A story about my first Batch

[Paintchips37]

So I decided to start brewing. Problem is I live in Germany and there are no brew stores around here and I don't know anyone who brews. So I just decided to give it a go!

I was so pumped! I got a basic kit from midwest brew supplies and a Irish Cream Ale. I've read a lot of palmer, watched several youtube how to posts and when it all went down I screwed up almost ever step. (Check out my album for some pics)

Lets start shall we

1. Brand new aluminum pot with my turkey fryer and didn't oxidize it.

2. No idea how crushed those grains were supposed to be.

3. Took about 50 minutes to cool my wort. Only cooled it to 80 degrees thinking that was a general temp and not the minimun...also had to add some warm water that was boiling earlier to bring it up to 5 gallons and most likely raised the temp to an undesirable level.

4. Forgot to sanitize the top of my pot lid when I put it back on for cooling

5. Had to improvise and cool wort in bath tub by swishing it around, ensuring it was nice and oxidized before it cooled all the way. (Palmer says this provides a delectable hint of wet cardboard that floats on the front of your tongue and lasts through out the experience).

6. Poured all of my trub and gunk into the fermentor. Even poured it out of the fermentor and back into the pot and back into the fermentor to get it all and oxidize it. Not realizing until the next day that that wasn't ideal.

7. Slightly cracked bubbler while trying to put it into bubble hole...fixed with duct tape

8. Forgot to sterilize the outside of the yeast bag.

9. Been fermenting at temps around 74-76 degrees.


Now that I think I've identified most of my mishaps hopefully round two will run a little more smooth. I was going to put that we may have partook a little to freely in drinking beer while doing this for the first time but I don't think that's a negative. If we can't brew beer buzzed then I have no desire to continue this hobby. For one I think it may be impossible not to drink a beer during this process and two...well there is no two that first one pretty much covers it. Honestly though, none of the books or videos truly made sense until I got out and tried it.

I plan on continuing forth and bottling this beer. That is unless anyone has a blaring objection to this along the lines of I might die or the taste will make a beer angel lose her wings.

 

[verotik]

Dont worry about it. I did my first batch, Liberty Cream Ale, from Midwest a little over a month ago. I did do most of the stuff correctly, but i poured all the trub from the boil into the fermenter as well, and used all the hops as recommended. I tried one about a week after carbonation and it was very hoppy and i thought i really messed up using all the hops. Its been in the bottle about 2 1/2 weeks now and i cracked one open tonight. It was great. I bet it'll turn out great, so dont worry about it. You gotta learn somehow. Oh yeah, i also pitched the yeast at 78 degrees.

 

[Paintchips37]

Yeah to add I have no idea how to hydrometer so I just skipped it... do i have to buy a test tube or use the plastic case that it came in. Its a France Wine & Beer hydrometer

 

[Paintchips37]

Thanks for the support. At least that aluminum pot is oxidized now.

 

[nebben]

So I decided to start brewing. Problem is I live in Germany and there are no brew stores around here and I don't know anyone who brews. So I just decided to give it a go!

The land of beer! Sounds like a fun place, minus the LHBS's.

1. Brand new aluminum pot with my turkey fryer and didn't oxidize it.

2. No idea how crushed those grains were supposed to be.

3. Took about 50 minutes to cool my wort. Only cooled it to 80 degrees thinking that was a general temp and not the minimun...also had to add some warm water that was boiling earlier to bring it up to 5 gallons and most likely raised the temp to an undesirable level.

That shouldn't be a problem with the pot. If it isn't oxidized yet, just run a batch of water-only through it and boil for a little while before the next brew. As far as your grains go, was this an all grain batch, or a partial mash, or steeped grain recipe? If it is the latter, it probably doesn't matter much if you over-crush them. If you under-crush, you might miss a little flavor, but again it probably isn't much of a big deal. You'll definitely have beer!

4. Forgot to sanitize the top of my pot lid when I put it back on for cooling

I don't worry about this so much...even if it condenses on the lid and drips back in, the wort is still hot enough to kill some bad stuff that might fall back in.

5. Had to improvise and cool wort in bath tub by swishing it around, ensuring it was nice and oxidized before it cooled all the way. (Palmer says this provides a delectable hint of wet cardboard that floats on the front of your tongue and lasts through out the experience).

You do want to aerate the wort before you pitch the yeast- good on you! Aerating while the wort is hot/warm can be less than optimal, but I think it's still better than oxidizing the beer after it has fermented.

6. Poured all of my trub and gunk into the fermentor. Even poured it out of the fermentor and back into the pot and back into the fermentor to get it all and oxidize it. Not realizing until the next day that that wasn't ideal.

7. Slightly cracked bubbler while trying to put it into bubble hole...fixed with duct tape

No worries here!

8. Forgot to sterilize the outside of the yeast bag.

I think it is good practice to do this, but if not, it'll probably be fine. You introduced billions of yeast cells into the wort. Any bacteria or other crap that may have made it in will have to compete with billions of hungry yeasties...that produce alcohol that most bacteria doesn't like.

9. Been fermenting at temps around 74-76 degrees.

Now that I think I've identified most of my mishaps hopefully round two will run a little more smooth. I was going to put that we may have partook a little to freely in drinking beer while doing this for the first time but I don't think that's a negative. If we can't brew beer buzzed then I have no desire to continue this hobby. For one I think it may be impossible not to drink a beer during this process and two...well there is no two that first one pretty much covers it. ....

I'll have a beer or two during the brew session, but I definitely don't want to be drunk. A propane stove or burner in your kitchen is dangerous, and hot wort can severely injure you. My fermenters are glass, and I'm usually tired and have wet hands by the time I put the wort into them+ pitch yeast. Many items/processes in my brew-day can hurt me severely if I don't pay enough attention to caution. Just my .02 to be safe above all-else!

 

[Mmenges]

I think you'll be ok, it's harder to screw up then you might think and in the end you'll probably end up with a decent product. It only gets better from here and you will have a much better idea of what you're doing the next time you brew. You already have recognized many of your mistakes which is the first step to improvement. Good luck!

 

[Paintchips37]

Haha thanks for the safety tip. I'll ensure there is at least one of us as the designated brewer!

 

[android]

5. don't worry at all about this one, i'm probably the worst when it comes to hot side aeration and it hasn't affected any of my beers in the least.

the next few will get better!

 

[Paintchips37]

So really I never knew how incompetent I was at following directions until I started this batch of beer. Today I poured the priming sugar directly into the bottling bucket without making a solution first and all that sugar sat on the bottom of the bucket. I asked for help and it was suggested to bottle the beer and check on it in a few weeks, then add carbonation caps if it needs it.
That's what I'll do then. It will have to be at least three weeks anyway since it takes that long to get anything by mail....
I also dropped a bottle and it broke on my kitchen floor.
I'm a RN by trade so I'm glad I've never had problems like this at work or we would have a lot bigger issues than a flat bottle of beer.

Next beer I'm trying is a double IPA. Pray for me.
-Doug

 

[Edcculus]

Congrats on the first batch. I think everybody's first batch is a comedy of errors. It took me about 10 batches until I could brew in the kitchen without making the floor an ungodly sticky mess

Isn't that ironic though? Living in Germany, the Holy Grail of beer to us Americans, and there are no homebrewers or homebrew shops to be found?

 

[Chudz]

Heh, welcome to the wonderful experience that is brewing beer!