First Brew Day

[swh127]

I am right in the middle of my first brew day (American Wheat Kit from morebeer). It has me putting 1oz of cascade hops at the last minute of the brew. Do I just put it in for 1 minute, or do I keep them in till i dump the wort into the primary?

A quick response would be appricated, 10 minutes into the boiling.

Thanks in advance

 

[loopmd]

only boil them for 1 minute. you can leave them in your wort until you put in your primary.

 

[swh127]

Well my first brew day was interesting. It is about 2 hours now after my boil finished and my wort is still at about 81 degrees and cooling off very slowly. I tried to cool the wort off before putting it in the primary, but my brand new digital thermometer had a faulty probe and I couldn't get a reading. So I dumped the wort into the primary with about 2 gal of cold water and ran out to the store to get it replaced. I guess I just have to wait now till it cools off.

I guess this is a lesson learned, always have a backup for everything.

I am using a dry yeast, at what temperature would be the max that I could pich it in and still be ok. I want to get it started as soon as I can.

Thanks

 

[El Pistolero]

81F should be fine...pitch it.

 

[timdsmith72]

yeah. Pitch away. Should be fine. Here's a tip from Wayne Havens on cooling wort that I tried and it works great!


Originally Posted by Wayne Havens
I am assuming you are not doing a full 5 gallon wort boil. When I do a partial wort boil (2.5-3 gallons after boil) here is what I do. I go to the store and buy bottled water. Personally I get Ozarka, but the brand is personal preference. I buy the 2.5 gallon jugs. I buy 3. I use almost 2 of them in the wort. When I first get the wort to a boil I move the last unopened one from the fridge to the freezer. I check that periodically while the wort is boiling. I take it out just as the first ice crystals are forming on the top.(usually right about when I am finished boiling the wort. I then but the almost frozen water (about 34-36 degrees) into the fermenter and then pour the wort on top of that. I generally brings the temp down to about 75-80 degrees, almost the temp for pitching the yeast. That has worked fine for me for many batches.

 

[Rhoobarb]

When I was doing partials/extract brewing, I had a sink with an icewater bath and placed the brewpot in it. Really did a nice job of cooling 2.5-3 gallons pretty quickly.

 

[timdsmith72]

When I was doing partials/extract brewing, I had a sink with an icewater bath and placed the brewpot in it. Really did a nice job of cooling 2.5-3 gallons pretty quickly.

Yeah, I tried it that way too. Took longer for me than Wayne's way...but...To each his own.