Comment on first time brew

[Srceenplay]

Made my first beer Sunday. American light ale. Came with the kit I bought. Started at 3:30 and ended about 10:30. They kit I have is for a full boil. Nice big stainless steel pot. Put it on the stove, add six gallons of water and started steeping grains for 30 min while I wait for a boil. About two hours later I thought I was about to have a boil (maybe getting impatient) so took it off the heat and stirred in the extract. After that back to the heat it goes. Now waiting for that rolling boil. Still waiting. Ok now it's about eight o'clock and I notice my water level is dropping and still don't have a rolling boil. Might be called a lite boil. Either way I decide I have to move on. Put in 1/2 ounce of cascade for an hour then another ounce for last minute and a half. Put a wort chiller in with 20 min left of the cook and start to chill at 9. Took about an hour to get it down to 75*. Put it in the carboy. Splash it around good. Pitched yeast. Stopper. Airlock with vodka and done. Wait now gotta carry it downstairs. Then on the walk I see vodka dripping down the airlock into beer. XD
The color is a dark amber color. OG was 48. It is bubbling. temp is 73*

Well not the way I wanted my first to be. I know I Ned a burner now. Stove won't cut it. Any other thoughts?

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

you can do a smaller boil on the stove top then add water. you won't get the best hop utilization but it can be done. that is called a partial boil. getting the rolling boil helps take out DMS (dimethel sulphide, sp.) so with a lake of rolling boil you may get an off flavor on this first one. but you will learn some of these items as you go through this process.

good sites to add to your list

www.tastybrew.com
www.homebrewzone.com/off-flavors.htm

don't throw it away. patience is a virtue and will heal your beer.

i heard somewhere on here that homebrewing is like beer-league softball.

You do good; you get beer!!
You do bad; you get beer!!

p.s. vodka in beer is not enough to cause off flavor

 

[frazier]

If you are limited to doing it in the kitchen, you could switch to partial boil - about 3 gallons instead of 6, then at the end you can top it up with pre-chilled water. You may need to bump up the hops a bit, since the higher gravity of the boil will reduce hops utilization.

Or, boil two pots on two burners - this is what I do.

Well not the way I wanted my first to be.

Actually, it sounds like it went pretty well! You sidestepped a lot of first-time brewing problems, and have a bubbling brew. Congrats!

 

[kh54s10]

I think nothing major wrong here. I would suggest setting up a swamp cooler if you haven't already and getting the wort temp into the mid 60's.

A suggestion for moving the carboy - use a sanitized piece of aluminum foil while moving and install the airlock or blow off tube after getting the carboy in its place.

I use the partial boil method on my stove also and top off after cooling. It has worked well so far. Saving up for more equipment.

 

[Srceenplay]

I have an old turkey deep frier burner in storage some where. Need to find it and see how long that takes to get a boil. It was a light American ale. I was expecting a golden color but it's dark amber. Was I wrong to expect that, is it because I cooked to long, or will it clear up? The recipe estimated OG was 38-42. I'm higher is that normal or something wrong I did? I'll try to cool it down after work if it's still worth it after two days if going.

 

[frazier]

Don't try to judge the color of a beer by the color of the carboy. It will look MUCH lighter in the glass. Don't worry!

 

[mychalg9]

I have to use 2 burners on my stove to get a boil. I straddle the pot between the front and back burners. Is that an option for you?

 

[Srceenplay]

No. It's an electric stove. Plus right above it is a microwave. It's an eight gallon pot, so the top of it is close to the bottom of the micro wave. Just don't think the electric is powerful enough. Using a temp gin I could see the temp at the center of the wort was around 200 but the temps to the sides where 180-190

 

[phenry]

A propane burner is a good investment IMHO. I did my first brew on stove top and it took forever to boil as well. Next time bought a Bayou Classic SP10 and haven't had to wait nearly that long ever again. They're especially helpful if you're brewing all grain, since you need to heat up strike water, sparge water, and then boil your wort.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

Turkey fryer will heat it up fast and get you a good boil going. watch for boilovers, which can happen VERY fast with the cookers. keep a spray bottle of water close to knock it down. and you will need to keep an eye on the heat as well.

 

[hector]

you can do a smaller boil on the stove top then add water. you won't get the best hop utilization but it can be done. that is called a partial boil. getting the rolling boil helps take out DMS (dimethel sulphide, sp.) so with a lake of rolling boil you may get an off flavor on this first one.

As far as it's an extract batch , there is no need to worry about DMS .

I've done partial boil several times with my extract batches and I've never had DMS problem .

Hector

 

[Hang Glider]

Okay, Srceenplay

1) WELCOME to HBT!

2) secondary to your boiling problem is your fermenting temp - you state 73F

What does your yeast say is optimal? (check the mfg website)
what kind of thermometer tells you 73? a stick-on? (active fermentation will raise the internal temps well above ambient temps - 5-10F !

Look into temp control for your fermentation as well as the boiling suggestions above.

 

[Srceenplay]

Thanks for all the replies.

I was using a temperature gun to get my ferm temp. It was bubbling good. Last night I put it in a big bucket half full of water and ice bottles. This morning I checked it again and the temp was down to 63. Now bubbling a lot slower.

P.S. I was using a stick in thermometer and gun when checking the temp during cooking. The readings where pretty close together +\- 2*

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

Hector,

DMS is present and produced in all types of brewing.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/DMS

you always leave the boil uncovered for the DMS to evaporate off. and then cool your wort fast to prevent more being produced at optimal temps. extract or all grain, DMS is present and a rolling boil off-gasses this volatile chemical better.

 

[Srceenplay]

Well a little follow up. I let I stay in the carboy for 16 days. FH .011. Very strong smell. Alcohol maybe.?. Bottled about 4gallons. It's been ten days and I'm impatient. Opened a bottle. Very little carb. Dark amber color. Strong smell. Has a strong sour and maybe alcohol taste. Not very good. It has talked me in to waiting a long while to try it again. Maybe by then it will be better.

 

[Pilotpip]

Time is your friend.

 

[lgilmore]

I used a turkey fryer set up. It cost about $60 and takes about 15 minutes to hit boil. Doesn't eat propane, gets me out of the kitchen and out of my wife's irritation zone.

 

[Hang Glider]

Well a little follow up. I let I stay in the carboy for 16 days. FH .011. Very strong smell. Alcohol maybe.?. Bottled about 4gallons. It's been ten days and I'm impatient. Opened a bottle. Very little carb. Dark amber color. Strong smell. Has a strong sour and maybe alcohol taste. Not very good. It has talked me in to waiting a long while to try it again. Maybe by then it will be better.

Maybe not the best beer, but you made beer. My first wasn't very good either.
Now...learn PATIENCE - 10 days is not enough for carbonation. you need 11 more. (3 weeks in the bottle at 70F). That will help with the alcohol taste, too. You're drinking it too young.

To get a lighter beer, add the extract AFTER the hops - like in the last 20 minutes. Cooking the extract for an hour absolutely makes it darker, in spite of what any instructions tell you.

Next time, check the manufacturer site for your yeast strain, get your temps to the bottom of the range - because active fermentation raises the internal temps anywhere from 5-10F !!!

Regarding the sour smell - sanitize sanitize sanitize. You may be okay, we can't really diagnose that for you, but always put sanitizing in the front of every process, no shortcuts.

 

[Srceenplay]

I knew ten days was not enough. I have never tried a ten day old beer. Learn things from new experiences.
I keep a bucket of star-San next to me through start to finish, so I hope that's not my problem.
Next batch is bubbling away. Temp has been at a constant 64-65 in a swamp bucket and fan. Hope that what makes a difference.

 

[mlyday]

Something doesnt seem right. That is way to dark for an american light ale. I wouldnt think even 5 hours on the stove would do that.

I did my first brew on the stove, and went out the next day a bought a turkey fryer.

 

[unionrdr]

I have an electric stove as well. I use a 20qt SS stock pot to do partial boils of 2.5-3G. I just don't put all the malt extracts in at the beginning. But rather,1.5lbs of the 3lb of plain DME to do hop additions after a little hot break.
Then,when my hop additions are done,I add the remaining DME & the can(s) of LME. Let the BK steep for 15 minutes or so while I sanitize the fermenter one last time. Then put the BK in the sink for an ice water bath. I found ice 1st,then top off with water to be the best way. Duuuh!. Cools down to 68F in 20 minutes flat. Comes out great,lots of hop flavors,decent aroma. Dry hopping is way better for aroma.
So partial boils done this way get good utilization ime.

 

[LandoLincoln]

DMS has a low boiling point (around 100°F if I remember correctly) so you don't need a rolling boil to disperse DMS. And if you're doing extract, you most likely don't need to worry about DMS in the first place since they already took care of that when they made the extract for you.

But a good vigorous boil is needed to isomerize the hop oils, so if I were you I'd either do a partial boil or I'd get a propane burner and brew in the garage or outside.

 

[kh54s10]

I have been using Northern Brewer Extract kits. They are designed for partial boils and topping off. They work great on my glass top stove. With the LME the beers are a bit darker than all grain, but I don't care about that. I've done 4 and all have turned out great.
I have a partial mash Belgian Dubbel in secondary and Speckled Heifer partial mash kit for tonight or tomorrow morning.
I have ordered ingredients for a partial mash Pale Ale and an Amber Ale. I used NB, recipes and Long Trail Brewery site for inspiration and Beer Calculus to design the recipes. They are both partial boils. Can't wait!!

 

[unionrdr]

Sounds really interesting. I've been meaning to try partial mash. It sounds like a better end result than just steeping grains. I'd like to eventually combine my extract recipes with partial mash to make them a bit bigger without using more expensive extract to do it. Not to mention this better added flavor so many talk about.