Few questions/concerns

[Tritonal]

I just finished my second brewing session and it left me wondering what I could have done better or more efficient. It was a Great Pumpkin Ale kit from my local home brew store. Sanitizing and cleaning all went very smooth with the addition of a spray bottle with Starsan in it. This made the whole sanitizing process just so much easier and now I have little to no fear of infection unlike my first attempt last year at brewing this same kit (although it did turn out amazing).

I misread the directions at put the grains in the muslin bag into the pot while bringing it up to the initial 170 when I should have put them in AT 170. Do you think this will have any ill effect? Also, while heating up my 20q brew pot it shook very violently to the point where I had to hold it almost the entire time. I have read that is due to warping of the brew pot which likely occured during my last brew session where I used an ice bath to cool the wort. Is there any way fix that or am I stuck with this until I can afford a new one?

When steeping the grains I was to maintain 148 - 155. I found this to be very difficult as when turning the heat back up it would quickly rise to the 160s and take a while to cool down. The instructions say to turn the heat off at 155 and only turn back on to warm it back up, would it be fine to just keep a low heat on it during the whole process to maintain that temp? Or is there some other easier way of keeping the temp for the 50mins it calls for?

And I think lastly I was having a little trouble with cooling. I have a wort chiller I got last year and this was the first brew session I was able to try it out on. I put it in the last 15 minutes of the boil and moved the entire pot to the sink for the cooling process. I quickly hooked up the garden hose which I ran through the kitchen window and had a small leak which wasn't an issue as it dripped out of the pot into the sink. It cooled down from boil to about 90-100 in 10 minutes but it just did not want to cool down any more after that. I ran the water for another 15 minutes or so and finally got it down to 80. Is this normal? I figured the wort chiller would have easily been able to get it to 70 in 10-15 minutes.

Thats pretty much it for now, for my second brew session I think all in all it went ok, in less than 24hrs the air lock is bubbling very nicely and it smells amazing!

 

[Hello]

I feel like I could have written much of your post as I ran into similar issues, sort of.

Boiling Grains

My pumpkin ale kit directions were written by my LHBS and they were wrong. Having brewed two kits prior and one needing to steep grains, I was unsure why the directions stated to add grains to muslin bag and bring to a boil at 155º. I called and they confirmed they meant bring water to a boil and then steep at 155º for 30 minutes. Note I have a different kit and try not to worry about the temperature difference.

Adding the grain to the pot of water then bringing it all to a boil could introduce more grain taste and/or tannins. Most forums I've read are saying that it should be fine but generally speaking I read that you don't want to boil your grains because it could produce astringent character associated with tannins. Searching these forums will show that many are happy with their brew even after boiling their grains.

Maintaining Temperatures

My instructions said to bring to boil at 155º and steep for 30 minutes while holding the 155º temp. I was watching my boil, it ran to 155º (the amber ale I did) and was able to hold to 145-160º by simply lowering the flame on my burner very low and leaving the lid off. On my pumpkin I accidentally went to 180º and turned off the flame. Set the grain bag in the pot with the lid off for 10 minutes when the temp was 170º, it started to cool and got to 160º where at that time I put a lid on it. The pot, not my rambling. I steeped for the required time and that was that. I found that I didn't need any heat, the wort dropped to 155º slower with the lid on but I watched it a lot. I think you're okay on your boil/grain steeping. We have different directions as you can tell but if I had to maintain that temp for 50 minutes, I assume I'd boil to 170º, steep until it hits 155º and turn the heat on slow and low.

Poltergeist in the Brew Pot

Sounds to me like you're boiling on an electric stove with a glass top. I had boiled my 2.5 gallons using a stainless brew pot and it took a very long time to boil. Once I did, the extract was added and I put the brew pot back on, it shook a lot. I stepped out of the kitchen and hoped for the best. My pot doesn't look warped but I did go out and buy a propane burner for future boils. Even with extract brewing, I feel like an electric glass top stove isn't the most efficient. If you have to use it then you have to use it, but I don't think you'll find any different results with another brew pot.

As for your wort chiller, I don't own one so that is something I can't really speak to. I'm new to this but I hope that helps.

 

[Clonefan94]

Hello answered most pretty well, so I will only comment on the chiller. In the summer, most people's water supply isn't going to be much below 70 degrees or so. That's good for getting your wort under 100, but not very good at getting those last 30 degrees or so out of it. I do a couple of things this time of year. One is a pre-chiller. I built my own IC, so I saved a little bit of the pipe to run through a cooler filled with ice water. This dramatically brings down the temp of the water I am using to cool, gets it down into the 50s, so therefore, getting me down under 70 degrees pretty efficiently.

Another thing I have done in the past, before I had the pre-chiller ready, is once I get it down under 100, I have a pump system that I hook up to and recirc water through a cooler that has an ice bath in it. This works well, but you have to make sure the wort is under 100 or you are just wasting ice at that point. (I have a large chest freezer, so I'm always throwing used milk jugs full of water in there to use as ice).

Also, one other thing I have done, on particularly hot days, is to ge a couple of those satinless steel water bottles. I fill those up with a lot of ice and top off with some water. Then, when I start my cooling (make sure they are clean) I throw them into a bucket of sanitizer. Then again, once the wort gets around 90 degrees, I gently set those in the post as well. These have worked well to bring the temp down before I had my pre-chiller set up.

Another thing I found that works well, is to adjust your water flow. At the beginning, you probably want to be running full boar as the water is taking heat away pretty efficiently. I have found though, once I get under 100, slowing that flow down a little bit helps in getting the temp down a little quicker.

 

[Tritonal]

Wow great responses thank you! Hello, you hit the nail right on the head. I am using a glass stove. My first brew was with an old electric coil stove so that could be why I never noticed it. Until I can afford to go to an all electric build for my basement this is what I'm forced to make due with.

Clone, I have considered getting another wort chiller and filling my sink with ice/water. Place the chiller in it and run a hose to the chiller that is in the wort on the stove then a final hose back outside. I think that would work well.

 

[Hello]

Wow great responses thank you! Hello, you hit the nail right on the head. I am using a glass stove. My first brew was with an old electric coil stove so that could be why I never noticed it. Until I can afford to go to an all electric build for my basement this is what I'm forced to make due with.

Clone, I have considered getting another wort chiller and filling my sink with ice/water. Place the chiller in it and run a hose to the chiller that is in the wort on the stove then a final hose back outside. I think that would work well.

My only option if I want to brew inside is my glass top electric stove. I don't have the means or the ability to convert to gas today. That said, is a propane burner out of the question? I found a new Master Built on craigslist for $25 (ended up being $25 and not $20 as I had once posted about) and then a propane tank which you can buy empty and get filled or use the Blue Rhino ($10 cheaper than anywhere else at Wal-Mart). I do this in my garage but could brew on my deck I suppose if I lay down some spare stepping stones under the burner. I could change the burner on the deck but I'd rather not. At least in my garage I am able to sit in the shade on a warm day.

Just a thought. The rocking of the pot really worried me. I have no one to answer to here, but if the pot shakes enough and damages the stove I'd be pretty bummed ... and hungry since I don't own a microwave.