djhead
Active Member
Hello. For those I do not know, (should constitute just about everyone) my name is Daniel. I am a soldier stationed over in Ft Hood, Texas. I have been brewing (extracts and no-boils) for about 8 months now. I am going to relay, to the best of my ability, my very first partial mash experience, concluded abuot 20 minutes ago.
First, some disclaimers:
- I am on crutches from a nasty motorcycle wreck, this hindered my mobilities somewhat.
- I brewed alone. (what is a?) my SWBMO?? was away for the week
- I made many mistakes, some I will admit to, others, I hope you will point out so I may learn from them.
- By now I am a bit ****faced off of my blarg batch of bockbier (if you could call it that)
I received my missing yeast this afternoon at 3 o clock, and immediately smacked the pack of Wyeast 1005 German Ale, and set it in the fridge.
In the meantime I set out about warming two pots of water (2 gallons 180 degree sparge and 5 quarts 168 degree mash water.
Time passes and I see the yeast packet rising, signalling a "GO" to me, so I tie the grains in the provided muslin bag. Maintaining a steeping temp of 152-ish, i soak the bag for an hour, checking temp and stirring the bag/liquid every ten minutes. By now the house is filled with the amazingly sweet aroma of steeping grain. I am in awe.
When I go to move the bag into my collander for sparging, it sticks...... the bag has burnt to the bottom of the pot. After some scrambling, an spatula-ing, the bag releases, along with maybe 1/8 of its grain-guts, which i leave in the bottom of the pot, thinking it harmless.
I then sparge with 2 gallons of 180 degree water, bring the wort to a boil, and mix in my dry malt and a packet and a half of German Spaltz hops. (maybe 1.5 oz)
I boil for 45 min, stirring regularly before adding my 4 lbs of liquid malt and the rest of the hops packet, which i then stir, return to boil, and let cook for another 15 min.
I then took the pot of wort and placed it in an ice water bath, cooling to room temp (about 70 degrees).
I then added the wort to my primary, added my pitched yeast, and rocked the bucket back and forth on a skateboard, while covered without an airlock.
After 10 minutes of rocking out, I added an airlock and set it in a homemade evap cooler with a reg temp of 70-ish, where it sits now.
- When placing the airlock in the fermenter, the gasket punched out, and fell in. I saw no choice but to stick my sanitized hand in and get it back.
- Did leaving the burnt muslin bag portion in the pot, was that a bad idea?
-What about leaving the grain-guts?
and the kicker-------
My wife neglected to tell me that my thermometer had a protective sheath, which I discovered at the end, which insulated my readings by 10 degrees. Meaning my temps were hotter than I thought (thus the burnt bag)
How bad is my brew gonna be?
I finish with saying that I feel born again. Brewing extracts is NOTHING compared to the zen satisfaction I felt after todays 8+ jour brew session. After breathing in the hops, and the fresh wort, all beer tastes different now, even my own extract concoctions. Good or bad, this batch is mine, and I WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING LESS THAN PM AGAIN!!!!!
Thanks for your input!!!
SG - 1.060
First, some disclaimers:
- I am on crutches from a nasty motorcycle wreck, this hindered my mobilities somewhat.
- I brewed alone. (what is a?) my SWBMO?? was away for the week
- I made many mistakes, some I will admit to, others, I hope you will point out so I may learn from them.
- By now I am a bit ****faced off of my blarg batch of bockbier (if you could call it that)
I received my missing yeast this afternoon at 3 o clock, and immediately smacked the pack of Wyeast 1005 German Ale, and set it in the fridge.
In the meantime I set out about warming two pots of water (2 gallons 180 degree sparge and 5 quarts 168 degree mash water.
Time passes and I see the yeast packet rising, signalling a "GO" to me, so I tie the grains in the provided muslin bag. Maintaining a steeping temp of 152-ish, i soak the bag for an hour, checking temp and stirring the bag/liquid every ten minutes. By now the house is filled with the amazingly sweet aroma of steeping grain. I am in awe.
When I go to move the bag into my collander for sparging, it sticks...... the bag has burnt to the bottom of the pot. After some scrambling, an spatula-ing, the bag releases, along with maybe 1/8 of its grain-guts, which i leave in the bottom of the pot, thinking it harmless.
I then sparge with 2 gallons of 180 degree water, bring the wort to a boil, and mix in my dry malt and a packet and a half of German Spaltz hops. (maybe 1.5 oz)
I boil for 45 min, stirring regularly before adding my 4 lbs of liquid malt and the rest of the hops packet, which i then stir, return to boil, and let cook for another 15 min.
I then took the pot of wort and placed it in an ice water bath, cooling to room temp (about 70 degrees).
I then added the wort to my primary, added my pitched yeast, and rocked the bucket back and forth on a skateboard, while covered without an airlock.
After 10 minutes of rocking out, I added an airlock and set it in a homemade evap cooler with a reg temp of 70-ish, where it sits now.
- When placing the airlock in the fermenter, the gasket punched out, and fell in. I saw no choice but to stick my sanitized hand in and get it back.
- Did leaving the burnt muslin bag portion in the pot, was that a bad idea?
-What about leaving the grain-guts?
and the kicker-------
My wife neglected to tell me that my thermometer had a protective sheath, which I discovered at the end, which insulated my readings by 10 degrees. Meaning my temps were hotter than I thought (thus the burnt bag)
How bad is my brew gonna be?
I finish with saying that I feel born again. Brewing extracts is NOTHING compared to the zen satisfaction I felt after todays 8+ jour brew session. After breathing in the hops, and the fresh wort, all beer tastes different now, even my own extract concoctions. Good or bad, this batch is mine, and I WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING LESS THAN PM AGAIN!!!!!
Thanks for your input!!!
SG - 1.060
