First brew day. Questions on the fly!!

[SmokeyMcBong]

Hey all, preparing my work space and tools for a brand new experience to me. I figured I'd have some questions along the way and maybe one thread for any I have might be best. So here goes:

First question is, do I need to use campden in my san star water or is tap water ok?

Thanks in advance to the more knowlegeable than myself.

 

[unionrdr]

Just use the Starsan with the tap water,no need for cambden. Filtered would help it stay clear longer,but cloudy is ok as long as the PH is 3 or lower.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

thanks for the quick response Unionrdr!

got another question, all my gear is brand new, never used. do I still need to wash with the pbw? there's no dirt in there so I was thinking just a rinse and then in the star san.

again thanks all for any help.

 

[unionrdr]

When my stuff was brand new,I rinsed them in very warm water & then sanitized right before use. Starsan being no rinse is great.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

thanks again brother!! by the end of today, I might just owe you half of my first batch lol!!

stay tuned lol

 

[unionrdr]

We'll be looking forward to how your brew day went & the final result. Just don't rush & pay attention to the details.

 

[GibbyGibson]

Good luck. Enjoy it!! Ps I found it helpful for my first brew to lay out all of my ingredients and have them measured so I didn't have to worry about it when I was trying to concentrate on the process. Oh, and take notes.

 

[unionrdr]

I still do the same thing! I do it on the kitchen table & have my notebook at the ready as well. Both good points to mention!

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

ok, so my wort has about 20mins left to go and i figured i'd let you all know my beginner mistakes.

first mistake was letting my buddy come over and the two of us getting on the McBong!!

second mistake was, the kit that I have came with grains which I was supposed to steep into tea then boil and add the lme. didn't happen lol. complete brain fart, my only excuse is my first mistake. because I'm only doing a partial water boil, I just made a tea with the grains and added to the boiling water/lme. only problem I can see is that the grain tea will only get about 40 mins of boil time.

third mistake, the kits instructions said to add one can of lme and boil for 40mins then add the second can (3.3lbs each) for the remainder of the boil. well, that didn't happen either lol. What did happen was, I rammed both cans into the water at the beginning. the kits instructions said that the late lme addition was to perserve colour in the finished beer (american pale ale) so i guess this will just make me end up with a darker beer?

those are my mistakes (so far!!) oh, one other thing, my star san went cloudy almost instantly. i dumped it and mixed some more which still looks good

any comments or questions or scoldings lol??

 

[unionrdr]

Cloudy Starsan is ok as long as the PH is 3 or lower. The cloudiness doesn't effect how it works. And the late extract addition would've been better. The beer wil be a bit darker,maybe some extract twang as well. The grain tea steep is pretty much what you do with'em anyway,for 20-30 minutes. I hope the grains were crushed?...

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

I hope the grains were crushed?...

yup, crushed caramel malt.

 

[unionrdr]

Good. Then adding the two together was ok,as long as you didn't go over recipe volume without letting it reduce by boil off.

 

[GibbyGibson]

So far sounds ok. Not going to change too much. +1 on extra flavors due to missing the late addition. Next brew, I recommend one drug at a time .

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

thanks once again guys!


done and done - wort cooled, yeast re-hydrated and pitched. got my fermenter chilling out at an ambient temp around 68.

Next brew, I recommend one drug at a time .

probably close to the best tip I've got on this whole thread

now comes the hard part and since I don't have any Homebrew I'm gonna have to RDWASSB!!

Cheers everyone!!

 

[unionrdr]

& congrats!

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Just figured I'd update. Nothing visible before I went to bed although the star san in my airlock was obviously displaced. This morning she's chugging right along!! Beer, here I come!!

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

just thought of a quick question. i've been reading alot of brewing info over the last while and don't remember reading whether or not i should change out the solution in my air lock or if its good for the duration? its still crystal clear.

 

[Spawn2qc]

just thought of a quick question. i've been reading alot of brewing info over the last while and don't remember reading whether or not i should change out the solution in my air lock or if its good for the duration? its still crystal clear.

Nah be sure that it's not under the fill line

 

[GibbyGibson]

The airlock should be fine. You may want to rig up a blowoff hose if fermentation gets a bit crazy.

If you have a three piece airlock, take off the top disc and the dome shaped piece and connect some tubing (your siphon tube should work) to the hole on the airlock. Run the free end into a cup or bottle of sanitizing soliton.

I have a spare piece of tubing that I connect directly to the lid of my fermentation bucket.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Hey guys, so it will be a week tomorrow since I pitched and a week Tuesday since I saw air lock bubbles. There is still airlock activity, although it has slowed substancially. I've yet to open the bucket lid to take a peek, I've wanted to but resisted. When should I open her up and take a gravity reading?

Tomorrow I plan on starting a batch of Lemonade and was wondering if I should rack my beer into the second fermenter or just leave it in the primary. I have read quite a bit about it and though opinnions differ, the concensus seems to be; no need for secondary unless its a big beer or adding fruit or dry hopping. Since its a Pale Ale, I'm guessing its not necessary and I should just leave it be and brew the Lemonade in the second fermenter?

I appreciate all the help a ton guys! Thanks.

 

[GibbyGibson]

If leave it in the primary for at least another week before taking your reading. Airlock activity is not a good sign of weather fermentation is still going or not. My first batch dropped about 0.010 between the time my airlock stopped and my FG was reached. Plus the yeast will clean up after themselves and produce a cleaner beer. Three weeks in the primary should be your minimum.

As for racking to a secondary, you are correct. You should only move to one if you are planning on making additions to your beer. The general consensus is that you expose a risk for infection or oxygenation. An example is like having a broken down car in your driveway. You can move it, but why? It'll take time and it doesn't serve a purpose.

You can leave it in the primary for quite some time. I've heard some extreme cases of 6 months or even greater depending on the style you are going for. (Look up how to brew wild ales such as lambics)

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Thanks brother. So as I said, I haven't opened the lid yet at all. Should I just wait till 2 weeks and check then? Should I check now to see if I have beer or an infection going on in there? Or do I just go on faith that everything is going the way it should?

 

[GibbyGibson]

Sit back and enjoy the process. I wouldn't bother it for another week. Even if you have an infection, you still have to let it ferment. Some infections don't spoil the underlying beer and you can siphon from underneath. Some infections, in rare conditions, can make the beer better (sours the beer like a lambic)

 

[Spawn2qc]

I usually wait 3-4 days in the primary, SG is around 1.010ish at this time. I rack it in the carboy for a week and I bottle. I do this quick process for all the beers I made since 2010 and no problem at all.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

just had a quick look at my fermenter and all the airlock activity has stopped. i have the 3 piece airlock and the interior part (section that's lifted by co2) has completely dropped back down onto the tube to the bucket, so its not even being displaced. maybe i'll give it till friday and then take a gravity reading, followed by one again on sunday. that'll be right next door to 2 weeks in the bucket.

on a different note, i'm heading out in a bit to grab the ingredients for a batch of hard lemonade. gonna get that going a little later on today.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

So.... just wanted to update this thread.

i just sampled my first bottle of this homebrew and im pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out! finished at 1.010, i primed it with 5ozs of corn sugar and bottled in the crappy plastic bottles that came with my starter kit. probably the last time i use them as they are too dark and its hard to see when youre getting close to the grouts.

all in all, id call it a great success!! once again, to everyone that helped me get here, THANKS!! i would have never gotten here with out you!!

 

[unionrdr]

Congrats on a successful brew! I hold the bottle up to any kind of light to see when the trub/yeast at the bottom comes up to the shoulder of the bottle,then stop pouring.