First batch complete and awesome!

[Corneykeg]

I made a lagunitas IPA clone with peach extract added to the keg. It is awesome and could definitely compete with store bought brews. Not quite as hoppy as I like, but very good which I think the peach hides the hops

Things for others

I kind of did a swamp bath to keep the temperatures but the outside Fermometer constistently showed around 74 so the inside could have been much hotter. It turned out great anyway, don't let everyone here discourage you about keeping it at a perfect temp. I am sure it could taste a bit better but most palates can't tell anyway IMHO.

Always do a blow off tube to begin with. Don't listen to anything else. My very first fermentation of an IPA with white labs California and it was pretty violent and kept clogging the s air lock and pushing the star San out of it. It made me a nervous wreck at work until I changed it to the blow off tube. Why risk it for the first several days?

It's not that difficult to get quality beer as long as you have some common sense and sanitize your stuff. Just dive in and do it.

 

[Corneykeg]

Photo!

 

[twofocused]

Congrats! Welcome to the addiction.

 

[Pacifik]

Makes me hopeful about my Christmas stout as it got hot for the first day of extremely violent fermentation and in the mid seventies before dropping down to sixty-five.

 

[Corneykeg]

My experience is obviously very limited but i would take all the "it will be ruined" with a grain of salt. It may not be as good to a professional beer taster, but I bet 99% of people would never know.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Makes me hopeful about my Christmas stout as it got hot for the first day of extremely violent fermentation and in the mid seventies before dropping down to sixty-five.

I find the roasted malts in Stouts and Porters hide a multitude of sins. You should be fine.

I often ferment at warmer temps than suggested here but I like the esters in many beers...I do not want a banana bomb or anything (unless it is a very special hefe-weizen) but I find the fruitiness to be the "third dimension" that others get with spices and fruits. Obviously not the prevailing opinion.

Fusel alcohols are another thing.

 

[cluckk]

It also depends on the particular yeast strain you use. Some do better than others at warmer temperatures. For example, when I am brewing something in weather that will make it hard to keep the temperature below the low 70's I use something that ferments very clean. During these times I brew styles where the most tolerant yeasts are appropriate. I hold off on Scottish Ales and others that need colder for brewing in colder times of year. In the summer I brew Belgians and make wine and mead.

 

[GrogNerd]

thing about this hobby/obsession, it is very forgiving with such a wide latitude of what will make a decent brew. there are guidelines on what will make a better beer, a few "don'ts," but it really comes down to; it's OK if you're off a measurement of volume, weight, temperature or time - if you're close, you'll make beer.

that's the awesome part

when I'm giving advice, I try to avoid saying things like, "you should do this" or "you shouldn't do that" & keep it along the lines of "I (or most people) do/don't do it this or that way"

anyways, congrats on the first batch!

good luck with your future brews. you do have another batch in the fermenter, right? YOU SHOULD get that pipeline going, so you'll always have a homebrew ready. plus it helps ease the pain of waiting

 

[Corneykeg]

Got a Pocahontas pumpkin started today!