bpac
Active Member
Hey everyone! My name is Brian.
A buddy and I have been talking about getting into homebrewing for years. We ran into a little extra money, so yesterday, we went to the supply store nearby and purchased a brewer's best starter set and 3 ingredient kits. (marzen, oatmeal stout, and an ipa) We figured we'd be done the brewing process right around Thanksgiving, and wanted to drink our fresh brew with our dinner, so we decided to start with the marzen.
Well, we started the sanitation process at 6pm. Not really having a clue what we would need that night, we sanitized EVERYTHING, including all the bottling parts that we won't be needing for weeks. After we started the process, we realized that we had to lager this with no means of doing so. Luckily, the directions said the yeast should work at ale temps, so we'll see. We had big plans to use filtered water to keep it fresh, but forgot to buy it. So, we broke out my Brita pitcher, and slowly filtered the water a quart at a time. Steeped the malt at the perfect temp; we were very proud of that since my stove is awful. Had a hell of a time getting the wort to a rolling boil, but figured it out. When it came time to cool the wort, we had the ice bath ready, but it seemed like it was taking forever. We kept checking the temp and knocking the thermometer into the cooling wort and having to get it out with a sanitized spatula. Except one time, I totally wasn't thinking, and reached in with my hand and pulled it out. (maybe we had a few too many brews during the process) Siphoned the wort to the primary and added the additional water to reach the OG. Yielded 4 gallons instead of 5. Pitched the yeast, however didn't rehydrate it. Then brought it down to my basement!
The time at this point: 1:30am. 7 and a half hours to brew 4 gallons of beer. However, we sure learned a lot of time-saving techniques during the process. I'm excited to see if even with all of these mistakes it turns out! I can't wait to try it!
A buddy and I have been talking about getting into homebrewing for years. We ran into a little extra money, so yesterday, we went to the supply store nearby and purchased a brewer's best starter set and 3 ingredient kits. (marzen, oatmeal stout, and an ipa) We figured we'd be done the brewing process right around Thanksgiving, and wanted to drink our fresh brew with our dinner, so we decided to start with the marzen.
Well, we started the sanitation process at 6pm. Not really having a clue what we would need that night, we sanitized EVERYTHING, including all the bottling parts that we won't be needing for weeks. After we started the process, we realized that we had to lager this with no means of doing so. Luckily, the directions said the yeast should work at ale temps, so we'll see. We had big plans to use filtered water to keep it fresh, but forgot to buy it. So, we broke out my Brita pitcher, and slowly filtered the water a quart at a time. Steeped the malt at the perfect temp; we were very proud of that since my stove is awful. Had a hell of a time getting the wort to a rolling boil, but figured it out. When it came time to cool the wort, we had the ice bath ready, but it seemed like it was taking forever. We kept checking the temp and knocking the thermometer into the cooling wort and having to get it out with a sanitized spatula. Except one time, I totally wasn't thinking, and reached in with my hand and pulled it out. (maybe we had a few too many brews during the process) Siphoned the wort to the primary and added the additional water to reach the OG. Yielded 4 gallons instead of 5. Pitched the yeast, however didn't rehydrate it. Then brought it down to my basement!
The time at this point: 1:30am. 7 and a half hours to brew 4 gallons of beer. However, we sure learned a lot of time-saving techniques during the process. I'm excited to see if even with all of these mistakes it turns out! I can't wait to try it!
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
