cl00bie
Member
For Father's day, my daughter and I decided to brew up the kit I had originally bought. She got a chance to see her great-grandfather's wine making setup (being converted to her dad's beer making setup).
We took a 3 gal SS pot and did the deed on my mom's kitchen stove.
The kit we used was a Brewer's Best(tm) Dunkelweisen kit. It contained:
6.6 lbs of wheat malt extract.
8 oz. crushed chocolate malt.
8 oz. crushed Munich 10L malt.
1 lb Maltodextrin
1/2 oz. Vanguard hops (bittering)
1 oz. Argentine Cascade hops (finishing)
5 oz priming sugar.
1 package of Munich wheat yeast.
We filled up the pot with 2 gal. of water hot from the heater, then put the burner on low to hold it at around 150 deg. We dropped in the grain bag of specialty grains and steeped them for 20 minutes holding the water between 150 and 160 degrees.
We took out the grain bag and added the malt extract, the maltodextrin and the bittering hops. We brought that concoction to a boil and and held it there gently boiling for 55 minutes. We then tossed in the cascade and boiled it for an additional 5 minutes stirring constantly. We turned off the heat, and brought the cookpot full of wort to the basement.
We pre-loaded the glass carboy with 2.5 gal of water from the refrigerator. We then set up the funnel with a strainer in it, and began ladeling the hot wort into the carboy. We slopped it around quote a bit and it really jiggled things up as it went into the water seeming to help the aeration. When it got low enough, my daughter held the funnel steady by the strainer handle, and I poured the rest of the wort in. We then topped it off with cold water to about an inch an a half.
We then closed up the wine cellar with the carboy corked with a sanitized cork and I took my daughter home.
I went back to my mom's later this evening (about 2.5 hours later) and the aquarium thermometer on the carboy read between 75 and 80 degrees. Time to pitch.
I went upstairs to my mom's apartment, and mixed up the yeast in a small glass of warm water. I then got a cup of tea and a couple of cookies to eat while I was stirring it. About 10 minutes later, little bubbles appears on the surface of the re-hydrated yeast (looks live to me). Went downstairs and dropped the yeasties into the carboy, corked it and mixed it all up.
Now it's sitting at about 65 degrees, with drilled cork with a blow-off tube inserted leading into a cranberry juice jar. I don't expect to check it for a couple of days.
Didn't take an initial hydrometer reading (don't own one yet) so I won't ask anyone what is happening with my fermentation.
So now I just have to relax, don't worry and have some beverage for a bit.
This has been a lot of fun so far. And the initial boil was easier than I thought. I didn't have any boil over accidents, or any other problems. I'm wondering if the other shoe is going to drop (but I'm not worrying).
Worse that can happen is I'll be out the $36 for the kit.
We took a 3 gal SS pot and did the deed on my mom's kitchen stove.
The kit we used was a Brewer's Best(tm) Dunkelweisen kit. It contained:
6.6 lbs of wheat malt extract.
8 oz. crushed chocolate malt.
8 oz. crushed Munich 10L malt.
1 lb Maltodextrin
1/2 oz. Vanguard hops (bittering)
1 oz. Argentine Cascade hops (finishing)
5 oz priming sugar.
1 package of Munich wheat yeast.
We filled up the pot with 2 gal. of water hot from the heater, then put the burner on low to hold it at around 150 deg. We dropped in the grain bag of specialty grains and steeped them for 20 minutes holding the water between 150 and 160 degrees.
We took out the grain bag and added the malt extract, the maltodextrin and the bittering hops. We brought that concoction to a boil and and held it there gently boiling for 55 minutes. We then tossed in the cascade and boiled it for an additional 5 minutes stirring constantly. We turned off the heat, and brought the cookpot full of wort to the basement.
We pre-loaded the glass carboy with 2.5 gal of water from the refrigerator. We then set up the funnel with a strainer in it, and began ladeling the hot wort into the carboy. We slopped it around quote a bit and it really jiggled things up as it went into the water seeming to help the aeration. When it got low enough, my daughter held the funnel steady by the strainer handle, and I poured the rest of the wort in. We then topped it off with cold water to about an inch an a half.
We then closed up the wine cellar with the carboy corked with a sanitized cork and I took my daughter home.
I went back to my mom's later this evening (about 2.5 hours later) and the aquarium thermometer on the carboy read between 75 and 80 degrees. Time to pitch.
I went upstairs to my mom's apartment, and mixed up the yeast in a small glass of warm water. I then got a cup of tea and a couple of cookies to eat while I was stirring it. About 10 minutes later, little bubbles appears on the surface of the re-hydrated yeast (looks live to me). Went downstairs and dropped the yeasties into the carboy, corked it and mixed it all up.
Now it's sitting at about 65 degrees, with drilled cork with a blow-off tube inserted leading into a cranberry juice jar. I don't expect to check it for a couple of days.
Didn't take an initial hydrometer reading (don't own one yet) so I won't ask anyone what is happening with my fermentation.
So now I just have to relax, don't worry and have some beverage for a bit.This has been a lot of fun so far. And the initial boil was easier than I thought. I didn't have any boil over accidents, or any other problems. I'm wondering if the other shoe is going to drop (but I'm not worrying).
Worse that can happen is I'll be out the $36 for the kit.
