A few weeks ago I bought a Beer Equipment Kit True Brew kit that came with a ingredients for a Pale Ale. ( 6lbs Light DME, 1/2lb Carapils Grain, 1/2lb Crystal 20L Grains, 1oz Phoenix Pellet Hops, 1 package SafAle Yeast, tsp Brew Salts, tsp Irish Moss, 1 5oz Dextrose for priming)
Sunday, December 18th around 6pm I started brewing. Instructions called for bringing 2 gallons of water with the Brew Salts to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, stabilize the temp at 155, ad grain bag, and steep for 25 minutes. After steeping I took the bag out, poured a cup of hot water over the bag, then added the DME. After bringing the wort to a boil (potential screw up #1 the wort boiled over), turned it off and added half the hops. 50 minute boil, added the other half of the hops and Irish Moss for another 10 minutes. After an hour from the first time I added the first batch of hops, turned the heat off, and poured into the fermenting bucket with 3 gallons of cold water. It took about 2 hours to cool the mixture down to 80 degrees (which is the minimum temp listed in the instructions before pitching the yeast [potential screw up #2, too long to cool/pitch yeast at too high a temp]) Original gravity was 1.050 at 80 degrees. Because it was late and I hadn't read the instructions that well I drained out all the sanitizing solution I had made and did not put any in the airlock as the instructions stated (potential screw up #4, no Iodophor solution in airlock) Put in fermenting bucket and store in my closet. I placed a thermometer on top of the fermenting bucket and check the temp regularly (constant 68 degrees the 19th - 22nd). I got off early the 23rd, checked on the temp in my closet and it dropped to 62 (potential screw up #4, fermented below 66-75 degree recommendation) The instructions called for the brew to be in the fermenting bucket for 7 days, mine spent 7 & 1/2 before I bottled on Monday the 26th. I took a gravity reading just before bottling of 1.011 at 70 degrees. The last bottle didn't fill completely, so I drank it. It tasted a little hoppier than what I thought a pale ale would have been and had something I could only describe as a sour taste. The instructions call to bottle condition 7-10 days.
Questions about my first brew.
#1 - of the potential screw ups I've noticed, could any of them account for the sour taste I noticed before bottling?
#2 - since I haven't tasted the bottled product (bottles are on a closet shelf until at least Monday, at which point they are going to be chilled before consumption) could the flavors I noticed pre-bottling change?
#3 - I'm ready to start my 2nd batch. I've been reading on these boards about fermenting time and was wondering, am I doing anything wrong if I keep it in the "primary" longer than the given time on the instructions. Granted they didn't have the same brand of kit so this time I got BrewcraftUSA instead of True Brew which gives a longer brewing time.
#4 - any other advice you could give to a new home brewer? (not RHAHB, mine won't be ready til for another few days as far as I can tell)
Sunday, December 18th around 6pm I started brewing. Instructions called for bringing 2 gallons of water with the Brew Salts to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, stabilize the temp at 155, ad grain bag, and steep for 25 minutes. After steeping I took the bag out, poured a cup of hot water over the bag, then added the DME. After bringing the wort to a boil (potential screw up #1 the wort boiled over), turned it off and added half the hops. 50 minute boil, added the other half of the hops and Irish Moss for another 10 minutes. After an hour from the first time I added the first batch of hops, turned the heat off, and poured into the fermenting bucket with 3 gallons of cold water. It took about 2 hours to cool the mixture down to 80 degrees (which is the minimum temp listed in the instructions before pitching the yeast [potential screw up #2, too long to cool/pitch yeast at too high a temp]) Original gravity was 1.050 at 80 degrees. Because it was late and I hadn't read the instructions that well I drained out all the sanitizing solution I had made and did not put any in the airlock as the instructions stated (potential screw up #4, no Iodophor solution in airlock) Put in fermenting bucket and store in my closet. I placed a thermometer on top of the fermenting bucket and check the temp regularly (constant 68 degrees the 19th - 22nd). I got off early the 23rd, checked on the temp in my closet and it dropped to 62 (potential screw up #4, fermented below 66-75 degree recommendation) The instructions called for the brew to be in the fermenting bucket for 7 days, mine spent 7 & 1/2 before I bottled on Monday the 26th. I took a gravity reading just before bottling of 1.011 at 70 degrees. The last bottle didn't fill completely, so I drank it. It tasted a little hoppier than what I thought a pale ale would have been and had something I could only describe as a sour taste. The instructions call to bottle condition 7-10 days.
Questions about my first brew.
#1 - of the potential screw ups I've noticed, could any of them account for the sour taste I noticed before bottling?
#2 - since I haven't tasted the bottled product (bottles are on a closet shelf until at least Monday, at which point they are going to be chilled before consumption) could the flavors I noticed pre-bottling change?
#3 - I'm ready to start my 2nd batch. I've been reading on these boards about fermenting time and was wondering, am I doing anything wrong if I keep it in the "primary" longer than the given time on the instructions. Granted they didn't have the same brand of kit so this time I got BrewcraftUSA instead of True Brew which gives a longer brewing time.
#4 - any other advice you could give to a new home brewer? (not RHAHB, mine won't be ready til for another few days as far as I can tell)
