First Batch

[rowespencer]

I just brewed my first batch (Breakfast Stout) this afternoon....waiting for the wort to cool now. I'm sure I made all kinds of mistakes, but we'll see how it turns out.

Steeped the grain bag (a HUGE bag of oatmeal and chocolate malt) in 2 gallons water for about half an hour....stirred it quite a bit while steeping...don't know if that's good bad or neither...so the tea was pretty thick already before I even added the LME. Added the LME and it started sticking to the bottom, even though I had it off the heat.

The kit came with lactose and instructions didn;t say when to add it, so I added at the last 15 minutes. So anyway...nasty black sticky crap burnt to the bottom of my kettle....hope the beer turns out ok.

 

[Nurmey]

You made beer (or it will be soon)!
I like to stir the steep bag to make sure it gets wet throughout.
Stir faster and more on the LME. You should be fine even with a little scorching on the bottom.
Lactose is an add anytime ingredient. During the boil, secondary, or bottling.

 

[jgohean]

I had a scorching problem my first time. It's only been a week, but I've sampled and tasted and I can't taste any residual burning.

Just brewed again today and was careful to move the pot off the burner and make sure the extract is stirred in all the way before starting it back up again - it took a good 10 minutes of stirring, but I didn't have any scorching this time.

 

[DizzyMallard]

I like to put the container of LME in a pot with water and warm it up a little while im steeping the grains that way its not so thick. If you do this it comes pours beter and spends less time as a syrup at the bottom of the pot where it can burn.

 

[DryHeat]

Good choice for your batch. I saw your post right after putting mine up. I am in the same boat as you, just a week behind. I will be brewing a Breakfast Stout next week for my first batch also. Where did you order your kit from? Any suggestions you want to pass on since I will be brewing the same thing next week? I am sure your beer will turn out fine, so I wouldn't worry too much. Let us know how it turns out.

Brad

 

[jgohean]

I like to put the container of LME in a pot with water and warm it up a little while im steeping the grains that way its not so thick. If you do this it comes pours beter and spends less time as a syrup at the bottom of the pot where it can burn.

Good idea, I need to try that next time.

 

[rowespencer]

Good choice for your batch. I saw your post right after putting mine up. I am in the same boat as you, just a week behind. I will be brewing a Breakfast Stout next week for my first batch also. Where did you order your kit from? Any suggestions you want to pass on since I will be brewing the same thing next week? I am sure your beer will turn out fine, so I wouldn't worry too much. Let us know how it turns out.

Brad

Hi Brad,

I got my kit from Norther Brewer. Here are a few of the problems/mistakes I encountered....my grain bag stuck to the bottom of the pot, the aforemetioned burning of LME (I did soak the jug in hot water first, but it sat too long and cooled too much, methinks)...

My biggest concern (starting another thread regarding this) was cooling the wort. Instead of cooling the 2 gallons of wort first, then ading it to cold water, I added directly to cold water after the boil thinking this would drop the temp sufficiently. It did not!! It only dropped it to about 100 degrees.

I put the primary bucket in a cold water bath and stirred....and stirred....and stirred....and replaced the water and stirred...well, you get the picture. We ended up leaving to go to the local brewpub for a few pints. When we got back several hours later, it was still at 85...so I let it sit overnight (covered, of course) and am adding the yeast this morning. I'm totally expecting some off flavors on this batch.

Next batch (Christmas Ale), I'm doing a full 5 gallon boil and investing in an immersion chiller.