First batch tonight. Critique please

[kanddr]

Okay, I did my first brew ever tonight! I'll list what I did and you can critique it and let me know what I did right or wrong. I used Coopers Australian pale ale liquid extract to make it easy for my first time.

1. I boiled about a gallon of water and added 3lbs of DME to it and stirred for about 5 minutes to dissolve it.
2. I then added the Coopers liquid malt extract to the sugar water.
3. I cooled the mixture a bit then added it to my primary and added enough water to bring up the total to 6 gallons.
4. I guess I didnt cool the wort enough because it was about 88 degrees so I added some ice cubes to cool it down to 80 degrees.
5. Took an OG reading and it measured 1.053 temperature corrected. Is this okay for a pale ale?
6. Pitched the yeast and covered the primary. It was still a little too warm but I didnt want to keep it uncovered any longer and figured it was close enough.

Well, how does that sound? What do you think 1.053 OG will calculate out to alcohol % after fermentation is complete? I know the Cooper can kits are not the best but I wanted something that I will possibly succeed at for my first brew.

 

[lumpher]

what i'm concerned about this is hops. dme doesn't have hops, and the lme will only supply half of what is needed for that recipe. most of the flavored liquids need 2 cans to make a 5 gallon, with hops and other flavorings as needed.

 

[beersteiner2345]

Were you using a hopped extract? If not, methinks you forgot an important step!

 

[BillmeyerBrewing]

When you said that you added ice cubes to cool it down, did you add it directly to the wort? I believe that 1.053 is in the range for an American Pale Ale.

 

[kanddr]

The coopers extract is already hopped.

Yes, I added some ice directly to the wort.

 

[BillmeyerBrewing]

The coopers extract is already hopped.

Yes, I added some ice directly to the wort.

I'm not the best home brewer, but i would assume that that is a good way to introduce bacteria and other nasties into your brew.

 

[kanddr]

Thanks for the help guys. I really didnt want to add some ice but it was a last resort when I had already added all of my water and it was still 88 degrees. Practice will make perfect!

FYI, it's already bubbling this morning at the rate of about 1 bubble per minute. I didnt expect it to start so soon but I guess that's a good sign.

 

[beersteiner2345]

Nice!

I usually (for my whopping 2 batches to date) set the carboy or bucket in a ice/water bath in the kitchen sink after pouring in the cold water. This gets the temp down pretty quick (usually to about 74 degrees in half an hour...

 

[ThePearsonFam]

It'll be fine. Couple thoughts and a couple questions

1) Did you boil your top-up water to sanitize it?
2) Get the temp to the lower end of the recommended temps for your teast (aim for 65 if the recommended ferment temps are 65-72). Use an ice bath to get there rather than adding ice (unless you boiled the water and made ice in a sanitary manner).
3) I don't worry about the OG being within the style parameters unless I'm brewing for a competition. --but-- I always try to hit my target OG since that's a matter of pride for me.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

oh... and if you go from 1053 to 1010, then you'll get a 5.7% ABV beer

 

[kanddr]

It'll be fine. Couple thoughts and a couple questions

1) Did you boil your top-up water to sanitize it?
2) Get the temp to the lower end of the recommended temps for your teast (aim for 65 if the recommended ferment temps are 65-72). Use an ice bath to get there rather than adding ice (unless you boiled the water and made ice in a sanitary manner).
3) I don't worry about the OG being within the style parameters unless I'm brewing for a competition. --but-- I always try to hit my target OG since that's a matter of pride for me.

No, I didnt boil it but used spring water directly out of the bottle. The ice was directly from my freezer so it may have quite a few nasties.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not too worried that the beer wont turn out but it's nice to learn what I may have done wrong so I can improve next time.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

yup... that's a god attitude to have. Seriously, I did "everything" wrong when I started and my beer still tasted good. It's amazing that we enjoy brewing with the amount of OCD behavior we develop over time. Problem is, the more we learn, the more paranoid we become and over-the-top we become with our process. I liken the hobby to growing a business...
- it's easy to grow when you first start since you start with nothing...
- as you grow bigger/better, your growth slows since you know more and more...
- stakeholders still demand growth so we find more and more stuff that'll help 'improve' our beer...
- if you stop growing, you fall behind...