Very First Brew Day

[StateRoad84]

Yesterday I got my order from Northern Brewer and have been chomping at the bit to get started. I got the Go Pro 1 gallon kit with the Chinook IPA. Everything is laid out on the counter and I'm ready to get brewing. This is a hobby I've wanted to do for a very long time (If I said how long it would give away my age...I'm old).

 

[plazola86]

Good luck. I see upgrades in your future...lots and lots of them.

 

[StateRoad84]

Good luck. I see upgrades in your future...lots and lots of them.

Yea, but not in size of batches...just more 1 gallon fermentors. Oh, and I need an STC 1000 for my freezer in the garage. Oh, and I need testing equipment. Oh, and I need......

 

[plazola86]

LOL that's how it all starts!

 

[StateRoad84]

Here are my thoughts on my first brew day. I may have made some mistakes, as expected for my first try. I made the effort to make sure all was sanitized for the wort transfer...darned if I didn't remember the scissors and used them to cut my yeast packet. Backing up, I lost more volume then expected to evaporation, I did not have enough extra water boiled and cooled down so I added from the jug of store bought spring water I used for the batch to bring it up to the 1 gallon. It is now in the fermenter, so hopefully we will see some action in the next 24 hours. All in all a good hands on for my first brew ever.

 

[plazola86]

Nice! You'll be drinking proud in a couple weeks.

 

[NSMikeD]

Yea, but not in size of batches...just more 1 gallon fermentors. Oh, and I need an STC 1000 for my freezer in the garage. Oh, and I need testing equipment. Oh, and I need......

so true

 

[ChelisHubby]

GO slow and relax if you have the fermentation tempature below 70 and if you are clean the beer will be fine. But if you drink or have family that drinks then the 1 gallon batches will be up graded to larger. Keep reading the forums and you will gain alot of knowledge that you can use later or sooner.

 

[Calder]

Yea, but not in size of batches...just more 1 gallon fermentors.

All that effort for 10 bottles, when, with just a little more effort you can make 50 ........... I admire your conviction, and I don't know your particular circumstances, but I think it would be a pretty safe bet that most people would quickly upgrade to larger 5 gallon batches.

 

[JDXX1971]

WooooooHooot!!!!!!!!!!

Have fun man, I am seriously surprised at how good the beer we have made so far is. You are going to love it. But dont be afraid. Come to the darkside, YOU NEED EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!! MMMMWWWWWWWAAAAAAA

 

[MaryB]

Good choice of kit! That was one of my NB favorites! RDWHAHB and let it do its thing without messing with it!

 

[StateRoad84]

After 8 hours it started bubbling and has started to form a Krausen cap. This morning when I got up it is very active. Because of the equipment I have available I am staying with 1 gallon brews, however I will brew more often and am getting additional 1 gallon fermenters

 

[StateRoad84]

It's not a lot of work, it's a lot of fun!

 

[Brownalemikie]

Yesterday I got my order from Northern Brewer and have been chomping at the bit to get started. I got the Go Pro 1 gallon kit with the Chinook IPA. Everything is laid out on the counter and I'm ready to get brewing. This is a hobby I've wanted to do for a very long time (If I said how long it would give away my age...I'm old).

Well, I'm 63 and just started brewing last June and only wish I'd started a long time ago

 

[MrAverageGuy]

All that effort for 10 bottles, when, with just a little more effort you can make 50 ........... I admire your conviction, and I don't know your particular circumstances, but I think it would be a pretty safe bet that most people would quickly upgrade to larger 5 gallon batches.

Staying small (at least for a while) does mean more frequent brewing, more variety, and getting more experience faster...

 

[StateRoad84]

Just got done bottling up my first brew. Had a small amount left after getting 9 bottles from a 1 gallon batch and of course had to taste it. Aside from the fact that it was warm flat beer my wife and I ended with the consensus that it was bitter. Yea of course, it's an IPA with Chinook. Got the piney, not so much grapefruit and got the spicy. Can't wait for the conditioning period to try a carbonated cold one, maybe after a week? Did you say "more frequent brewing", after cleaning up from bottling started a gallon batch of NB Saison au Miel.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I too have the northern Brewer go pro one gallon kit. I also bought an extra little big mouth bubbler. Just brewed the Chinook IPA earlier today.

 

[StateRoad84]

I too have the northern Brewer go pro one gallon kit. I also bought an extra little big mouth bubbler. Just brewed the Chinook IPA earlier today.

Another Little Big Mouth Bubbler is on my list also. If you plan on going all grain you can do 1.25 gallon batches in those:rockin:. So with two you can have 2.5 from two brew sessions. I have three items I need to get to go AG, I'm chomping at the bit. Your Chinook should be bubbling away, have fun

 

[JDXX1971]

Another Little Big Mouth Bubbler is on my list also. If you plan on going all grain you can do 1.25 gallon batches in those:rockin:. So with two you can have 2.5 from two brew sessions.

I have three items I need to get to go AG, I'm chomping at the bit.

Your Chinook should be bubbling away, have fun

Go for it!!!!!!

 

[MaryB]

I use 1 gallon carboys for recipe development, scale up if it is tasty! So not a bad investment! Plus I use them for my mulberry morat(under development, last batch was okay but still needs work)

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I just brewed the Chinook IPA yesterday. I have the same go pro one gallon kit as well. I ordered an extra little big mouth bubbler, & the super agata bench capper too. Prior to this I was brewing all caned extract. My first brew day with Northern Brewer went well. So far I'm really liking their products.

 

[curtisbrewer]

i started with 5 gallons , thought 10 gallons would make satisfy my needs, already wish i went 1/2 barrel ! 1 gallon will suffice , if your brewing everyday haha. glad to see another brewer among us

 

[alexnova]

Having a few gallon bottles of distilled water around is always a good idea. Only took me 5 or 6 batches to get that idea.

Sounds like you are doing alright so far.

 

[StateRoad84]

Chinook IPA

View attachment 1493327161890.jpg

 

[sbsmann]

So it looks nice. How did it taste after carbonation? I am bottling my first batch of the Chinook IPA this weekend. This is also my first batch and the only thing I would have done differently is skip the racking to the secondary. That my have been the one area where I might have contaminated or over oxygenated the brew with some siphon problems. Seems like the secondary fermenter is more hassle and risk than it's worth.

 

[StateRoad84]

So it looks nice. How did it taste after carbonation? I am bottling my first batch of the Chinook IPA this weekend. This is also my first batch and the only thing I would have done differently is skip the racking to the secondary. That my have been the one area where I might have contaminated or over oxygenated the brew with some siphon problems. Seems like the secondary fermenter is more hassle and risk than it's worth.

The taste was very good. That was actually not the first one I had, but I wanted to post a pic of my very first batch. From what I have learned on HBT is that secondary is becoming less common. I did not move to a secondary.

 

[sweed]

From my past experience the strong bitterness goes away after a few weeks in the bottle, so I wouldn't worry about that.
I thought about brewing 2-3 gallon batches, keeps the cost down, esp if you love making higher abv beers.

 

[ircbrewing]

The taste was very good. That was actually not the first one I had, but I wanted to post a pic of my very first batch. From what I have learned on HBT is that secondary is becoming less common. I did not move to a secondary.

Congrats! Looks great! Nice head on that one.

Good call on the skipping secondary. I have never racked and all of my beers have been perfectly fine. Letting beer sit on the yeast for more than 2-3 months is where you start getting into sketchy territory. 2 weeks is plenty fine. Not to mention transferring increases infection opportunities.

Any chance you will look at all grain brew in a bag? 1 gallon BIAB would be a blast and give you full control over your mash. I would suggest a couple more extract kits to nail your practices down and then spend the $15 for a bag and make the jump to all grain. That's literally all it takes. You'll also save money as extract is more expensive than grains.

Welcome to the hobby!

 

[StateRoad84]

Any chance you will look at all grain brew in a bag? 1 gallon BIAB would be a blast and give you full control over your mash. I would suggest a couple more extract kits to nail your practices down and then spend the $15 for a bag and make the jump to all grain. That's literally all it takes. You'll also save money as extract is more expensive than grains.

Already made the move. Brewed my first AG yesterday https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=627008. I am gonna focus on doing some SMaSH's and "Brew on the ones" just to get comfortable with base grain and hop relationships. I also want to get more into water chem. Right now I am using the stove top mash method and it worked real well yesterday, although a bit cumbersome. I had a bit of trub that made it into the fermenter, which the yeast had to push up through. It took longer then I thought it would, but it is finally working away with a healthy looking krausen. I want better filtering so when I get my cooler mash tun put together i am also gonna get a bag.

Cheers

 

[ircbrewing]

Don't worry about trub making it into the fermentor. I recently learned it has little to no negative effect on the beer. Brulosophy did a study on is where they brewed one batch with no trub and one batch with trub in the fermentor. No big difference between the two. I looked into it because I was frustrated by coming under my final volume due to trub loss and being afraid to stir my wort around my chiller for fear of screwing up the trub catching the cold break and the proteins not settling. Turns out it is a nonissue. Knowing this will knock about an hour off my brew day for cooling and transfer time.

 

[StateRoad84]

Just opened the Saison au Miel after only five days after bottling and it tasted fantastic!

 

[StewMakesBrew]

I understand the desire to limit gear, be able to do it in the kitchen, etc., but 1 gallon of home brew hardly seems worth the effort. I've been doing 5 gallon batches from the very beginning and I go through so damn much beer (a 5 gallon keg a month) between myself, my sons and my friends) that I'm considering bouncing up to 10 gallon batches.

 

[r4dyce]

I understand the desire to limit gear, be able to do it in the kitchen, etc., but 1 gallon of home brew hardly seems worth the effort. I've been doing 5 gallon batches from the very beginning and I go through so damn much beer (a 5 gallon keg a month) between myself, my sons and my friends) that I'm considering bouncing up to 10 gallon batches.

I get that side of it too, but I absolutely love brewing small batches. I have all the gear to do up to 5 but I very rarely brew anything over 2.5 gallons. 2 Main reasons
1. Is I just don't need that much beer. I really don't want 50 of the same beer. But that's just my situation. I don't drink a ton and I don't have a bunch of people around readily to share it with. 10 bottles will last me a month.
2. Easiness and variety. Variety is way more important to me than quantity. Even commercial stuff I rarely buy the same beer more than once or twice. I'd rather try something new. Doing 1 gal all grain batches I can keep everything in my kitchen , easily brew on weeknights, do multiple brew days in an afternoon, and could even run multiple mashes simultaneously on my stove top. Small batch starts to get pretty cheap too when a 1oz bag of hops lasts multiple batches, and you're only using half a yeast pack, even less if you reuse.

I dunno, sorry didn't mean to sound preachy. Great thing about the brewing hobby is it's certainly scalable and everyone can get into in by whatever means they find best.

 

[MizzouFermentationScience]

another new brewer with an unhealthy relationship with sanitation. If anyone ever told me to sanitize my scissors I would immediately stab them directly in the eyeball. Be reasonably clean and it will all work out.

 

[BrewKnurd]

another new brewer with an unhealthy relationship with sanitation. If anyone ever told me to sanitize my scissors I would immediately stab them directly in the eyeball. Be reasonably clean and it will all work out.

So you'll be stabbing the good folks at white labs if you ever run into them, I assume.

 

[StateRoad84]

I get that side of it too, but I absolutely love brewing small batches. I have all the gear to do up to 5 but I very rarely brew anything over 2.5 gallons. 2 Main reasons
1. Is I just don't need that much beer. I really don't want 50 of the same beer. But that's just my situation. I don't drink a ton and I don't have a bunch of people around readily to share it with. 10 bottles will last me a month.
2. Easiness and variety. Variety is way more important to me than quantity. Even commercial stuff I rarely buy the same beer more than once or twice. I'd rather try something new. Doing 1 gal all grain batches I can keep everything in my kitchen , easily brew on weeknights, do multiple brew days in an afternoon, and could even run multiple mashes simultaneously on my stove top. Small batch starts to get pretty cheap too when a 1oz bag of hops lasts multiple batches, and you're only using half a yeast pack, even less if you reuse.

I dunno, sorry didn't mean to sound preachy. Great thing about the brewing hobby is it's certainly scalable and everyone can get into in by whatever means they find best.

My last AG batch I only pitched 2.5 grams out of an 11.5 gram packet of US-05. The kits suggest pitching half the packet, I still contend that is over-pitching. I went by a pitch calculator, it took longer to get going but was the most active ferm I have witnessed so far.

 

[r4dyce]

My last AG batch I only pitched 2.5 grams out of an 11.5 gram packet of US-05. The kits suggest pitching half the packet, I still contend that is over-pitching. I went by a pitch calculator, it took longer to get going but was the most active ferm I have witnessed so far.

Oh yea, it's absolutely over-pitching. I've done the same thing before but more often I just don't take the time to measure and just throw in roughly half or a dry or wet pack. To my knowledge , and I might be wrong, there's no real negative side effects of over pitching other than using up more yeast. My fermentations are always active and rapid. I like to take good notes on my brew days but I'm definitely not as scientific as I could be. I've been very satisfied with my results so far so I haven't felt the need to dig into minutia of pitch rate, mash pH, water chemistry etc.

Back to the OP that's another thing you will find about brewing: on the surface you can make it as simple as you want. But, there's tons and tons of depth to it and you can dig in and get as geeky into the science of it as you want to, but you don't have to.

 

[MizzouFermentationScience]

So you'll be stabbing the good folks at white labs if you ever run into them, I assume.

Absolutely. Explain to me the reasoning that a clean, dry surface of scissors harbors 1. A significant load of fermentative microbes 2. Microbes that would/could grow in wort next to BILLIONS of specially selected sach with kill factors and placed in their ideal medium. The dirtiest surface in your house is probably your cell phone, should we boil them before checking our brew timers?

 

[BrewKnurd]

The dirtiest surface in your house is probably your cell phone, should we boil them before checking our brew timers?

I mean, if you're going to throw your cell phone into your fermentation, you should probably do something to deal with those microbes first. I assume that's not your plan, tho. Not, I assume, do you plan on dunking your hand in your wort after grabbing your filthy phone.

Admittedly, that's a lot of assumptions for me to make.

 

[Bullshivit-brew]

I understand the desire to limit gear, be able to do it in the kitchen, etc., but 1 gallon of home brew hardly seems worth the effort. I've been doing 5 gallon batches from the very beginning and I go through so damn much beer (a 5 gallon keg a month) between myself, my sons and my friends) that I'm considering bouncing up to 10 gallon batches.

Man I kill a 5gal keg every 2 weeks! time to get a 10 gal set up

Glad you are having fun and your beer is coming out good. Be careful this hobby will consume you