I decided to give homebrewing a whirl. I wasn't sure I would like it so I tried to do it as economically as possible in terms of hardware - long and short of it, I got a six gallon bucket, an airlock, a hose, and bottle filler/wand. I read that a hydometer was optional, so I did not get one (kinda regretting now...).
I poked around on some recipes and came up with my own without going too far off of the trail. Also, decided to make a 2.5 gal batch in the event I screwed something up and made a bad batch.
Steep: .75lbs 2-row; .25 Carapils (1-hr @ 150-155)
3.75lbs Pilsner (DME)
0.25oz Mosaic @ 30'
0.25oz Mosaic @ 15'
1.0oz Mosaic @ 10'
0.75oz Mosaic @5'
0.25oz Citra @5'
0.75oz Mosaic @0'
0.25oz Citra @0'
Dry hop: 1.0 oz Mosaic; 0.25oz Citra
Gigayeast Vermont IPA
(also, distilled water with 3/8 tsp gypsum added)
Experience/Issues encountered:
1. Had a hard time maintaining the steep at the desired temp range. I'd say I was good 75% of the time but farted around 10-15' total either above or below.
2. When I was cooling the wort, I was packing additional ice around the bucket in ice water. As I reached for the towel to dry my hand, I saw a drop (slow motion like) fall from my hand into the bucket (via a slight opening as the top wasn't on square). The wort was at about 120F at the time, so hopefully.... Everything was cleaned prior, but lesson is to be even more careful (I'm a bit OCD already so this error is going to do wonders for that!)
3. I bougt the yeast online and it showed up warm to the touch with the ice pack having no hint of coldness. I read on here about people having an issue with this and the suggestions to do a starter. I intended to do a starter, but decided to just roll with the instructions on the bag. I still have 1/2 the bag left in a mason jar in the fridge. I would do this differently. I will always do a starter now if not for anything but peace of mind.
4. Smell was amazing - all that special mosaic smell. Left over syrup on the spoon was delicious.
5. Wish I would have got a hydrometer. I was just going to go by bubbles in the airlock and time those to determine when fermentation was done. Since I have remaining concerns about they yeast, this might provide better insight/comfort.
6. Kids and wife were less than impressed with the smell. Bread and pungent (to them) hops.
7. No bubbles in the airlock at ~24h. This is slightly concerning given what I have read about this particular yeast. Still early and I know it is a common newbie freakout thing, but I'm there... haha. Right of passage, I suppose. It is a big bucket relative to the volume of beer in there, so there's that too.
8. I pitched at 68F-ish. And am keeping it at 69-70F. Not sure if I should have went cooler on the former. The latter is within the range provided by Giga for the yeast.
So, some lessons learned but I will definitely do a few more. I am also inclined to do even smaller batches so I can fail faster and learn more (as well as try different recipes, techniques, etc.).
*Also, I will be going directly from the fermenter into 22oz bottles. I will add 4g of dextrose to each for further conditioning.
Any comments, insights, tips appreciated.
I poked around on some recipes and came up with my own without going too far off of the trail. Also, decided to make a 2.5 gal batch in the event I screwed something up and made a bad batch.
Steep: .75lbs 2-row; .25 Carapils (1-hr @ 150-155)
3.75lbs Pilsner (DME)
0.25oz Mosaic @ 30'
0.25oz Mosaic @ 15'
1.0oz Mosaic @ 10'
0.75oz Mosaic @5'
0.25oz Citra @5'
0.75oz Mosaic @0'
0.25oz Citra @0'
Dry hop: 1.0 oz Mosaic; 0.25oz Citra
Gigayeast Vermont IPA
(also, distilled water with 3/8 tsp gypsum added)
Experience/Issues encountered:
1. Had a hard time maintaining the steep at the desired temp range. I'd say I was good 75% of the time but farted around 10-15' total either above or below.
2. When I was cooling the wort, I was packing additional ice around the bucket in ice water. As I reached for the towel to dry my hand, I saw a drop (slow motion like) fall from my hand into the bucket (via a slight opening as the top wasn't on square). The wort was at about 120F at the time, so hopefully.... Everything was cleaned prior, but lesson is to be even more careful (I'm a bit OCD already so this error is going to do wonders for that!)
3. I bougt the yeast online and it showed up warm to the touch with the ice pack having no hint of coldness. I read on here about people having an issue with this and the suggestions to do a starter. I intended to do a starter, but decided to just roll with the instructions on the bag. I still have 1/2 the bag left in a mason jar in the fridge. I would do this differently. I will always do a starter now if not for anything but peace of mind.
4. Smell was amazing - all that special mosaic smell. Left over syrup on the spoon was delicious.
5. Wish I would have got a hydrometer. I was just going to go by bubbles in the airlock and time those to determine when fermentation was done. Since I have remaining concerns about they yeast, this might provide better insight/comfort.
6. Kids and wife were less than impressed with the smell. Bread and pungent (to them) hops.
7. No bubbles in the airlock at ~24h. This is slightly concerning given what I have read about this particular yeast. Still early and I know it is a common newbie freakout thing, but I'm there... haha. Right of passage, I suppose. It is a big bucket relative to the volume of beer in there, so there's that too.
8. I pitched at 68F-ish. And am keeping it at 69-70F. Not sure if I should have went cooler on the former. The latter is within the range provided by Giga for the yeast.
So, some lessons learned but I will definitely do a few more. I am also inclined to do even smaller batches so I can fail faster and learn more (as well as try different recipes, techniques, etc.).
*Also, I will be going directly from the fermenter into 22oz bottles. I will add 4g of dextrose to each for further conditioning.
Any comments, insights, tips appreciated.