First brew day didn't seem to go to well.

[BenVanned]

Today was supposed to be brew day... had it planned all week, had a bud who was supposed to come lend a hand and bring his large pot. Well he backed out on me at the last minute. Leaving me with a smaller pot, so I figure I can make do. I have the misses here to help if I need it. All was going well until my son woke up absolutely frantic... must have had a nightmare (what an 11 month old has nightmares about is beyond me) but at this point I was only steeping my specialty grains. When the "grains tea" began to boil I added my malted barley syrup and dry malt as directions stated. I boil for 1 hour and this is when it goes bad. I discover I only have a tiny funnel so the misses comes to cut the top off of a 2 liter bottle, we had water stored for the fish tank in this bottle... i look over and she is pouring it in the sink with all of my sterilized hardware. I explain to her again that everything must be steril and she only wants to argue with me that the water was clean... next thing I know she is shoving it in the top of my primary.. damn it... She begins to nag about a potential mess in the kitchen floor and is telling me I need to dip the wort out with something.. I explain I need to make a siphon and she disagrees... out of frustration I get a solo cup out of the cabinet and begin to dip out the wort.. after about 2 dips I realize what I am doing and I get my tube for my siphon and ill be damned if I didn't get my fingers in the wort when making my siphon... as it turns out the tubing wasnt long enough and I ended up having to pour the remainder of the wort into my primary... then... and only then do I discover I am without a hydrometer... I could have swore this hand me down kit had one when I first looked through it... i dont know what im going to do about that yet... i re hydrate my dry yeast and realize I am doing it in an unsterilized container... clean... but unsterilized... this being my first brew I am unfamiliar with this... but the yeast seemed to just get thick and clump up... maybe this is normal?

What else could have gone wrong? What do I need to do about this hydrometer situation? And were these seriously fatal mistakes?

 

[LakewoodBrew]

it can only get better next time.

good news is the lack of a hydrometer really doesn't hurt anything, it just means you dont know if you hit the target gravity so you won't know the ABV of the finished beer.

all the other stuff, well, time will tell.

 

[DGibb]

The first brew day never goes well. Consider it your hazing.

My first brew day (back in 99) had a boilover, extract scorching to the bottom of the woefully inadequately sized brew pot (I refuse to call it a kettle), and hops clogging the screen on the funnel in to the carboy so we poured on the kitchen floor.

After a hiatus, my second premiere brew day was plagued with temperature control - refusal of the wort to reach a rolling boil, diffiiculty chilling the wort... but I'll be damned, the brew produced is quite tasty!

I've learned this acronym here: RDWHAHB (Relax, don't worry, have a home brew).

 

[DarkPhyre]

All should be well.

Not to nit pick, BUT

nothing you had today was sterilized, it most likely was sanitized. . .

Keep doing what your doing and soon you will enjoy the good beer you just brewed.

 

[RM-MN]

With all your troubles you had, you made beer. Things to consider for your next brew:

If you don't have one, get a plastic fermenter bucket so you don't have to get the wort through a funnel. It will save you tons of time and aggravation and they are pretty cheap considering you can use one for years if you are careful not to scratch the inside.

To save your wife the worry about the mess spilled on the floor when you transfer from the boiling kettle (cooled) to the fermenter, carry it outside to do the transfer. Don't try to siphon, the siphon will get clogged. Don't try to filter, the filter will get clogged. Just dump it all in the fermenter. It will all settle out in the yeast cake and stay there.

If you are doing a kit brew with extracts, they usually will tell you what the expected OG will be. Trust them, the extract will have almost exactly what they say it will so your initial hydrometer reading is unnecessary. You should have one for the FG so you you know when your beer is done fermenting but if you let it have plenty of time it will be fermented out.

Don't rehydrate your dry yeast. It will rehydrate just fine in your wort. Sprinkle it over the surface of the bubbles in the fermenter, put the lid on, fill the airlock, carry it back inside to where it will ferment and forget about it for 2 to 4 WEEKS. If you can't forget it this long, at least give it 18 to 24 hours before you look for bubbles from the airlock. Don't freak out if you don't see them, sometimes the lid leaks a little and lets the air out somewhere other than the airlock.

 

[BenVanned]

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm sure the absolute worst thing that could happen is an off flavor. My only fear with not having a hydrometer is not knowing for sure when fermentation is complete.

 

[MikeinCT]

My favorite brew day is when everybody is going out and I am left alone. Alternately I will get up very early and be half done before other people wake. I can only guess it would be to have company but I concentrate better by myself.

Before you start, especially at first, it is nice to have taken notes and write down a step by step. Also take notes as you go for next time. Your process variables are very dependant on your equipment. You will get better at hitting your temps and percentages with every new brew.

So don't be discouraged, there will be another brew day where eveerything goes right.

 

[WortBurpFart]

I was quite nervous doing my first too, made a few small errors but the final result was good, and keeps getting better as time passes, I have one bottle left and it will be some good stuff, it seems that time and patience are the key ingredients. Time heals all wounds and time fixes all brewing mistakes, maybe, I hope. Specifically, I let same bathtub bottom drips get into the fermenter, I spilled some wort on the floor, the brewing temperature was always at or above the high end of the recommended range, bottled too early and couldn't wait to start drink them, but damn the last few bottles have been really good. Good luck, let time be your friend.

 

[copyright1997]

I have the misses here to help if I need it.

Uh oh. Almost never a good thing. Ever hear the expression "Too many cooks in the kitchen?".

i look over and she is pouring it in the sink with all of my sterilized hardware.

Sanitized or Sterilized? In either case, the SINK isn't sterile, so even if they were sanitized you have them laving in a non-sanitized environment. Do yourself a favor and buy some Star San or Iodophor(sp?). Then keep the stuff you are using in a pot or bucket of it ready to go (wet).

She begins to nag about a potential mess in the kitchen floor and is telling me I need to dip the wort out with something..

Well, that part is true. I've not done a brew day yet without making a mess. Just got to deal with it and plan for some "clean-up". I figure if I make it without spilling hot wort on the floor or even worse on me, it was a good day.

I explain I need to make a siphon and she disagrees... (more stuff)... as it turns out the tubing wasnt long enough and I ended up having to pour the remainder of the wort into my primary...

Maybe I just discovered something I need to improve, but I have yet to siphon wort. I simply carry the chilled wort to where my primary is and pour it into the sanitized primary. In fact I thought that one wanted to mix it up (aerate) to give the yeast enough oxygen to do their thing?

How did you chill your wort?

i re hydrate my dry yeast and realize I am doing it in an unsterilized container... clean... but unsterilized... this being my first brew I am unfamiliar with this... but the yeast seemed to just get thick and clump up... maybe this is normal?

Unless this is a high ABV batch or a lager (low fermentation temperature), if you are using dry yeast, no need to rehydrate? If you are anal about sanitation (like I am), you can sanitize the outside of the yeast package in Star San/whatever, and also whatever you use to open the package.

What else could have gone wrong? What do I need to do about this hydrometer situation? And were these seriously fatal mistakes?

Well, you could have had a big fight with the misses.
Hydrometer - get one. Without it, you are flying blind.
Seriously fatal? - I doubt it, you will likely have a fine first batch!

 

[H-ost]

Just something else that stood out to me... If you are only doing 5 gallon batches and don't have much issue lifting the pot, a siphon is really unnecessary when transfering to the carboy because you WANT to aerate the wort with as much oxygen as possible before pitching.

I would also want to mention that if this batch DID get infected and begins to smell sour or look bubbly do not dump it you may be accidentally making a lambic/sour brew which, if you enjoy the taste and can afford to buy a new fermenter (it takes at least 10 months to be ready), can be incredibly delicious.

Everything aside I bet this brew at least has you thinking how the next one will be different and you will soon have your process down.

 

[unionrdr]

No,you don't absolutely have to re-hydrate dry yeast,but lag time is cut way down if you do. So it is not a waste of time at all. I do it all the time. But I also wind up needing a blow off rig,which is always at the ready.
I never siphoned the chilled wort either. I just carry it into the comp room/man cave & pour it through my fine mesh strainer into the FV. Dito with top off water.Gotta replace the o2 boiling drove out. I get 3-4 inches of foam doing this,but still stir hard for 5 minutes before testing & pitching.
And I also like to use a sanitized fork,or the probe on my quick check thermometer to stir the yeast starter/re-hydration water so it doesn't clump up.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm sure the absolute worst thing that could happen is an off flavor. My only fear with not having a hydrometer is not knowing for sure when fermentation is complete.

You should be leaving this in the fermenter for 2 to 4 weeks, plenty of time to get a hydrometer. If you leave it for 4 weeks, you can be pretty sure an ale will be fully fermented. Because they are done at lower temperatures a lager will take longer but these require better temperature control so you aren't likely to have made a lager.

 

[BOBrob]

WOW sounds like you had an exciting time! If I work in the kitchen I have to clean up, thems the rules. But I can smile when I get to say get out of my kitchen. The wife never listens though. The wife wanted to help on my first all grain, so I set her to stirring the wort ...... she was leaning on the paddle in the drive when she asked ..."for how long do I stir"? Smile..... thats long enough dear ....go get me a beer in the fridg please. All the advice from the other members is what you want, but you will look back and fondly remember you first brew. Cheers

 

[unionrdr]

Yup,it was about the same as when we were expectant parents in our day. So much the same. But,you start getting a process together...at least the basics at the beginning. It gets easier when you learn what to expect from that 1st one. It's a great adventure after that... Indiana Brewer & The keggle of Doom. lolz