First beer in the fermenter

[W7JRR]

I've been doing a few 1 gallon meads and ciders, decided to go ahead and do a 5 gallon beer. It’s a Fat Tire clone, and other than my Coleman stove struggling to boil a full 6 gallons (took an hour). I think it’s going fine. Keeping it in a tub of cool water in the spare bathroom to help control the temp, and if it were to have gotten a bit enthusiastic and blown the airlock cleanup would be as easy as turning the shower on.

 

[Brewers Hardware]

Welcome to the 5 gallon club! You'll be doing 30 gallon batches in no time.

 

[millatime]

atta boy!

 

[W7JRR]

Figure I better brew enough over the winter to hold over the summer. No way I can hold temps in acceptable range in Phoenix.

 

[Calder]

Figure I better brew enough over the winter to hold over the summer. No way I can hold temps in acceptable range in Phoenix.

Think Belgian.

The yeast love high temps and you can make some great beers.

And if you think Hoppy is out of the question, try some Stone Calibelgie Ale. It is their regular IPA with just the yeast replaced with the Duvel strain.

The beers will be different, but they can still be great. A nice cold dry Belgian on a hot day will go down great ........ just remember they usually pack some alcohol, so be restrained.

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Way to go, W7JJR!

 

[tgolanos]

Figure I better brew enough over the winter to hold over the summer. No way I can hold temps in acceptable range in Phoenix.

I'm with you here. I brew all my lagers and pilsners over winter to make use of the cooler temps and stow them away until early summer.

 

[W7JRR]

After 4 days fermentation appears to be pretty well done only bubbling about every minute and a half. Took a reading and came out at 1.010. Right where the recipe called for. Tasted the sample, much better than I expected considering the best I could do for temps was 79-80 degrees, but that was consistent, I kept the carboy in a water bath. I figure I’ll let it ride till next weekend and then bottle.

 

[RM-MN]

After 4 days fermentation appears to be pretty well done only bubbling about every minute and a half. Took a reading and came out at 1.010. Right where the recipe called for. Tasted the sample, much better than I expected considering the best I could do for temps was 79-80 degrees, but that was consistent, I kept the carboy in a water bath. I figure I’ll let it ride till next weekend and then bottle.

Put some ice in your water bath to lower the temperature to mid to lower 60's. Insulate the water bath so it stays cool longer. Your beer will turn out much better. You only need to keep it that cool for the first 2-3 days as that is where the off flavors are created. After that you can forget the ice and let it warm naturally.

 

[porter1974]

Do a swamp cooler. It's really easy and will lower the temp almost 7 or so degrees below ambient temperature.

Just get a plastic storage container that's about 6 or so inches high, put your carboy in it, wrap the carboy in a towel and point a fan at it.

I use this technique all the time.