 160 F

you can buy one like this at pretty much any store with kitchen supplies:

 

[Willy Boner]

tastybrew .com has some handy calculators to use for free. The bigger the boil, the better hop utilization, Full boils are best. Read up on late extract additions or texas two step technique. I bought a 33 qt pot at Fred Meyers for 30$. A spray bottle with water will take down boil overs I hear. Are you outside on a propane burner? Anyway I use about 3/4 to 1 gal.H2O for steeping and steep for about 30 to 45 mins. then I add the most water my pot will handle, get to boiling, add part of the extract return to heat get boil going again then add boling hops, add most of extract last 15 min of boil to sanitize. I always take pot off heat to stir in and dissolve extract ( keeps extract from scorching on bottom of pot.) I just got a 12 gal pot so all of my batches are full boils. I bought a laundry tub sink that I put my brew pot in to cool, stick the hose in and turn it on. Cools in about 45 mins., think I can cut that down by adding ice. Another thing is with full boils is to aerate the wort so your yeast has enough O2 to work. I pour mine through a strainer and whip the sh#^t out of it with whisk for a few mins. before pitching yeast

 

[project_dc1]

I'm taking everything into account guys. Thank you for the help. It's all a learning process.

I'm not doing this outdoors on propane. It's all indoors on my stove. So boil-over is a no-no. I gotta invest in a nice, big pot.

And from what you guys are saying, I definitely need to cool my wort down more before pitching. Is it safe to have ice in the water in the bucket?

 

[McKBrew]

Here are a couple threads that might help you decide if and how you want to cool with ice.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32197

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Ice_Bath

 

[Beerrific]

As far as the pot issue goes, I have the el cheapo turkey fryer ($30) set up from WalMart. It saw me through my last partial boils and into my all grain full boils. Works well and is cheaper than getting the pot alone from many other places.

 

[Trencher]

Definitely go for the turkey fryer. With Thanksgiving coming up they should be on sale... wait, are you USian?

After the fryer, a wort chiller is another great investment: http://www.bollweevilbrewery.com/index.php/articles-info/chiller

I've been supplementing my immersion chiller with nearly-frozen distilled water. Just as I start the brewing process I pour about 1/3 gal into a sanitized silicon loaf pan and put it into the freezer with the rest of the gallon. By the time I'm done boiling the loaf pan has a large brick of ice and the gallon jug is just getting frosty. Once the chiller brings my wort down to 100 degrees I toss in the ice water and can usually get it down to 80 in about 10 minutes.
Distilled water is a must for this, as it's been sanitized already. Otherwise you could boil some water for 20 minutes before putting it in the freezer.

 

[project_dc1]

Yeah I definitely need to get my wort cooler for future batches. I'll look into the chillers. But the distilled water ice seems like a good idea.

Quick question about water. How much do you guys generally have in the bucket, and have much do you have on the stove?

I've been doing 4 gallons in the bucket, and about 1 on the stove. But it sounds like I should really be doing more like 3 in the bucket, and 2 on the stove.

I've heard mixed things about water content. Some people have told me less is actually better on the stove. But I think you guys might feel differently.

In any event, my batch is fermenting, and the waiting game begins. I swear that's the hardest part.

 

[CBBaron]

Yeah I definitely need to get my wort cooler for future batches. I'll look into the chillers. But the distilled water ice seems like a good idea.
Quick question about water. How much do you guys generally have in the bucket, and have much do you have on the stove?
I've been doing 4 gallons in the bucket, and about 1 on the stove. But it sounds like I should really be doing more like 3 in the bucket, and 2 on the stove.
I've heard mixed things about water content. Some people have told me less is actually better on the stove. But I think you guys might feel differently.
In any event, my batch is fermenting, and the waiting game begins. I swear that's the hardest part.

For hoppy IPAs the more you can boil the better. Hop utilization saturates at about 100 IBUs. If you dilute 1 gal wort in 4gal water your maximum IBUs is going to be about 20. The flavor and aroma is going to be similarly affected. In addition the thick wort on your stove will further reduce utilization. You can offset this by adding most of your extract in the last 10 mins of the boil.
You can boil about 3 gal in a 20qt stock pot on mos stoves. These are not usually too hard to find in a cooking store and are usually pretty cheap. 30qt turkey fryers will allow you to boil 6gal down to 5gal but it can be difficult to cool 5gals of wort without a wort chiller.
I have a turkey fryer and immersion chiller that I use for full boils.

Craig

 

[project_dc1]

Thanks for the tips man.

Do you think this batch will make it?