First Brew Day is This SUNDAY!

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BarleyDarling

BarleyDarling

Active Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
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Location
Chattanooga
Some of you guys may remember me... I posed something on the introduction pages about a month ago, and I had NO CLUE about brewing anything other than coffee...

Here I am, after reading TONS of posts on here, watching way too many you tube videos, reading palmer's How to Brew (thanks to recommendations from fellow forum members), and spending HOURS online finding the right equipment...

I will be doing my first brew on Sunday. I'm making a standard APA... It's my first love, and I'll know if it's good when I taste it.

I have an extract with a grain seeping bag, magnum hops for my bittering and cascade for my flavoring and finishing hops, malt extract, and dry yeast....

Maybe I shouldn't be this excited... BUT I AM MEGA EXCITED!

I've been making an online diary/blog about it- this forum has been mentioned a few times in it-- but if you want to check it out, it's https://barleydarling.wordpress.com/

(FYI- this is not shameless self promotion, but more of a pride in my journey thus far.)

PLEASE let me know if you guys have any helpful hints for me.

I'm using a propane burner, and it will be around 40 degrees outside, so I'm a little nervous about my kettle getting the water to proper temperatures.... Has anyone had a problem with that?

I actually have a TON of questions... but I'll save them for later, I guess. I'm SO CLOSE TO BREWING! I'm even getting special growlers for the big day! =D :ban:
 
When I last brewed, it was -20 C (-4 F) so it took quite a while to get my temps up (first time using my burner so I can't say how much longer than normal) You should be fine at 40 degrees.

Have fun!
 
Evidently, according to these guys here, don't be too uptight about having sanitizer contact the beer or brewing utensils. You may have heard the phrase, "Don't fear the foam." I just brewed my first batch on my own (without my brew partner) and I'm fairly certain I spent WAY too much time worrying about all my gear being sanitized and dry. My highly inexperienced recommendation would be to be crazy about sanitizing but not about your gear being perfectly dry.
 
Is your yeast ready? Liquid yeast, does it need a starter? Dry yeast, are you prepared to rehydrate a half hour before pitching?
 
I still fear the foam. Can't shake it. Transferred to secondary the other day & I was doing my darndest to shake all the foam out. Its creepy.

Good luck with your first brew. Don't sweat it. You'll probably make some mistakes but it'll still be beer and you'll get better each time. Take notes & sanitize, those are probably the two most important things to remember.
 
antony said:
I still fear the foam. Can't shake it. Transferred to secondary the other day & I was doing my darndest to shake all the foam out. Its creepy.

Good luck with your first brew. Don't sweat it. You'll probably make some mistakes but it'll still be beer and you'll get better each time. Take notes & sanitize, those are probably the two most important things to remember.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on that. I have a REAL hard time mixing cleaner with my beer! It's so counter intuitive! I'm getting there after a few batches with a buddy and now on my own. Plus, not worrying about a few drops of starsan means less stress and more fun making some suds.
 
Sounds like you did your homework, and I think your going to make some great beer! I still get excited about brew days even after many many batches.
 
Remember that anything that touches the boiling wort doesn't need to be sanitized.
When I first started I was sanitizing everything from start to finish even the utensils, water buckets, pots, pans, myself.
I now generally just give a quick rinse to that stuff pre boil to remove dust, hair, bat guano you know.
Then after I get to a boil and get my bittering hops in (and I know I'm safe from boil overs) I go sanitize everything that will contact the wort after its cooled (when it really counts).
That way too you are free to do your late additions (which tend to be more frequent), do a check to make sure you have remembered everything and get your head ready for the post boil insanity.
Have fun. I love that style of beer will be excited to hear how it turns out.
 
BarleyDarling said:
Some of you guys may remember me... I posed something on the introduction pages about a month ago, and I had NO CLUE about brewing anything other than coffee...

Here I am, after reading TONS of posts on here, watching way too many you tube videos, reading palmer's How to Brew (thanks to recommendations from fellow forum members), and spending HOURS online finding the right equipment...

I will be doing my first brew on Sunday. I'm making a standard APA... It's my first love, and I'll know if it's good when I taste it.

I have an extract with a grain seeping bag, magnum hops for my bittering and cascade for my flavoring and finishing hops, malt extract, and dry yeast....

Maybe I shouldn't be this excited... BUT I AM MEGA EXCITED!

I've been making an online diary/blog about it- this forum has been mentioned a few times in it-- but if you want to check it out, it's https://barleydarling.wordpress.com/

(FYI- this is not shameless self promotion, but more of a pride in my journey thus far.)

PLEASE let me know if you guys have any helpful hints for me.

I'm using a propane burner, and it will be around 40 degrees outside, so I'm a little nervous about my kettle getting the water to proper temperatures.... Has anyone had a problem with that?

I actually have a TON of questions... but I'll save them for later, I guess. I'm SO CLOSE TO BREWING! I'm even getting special growlers for the big day! =D :ban:
Click to expand...

I saw your blog thingy. Your looking pretty good, but just a little FYI.
You've got a 5 gallon kettle. If your looking to do a 5 gallon batch, you will need a 40-44 quart stainless boil kettle. The reason if because of evaporation and hot break.

Hot break is the foam you get when boiling. You will need extra head space for that. As far as evaporation, most brewers experience at LEAST 1 gallon per hour. I actually experience more evaporation in the winter months compared to summer months.

Since you stated you have a mesh bag, are you going to steep or do a partial mash? I recommend doing a partial mash. Your beer will have a better flavor and a lighter color. Maybe you could try 2 lbs. of pale ale malt along with 12 oz. of caramel 20. :rockin:
I started off doing PM with full volume boils. Right from the get go my beers were good. Not great, but good.

I also saw you like Sierra Nevada Pale ale. GOOD STUFF!!! If you throw some perle hops into you recipe, you could have a nice little clone going. Here is my hop schedule for SNPA...
0.32 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.55 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Boil 40.0 min
0.85 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min
That will get you right around 38 IBU.

Good luck! Take lots and lots of good notes. AND HAVE FUN!!!!!:tank:
 
I have an extract with a grain seeping bag, magnum hops for my bittering and cascade for my flavoring and finishing hops, malt extract, and dry yeast....
Click to expand...

I'm using a propane burner, and it will be around 40 degrees outside, so I'm a little nervous about my kettle getting the water to proper temperatures.... Has anyone had a problem with that?
Click to expand...

Since you are using malt extract and steeping grains your temperature isn't so critical. You can steep the grains in water anywhere from about 100 degrees to boiling and make decent beer but I'd recommend that you try to get to 153 and hold it there. Why? Because if you should decide to go on and make all grain, that temperature is right in the middle of the "brewers window", the range of temperature where the enzymes present in malted grains can turn the starches into sugars.

Best wishes on this brew. I know it will turn out awesome since it is your first beer and no matter how it tastes, it will be awesome. I didn't find this forum until I had brewed several batches and when I did my beers started getting better, mostly because I learned the importance of keeping the fermentation temperatures in the proper range.
 
Of course! I'm a baker by profession, so I spend tons of time hydrating yeast. Granted, I only have a history with bread yeast- not ale/ but they can't be that different.
 
BarleyDarling said:
Of course! I'm a baker by profession, so I spend tons of time hydrating yeast. Granted, I only have a history with bread yeast- not ale/ but they can't be that different.
Click to expand...

Right you are!

They are exactly the same species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Through breeding, however, the different strains are geared toward baking or beer
 
There's a lot to take in here. If there's anything I've learned invite last 6 weeks, it's that beer is certainly not an exact science.
 
RM-MN said:
Since you are using malt extract and steeping grains your temperature isn't so critical. You can steep the grains in water anywhere from about 100 degrees to boiling and make decent beer but I'd recommend that you try to get to 153 and hold it there. Why? Because if you should decide to go on and make all grain, that temperature is right in the middle of the "brewers window", the range of temperature where the enzymes present in malted grains can turn the starches into sugars.

Best wishes on this brew. I know it will turn out awesome since it is your first beer and no matter how it tastes, it will be awesome. I didn't find this forum until I had brewed several batches and when I did my beers started getting better, mostly because I learned the importance of keeping the fermentation temperatures in the proper range.
Click to expand...

There is an unintentional misspeak in here. Don't boil your grains. Keep the temp below 170° or, combined with the pH of the steeping water, tannins could be extracted from the grain husks.
 
Ok! Quick question. I've heard pellet hops (which is what I got) boil down super fine and I should strain It as it goes into the fermenter with cheese cloth. I've slso heard that the sediment enhances the flavor as it ferments, and I should just rack it from the top. Which do you think is best?
 
If you bought a brew kit it will have instructions to follow.
Keep the steeping grains below 170 or they'll contribute tannins - acid taste.
If you have a little hop bag to hang the hops in your brew it makes it handy to take them out later.
It's just a paint strainer bag from the paint section of a hardware store.
 
BarleyDarling said:
Ok! Quick question. I've heard pellet hops (which is what I got) boil down super fine and I should strain It as it goes into the fermenter with cheese cloth. I've slso heard that the sediment enhances the flavor as it ferments, and I should just rack it from the top. Which do you think is best?
Click to expand...

I don't do any straining, I just dump the whole works in. When the ferment is done the hops will settle to the bottom of the fermenter and get covered by the yeast. You'll rack the beer off above them when it is time to bottle.
 
BarleyDarling said:
Ok! Quick question. I've heard pellet hops (which is what I got) boil down super fine and I should strain It as it goes into the fermenter with cheese cloth. I've slso heard that the sediment enhances the flavor as it ferments, and I should just rack it from the top. Which do you think is best?
Click to expand...

I strain the hop debris from the wort during the pour into the fermentor. I do this because the harvested yeast is much cleaner.
Otherwise there is no effect on the beer with or without the hop debris. My typical time for a beer in the fermentor is 21 days. This gives the beer time to clear, the yeast and trub is very compact for maximum amount of beer racked into the bottling bucket.
 
Brew that **** and turn on NASCAR. Daytona 2015 is Sunday, let the left turns begin!
 
BarleyDarling said:
Ok! Quick question. I've heard pellet hops (which is what I got) boil down super fine and I should strain It as it goes into the fermenter with cheese cloth. I've slso heard that the sediment enhances the flavor as it ferments, and I should just rack it from the top. Which do you think is best?
Click to expand...

The information you got from the book your reading is a little out dated. It's still one of the best books out there, but it could use a "tuning up".

For me...I rack EVERYTHING from my brew pot into my fermenter. I used to do what the book stated....whirlpool, siphon off the cold break, blah, blah, blah. It makes absolutely NO difference in the flavor of your beer. Trust me, I have learned from experience....as well as a lot of other seasoned brewers in this forum. Not to mention it saves time too.:)

Someone in this forum did a side by side experiment about a year or so ago. They brewed the same exact recipe...twice in one day. In one fermenter he siphoned off the sediment and cold break. In the other, it all went into the fermenter. The end results were the beers bottled from the fermenter with trub, hops and cold break were CLEARER than those with out.

Also, professional studies has proven the cold break, spent hops, and trub actually provide nutrients to the yeast.

But ultimately, it's your choice. Brew for yourself and your own tastes. Just keep asking questions....100's of people glad to pitch in and answer. How you use the information is up to you. Happy homebrewing!:rockin:
 
By the way, I managed to spend a few days in Chattanooga YEARS ago. Great little city you live in.
But honestly....all of this good advice were giving you has to be worth a least a few homemade jelly donuts?!
 
gwapogorilla said:
The information you got from the book your reading is a little out dated. It's still one of the best books out there, but it could use a "tuning up".

For me...I rack EVERYTHING from my brew pot into my fermenter. I used to do what the book stated....whirlpool, siphon off the cold break, blah, blah, blah. It makes absolutely NO difference in the flavor of your beer. Trust me, I have learned from experience....as well as a lot of other seasoned brewers in this forum. Not to mention it saves time too.:)

Someone in this forum did a side by side experiment about a year or so ago. They brewed the same exact recipe...twice in one day. In one fermenter he siphoned off the sediment and cold break. In the other, it all went into the fermenter. The end results were the beers bottled from the fermenter with trub, hops and cold break were CLEARER than those with out.

Also, professional studies has proven the cold break, spent hops, and trub actually provide nutrients to the yeast.

But ultimately, it's your choice. Brew for yourself and your own tastes. Just keep asking questions....100's of people glad to pitch in and answer. How you use the information is up to you. Happy homebrewing!:rockin:
Click to expand...

People who are approachable like you are critical in the development of young brewers such as myself. Without y'all, we wouldn't be ****. Thank you all for taking the time to respond to us noobies posts without laughing too too much. Maybe someday some guy will pull a Sierra Nevada.
 
Feel free to post questions during the process. Someone will be around to answer. Have fun welcome to the wonderful world of zymurgy.
 
Today is the day!!! No nascar for me though. I'll be doing this outside.

And yeah Chattanooga is a great place. It's a small town that thinks it's big.
 
Holy ****. I don't have a hydrometer. I thought I had one in my storage (from when my grandmother brewed beer and plum wine) but I can't find it anywhere. Is knowing the original and final gravity totally necessary?

If I follow the instructions on the kit, I should get a close abv to what the kit says I'll get, right? So if I let it rage a few extra days in the fermenter (because kit instructions say 14 days) it will be slightly higher in alcohol?

I'm going to my lhbs to get priming sugar and an auto syphon next week. I'll pick up a hydrometer then.
 
BarleyDarling said:
Holy ****. I don't have a hydrometer. I thought I had one in my storage (from when my grandmother brewed beer and plum wine) but I can't find it anywhere. Is knowing the original and final gravity totally necessary?

If I follow the instructions on the kit, I should get a close abv to what the kit says I'll get, right? So if I let it rage a few extra days in the fermenter (because kit instructions say 14 days) it will be slightly higher in alcohol?

I'm going to my lhbs to get priming sugar and an auto syphon next week. I'll pick up a hydrometer then.
Click to expand...

You can make your beer without that hydrometer, but it's not the best idea. Before you pitch the yeast, put a cup of wort in a mason jar and stick it in the fridge. When you get your hydrometer, which should be soon (!), you will still be able to measure the OG.

14 days at ale temperatures should finish the fermentation. Leaving it longer won't increase the ABV because the yeast will have consumed all the sugars that they can metabolize.

You can use table sugar (sucrose) for bottling. It works perfectly. You should use 10% less than whatever amount of corn sugar / dextrose you were going to use. Just put the sugar in a pot with a couple of cups of water, boil briefly, put it in your bottling bucket, then rack (siphon) the wort into the bucket. Give it a quick stir and you're ready to bottle.

Good luck Heather.
 
Awesome! Next go around you might want to keep the lid off during the boil. This will boil off the DMS from the wort which can contribute off flavor. Hope the rest of the brew day went well
 
This was actually right as I started. I was trying to get my steeping water to 155. It is really cold today so I was trying to keep the heat in. I left the lid off for everything else except while cooling the wort.

FYI, I came suuuuuper close to a boil over after adding half my malt extract. You guys aren't kidding about that.

Today was really fun. My daughter said it was too stinky for her to play outside while I was boiling. Haha! I thought it smelled great.
 
BarleyDarling said:
This was actually right as I started. I was trying to get my steeping water to 155. It is really cold today so I was trying to keep the heat in. I left the lid off for everything else except while cooling the wort.

FYI, I came suuuuuper close to a boil over after adding half my malt extract. You guys aren't kidding about that.

Today was really fun. My daughter said it was too stinky for her to play outside while I was boiling. Haha! I thought it smelled great.
Click to expand...

Wait until you go to an all grain brew with 2 to 4 times as much hot break. You'll learn about skimming foam or stirring quickly, turning off the heat, spraying the top to stop the foaming, and other methods of control.:ban:
 
I believe I handled it well. Stirred hard, lowered the heat well enough to bring it back down to a rolling boil. I even had a sanitized penny ready to throw in.

Everything is done, cleaned, and my fermenting bucket is sitting peacefully in the corner with my airlock full of "high spirit". I smell like wort steam and I've got a good head change from the beers one drinks during the brewing process. I like this hobby. Maybe too much.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424646513.926139.jpg

Here is a visual of my reading material and notes.
 
Been brewing since 1980. Still remember that first brew day like a first kiss. Congrats. If you made it through the first first brew and you still can't wait until the next brew day, you just became a passionate brewer. Even if it does not come out just right, you dive right back in and figure out what makes it better. 30 years and I am still trying to make it better. Welcome to the best way to waste to your time on earth!!! And you can pass it on to your kids.
 
saazall said:
Been brewing since 1980. Still remember that first brew day like a first kiss. Congrats. If you made it through the first first brew and you still can't wait until the next brew day, you just became a passionate brewer. Even if it does not come out just right, you dive right back in and figure out what makes it better. 30 years and I am still trying to make it better. Welcome to the best way to waste to your time on earth!!! And you can pass it on to your kids.
Click to expand...


Ahhh exactly! My grandmother used to brew beer. Unfortunately she's a bit beyond her years to remember any recipes, but I feel like brewing is a family tradition. I hope to get good enough to where I can brew with my daughter when she's older.
 
BarleyDarling said:
I believe I handled it well. Stirred hard, lowered the heat well enough to bring it back down to a rolling boil. I even had a sanitized penny ready to throw in.

Everything is done, cleaned, and my fermenting bucket is sitting peacefully in the corner with my airlock full of "high spirit". I smell like wort steam and I've got a good head change from the beers one drinks during the brewing process. I like this hobby. Maybe too much.

View attachment 258635

Here is a visual of my reading material and notes.
Click to expand...

A sanitized penny? What for? As for the hobby, I just did my first batch and I have been glued to this site trying to get a full down load on how to do all this stuff myself. It's crazy all the stuff you can do and all the different methods and ingredients. All your set up looks great. I hope it comes out well for you and good luck! :mug:
 
Rotor_Head said:
A sanitized penny? What for? As for the hobby, I just did my first batch and I have been glued to this site trying to get a full down load on how to do all this stuff myself. It's crazy all the stuff you can do and all the different methods and ingredients. All your set up looks great. I hope it comes out well for you and good luck! :mug:
Click to expand...


I've read that throwing a sanitized penny into the boil will reduce it enough for you to lower heat so it doesn't boil over. I've also read about spraying cold water and using a fan will prevent it as well.

I work in a restaurant and boil things all the time, but I've never experienced an over boil happen as quickly as I almost had today. This is a new level of cookery for me.
 

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