CapnHook
Well-Known Member
Brew day started out peacefully. An ESB kit put together by Brew Bros in Portland - specialty grains, LME, freeze-dried Goldings, and S-04. Brought down to Costa Rica several months ago, and I procrastinated brewing.
I decided to add the LME at flame out rather than at the beginning of the boil (which was suggested in the instructions).
We live at 4000 feet (1200 meters), so we're up in the sky. Some time during the 6o minute boil, the sky opened, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. It was a tropical deluge. There were a half dozen lightning strikes with less than a second before the thunder crashed. Scary. I was brewing outside on our covered terrazza, but I didn't like lightning that close to my brew pot and propane tank!
I'm calling my brew "Three Inch ESB" because the rain gauge had more than 3" of rain before the end of the boil. 3" in less than an hour!
Now to flameout. Opened the bucket of LME - which had a tightly sealed lid - and started pouring the syrup into the boil pot. "There's mold in it!" said my lovely brew assistant. Oh sh*t, there is! So we quit pouring the LME, sterilized a spoon and scooped out about 10 pieces of mold about a quarter to a third inch in diameter. I looked in the LME bucket, and there were a number of mold circles clinging to the bucket sides, except for the swath that had been cleaned when I started pouring without checking closely enough.
So, it's too late to worry, we decided. We sterilized a clean steel colander and poured the rest of the LME (down the one clean swath) into the wort. I started the burner again and brought the wort to a boil, and did a hearty boil for 10 minutes, hoping that would kill any mold that had sneaked by us.
Then we cooled quickly down to about 80 degrees, and a little more slowly down to 70. Rehydrated the S-04, and pitched at 69 degrees after aerating with O2. I plan on fermenting in the primary only for about 4 weeks at a temp in the low to mid-60s.
I'm hoping for the best!
Main lesson learned: Don't procrastinate! Brew soon!
Comments welcome regarding my handling of the little mold rafts in the LME.
Thanks!
I decided to add the LME at flame out rather than at the beginning of the boil (which was suggested in the instructions).
We live at 4000 feet (1200 meters), so we're up in the sky. Some time during the 6o minute boil, the sky opened, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. It was a tropical deluge. There were a half dozen lightning strikes with less than a second before the thunder crashed. Scary. I was brewing outside on our covered terrazza, but I didn't like lightning that close to my brew pot and propane tank!
I'm calling my brew "Three Inch ESB" because the rain gauge had more than 3" of rain before the end of the boil. 3" in less than an hour!
Now to flameout. Opened the bucket of LME - which had a tightly sealed lid - and started pouring the syrup into the boil pot. "There's mold in it!" said my lovely brew assistant. Oh sh*t, there is! So we quit pouring the LME, sterilized a spoon and scooped out about 10 pieces of mold about a quarter to a third inch in diameter. I looked in the LME bucket, and there were a number of mold circles clinging to the bucket sides, except for the swath that had been cleaned when I started pouring without checking closely enough.
So, it's too late to worry, we decided. We sterilized a clean steel colander and poured the rest of the LME (down the one clean swath) into the wort. I started the burner again and brought the wort to a boil, and did a hearty boil for 10 minutes, hoping that would kill any mold that had sneaked by us.
Then we cooled quickly down to about 80 degrees, and a little more slowly down to 70. Rehydrated the S-04, and pitched at 69 degrees after aerating with O2. I plan on fermenting in the primary only for about 4 weeks at a temp in the low to mid-60s.
I'm hoping for the best!
Main lesson learned: Don't procrastinate! Brew soon!
Comments welcome regarding my handling of the little mold rafts in the LME.
Thanks!
