First Batch is in the Fermenter!!!

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DuallyBrew

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Did a basic Ale. Not sure of the exact amounts of the ingredients as i had the guy at my HBS put everything together. Used 7lbs (plus 1 can) of Amber malt extract, grain, and cascade hop pellets.

Everything going well so far. Sanitized everything i would possibly use, steeped the grains for 30min in a grain bag. Added the first batch of Cascades at the beginning of the boil, and the second batch at 50min into the boil. Only mishap was the strainer falling into the fermenter while pouring in the wort. Not worried about contamination as I sanitized everything, but probably got some hop stuff into the fermenter. Not much though as there was still alot stuck to the strainer.

After that brought the wort to room temp and pitched the yeast.

No activity yet (it's only been about 5 hours or so) but i expect all to go well.

I'm already thinking of what to do after I get that batch out of the fermenter. I'm planning on either a stout or porter.

Thanks for the help with ideas on keeping the ferment at a good temp in our current heat wave (105+ right now). It's in a tub of water and well below 80 degrees.

I'll probably throw a frozen gallon jug in there in the morning if no one is going to be home all day to keep the AC on.

Thanks!
 
I'll probably throw a frozen gallon jug in there in the morning if no one is going to be home all day to keep the AC on.

Good idea! Do your best to keep it at 70F, or below.

Best of luck, welcome to brewing, and welcome to the forum!
 
if you can gather up a couple of milk jugs and freeze water in em and rotate out one in the tub one in the freezer will do well. also as long as the tub is out of direct sunlight or a direct heat source - the water in the tub is very slow to absorb and dissapate energy. mine stay in an unconditioned barn and maintain between 70° and 73° acording to the digital therms. that's a pretty tolerable range for most ales - which have a range from 55° to 77° depending on type. for the primary portion of the fermentation process - you will prob have to add an frozen jug or two becasue fermentation will raise the temp sometimes as much as 10°. in the secondary process it's not critical and you can skip the ice helper. i seriously doubt that you will need a lot of ice help if inside in a conditioned space. most people keep their thermometers between 69° and 72° and if you have a programmable thermometer most do a set back to 75° while they are at work. all of these ranges should be kosher for the thermal mass of water keeping your yeasties kewl.
 
Totally unrelated to the cooling but...7 lbs of DME + 1 can of LME? That seems like a *lot* of extract (cans are usually 3-4 lbs). Am I missing something?
 
It was a 1lb can. And I only added probably 3/4 of it or so. When we were talking about the ales I liked, he grabbed that to kick it up a bit.

It wasn't really that much.

We'll see how it turns out and maybe leave it out next time.

thanks!
 
PS. Plenty of action in the airlock this morning! So it appears the fermentation started good. I will hold off on adding the frozen jugs unless no one will be home to keep the air on.
 
ian said:
Congratulations! I did my first batch on Saturday. Felt pretty good didn't it?

Awesome! Feels great!

Now - i have to find something to keep my mind off that batch for the next few weeks... Hmm.. another batch maybe ;-)
 
DuallyBrew said:
Now - i have to find something to keep my mind off that batch for the next few weeks... Hmm.. another batch maybe ;-)

I know! That's exactly what I was thinking! :D

Got any pics? Here's some from mine!
 
I didn't get a chance to take pictures. I really wanted to, but my camera is currently inaccessable...

Nice picts you have there. Only major difference in what mine would have been was I did everything indoors ;-)
 
Pics look good!

Congrats...

I think from the pictures you left the grains in during the boil. As far as I know, the grains are meant to be steeped at 150 degrees F, and no more, because a hotter temperature releases a bitter flavor.

The next time you brew, it'll get easier!

Congrats again.
 
badfish said:
I think from the pictures you left the grains in during the boil.
Congrats again.

Thanks, that's the bag of hops that you see in for the boil. I did take the grains out. But I squeezed as much goop out as I could first!
 
Yeah I want to take pictures too on brew day, but I am so lazy. I might get around to it though. Your pics look good ian.
 
I'm such a dork. My plan is to document every time and do a "brew blog" to show the details of each-- type, ingredients, date of brew, date of secondary, bottle date, comments, etc. etc.

Dorky, but it'll be kind of cool. A good record for posterity!
 
If you're married, be careful with the indoor brewing...it can lead to...turbulence ;)

Cheers! And welcome to the wonderful world of homebrewing :D
 
Married. Did it all outside. Daughter was even taking a nap during it. It was very unintrusive! I had a ball!
 
Married. Inside...

Hmm... We certainly had differing opinions on how good the smell was. HEHE

I loved it... she.. um... no comment... ;-)

Might move it outside, but as I said it's 105+ here... that's not going to happen until it cools off.
 
I loved it... she.. um... no comment... ;-)

i bet she had no comment :D if not that time the first time you have a boilover and have to clean up the kitchen...mmmm mmm it's the dog house for you...
 
brewhead said:
i bet she had no comment :D if not that time the first time you have a boilover and have to clean up the kitchen...mmmm mmm it's the dog house for you...

Well, as long as I have a few homebrews to keep me company in there, it's all good.
 
DuallyBrew said:
I loved it... she.. um... no comment... ;-)

Yeah, I was outside in no time. My wife DID have some comments but they ask me to keep it clean on this forum so I can't really explain. Never heard it explained to me that way.:D Ah!, I don't think it smells like that! I like it ..ah ok ..ok ..alright already!
 
As soon as HELL decides to retreat back into the depths of earth instead of cooking the Central San Joaquin Valley I'll move it outside. :)

On a brighter note, my first brew is bubbling away. Keeping it in the tub of water seems to be working great! - Thanks Brewhead!

The water is feeling pretty cool to the touch in the tub.
 
I cooked mine outside on the glass porch table with a small gas camp burner, wasnt the swiftest but was equal to my neighbors inside gas stove (boils in 15-20 minutes) and i'm not even going to attempt it on my electric stove. I had my primary fermenter inside covered but the temperature started climbing above the high 70's and scared me so I moved it down to the basement where it at least maintains about 72-74. And as the basement is my domain and already smells like a root cellar a little bit of yeasty love scent won't bother anyone running down to grab a load of laundry.
 
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