First Brew Day

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Thanks for letting me post! I signed up last night, and this is my first post.

Today is finally the day of my first home brew! Won't lie, I'm a fair bit nervous/anxious/excited about this.


I am using a 5Gallon system. I have a Brew Kettle, a Mash Tun, a burner (that I'm borrowing from a local home brewer, since I'm missing an orifice for mine yet, so I'm using an oldie propane burner), a Pale Ale, and a Fermenter Bucket and a Carboy.

My home "brewery" is called Bender Braus Brewing (as my username would suggest), and all of the beers will be Futurama themed. (As my avatar will suggest once I load that up).

I created this first IPA recipe a while ago, but due to unforeseen circumstances (having three daughters under the age of 10 doesn't make things easy sometimes) I am just now getting to brew. I made the recipe on BeerSmith under the trial timeframe of the computer program. (Gotta get around to getting it fully.)

Ok, so without further adieu, here's the recipe:


GOOD NEWS EVERYONE IT'S MY FIRST IPA

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00Gal
Boil Size: 6.53Gal
Boil Time: 60 Min
End of Boil Vol: 5.99 Gal
Final Bottling Vol: 4.60 Gal
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Date: (May 10) July 13 2017
Brewer: Bender Braus Brewing

MASH INGREDIENTS
11 Lbs 8oz -- Pale Malt (2-Row)
1 Lb --------- Caramel / Crystal Malt - 20L
12.0oz ------- Munich Malt - 10L

HOP INGREDIENTS
1.00 oz --- Chinook --- Boil 60Min
1.50 oz --- Cascade -- Boil 5.0 Min
0.50 oz --- Nugget ---- Boil 5.0 Min
1.50 oz --- Cascade -- Boil 0.0 Min
1.00 oz --- Nugget --- Boil 0.0 Min

YEAST
2 Packages ---- West Coast IPA (Wyest #1217)

FERMENTATION
* July 13 - Primary Fermentation [7 Days at 68.0 F]
* July 20 - Secondary Fermentation [14 Days at 68.0 F]

DRY HOPPING
2.00 oz --- Cascade --- Dry Hop for 3 Days




Some final things..... I have yet to get the ingredients from my local LBS (Scotzin Brothers). But looking at their website, for the munich malt, they only have Munich Malt Light 8L or Munich Malt Dark 10L (my recipe is calling for Munich Malt 10L), so I'm not sure which to go with. (Their both same price, I'm thinking of maybe aiming for the darker, but not sure.)

Also, I've been told not to bother doing the dry hopping since I'm not kegging and bottling instead. What are thoughts on that?



Also, since this is my first brew day, and I'm a bit nervous, any thoughts, suggestions, comments, or anything helpful would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much guys!

 

[marjen]

Also, I've been told not to bother doing the dry hopping since I'm not kegging and bottling instead. What are thoughts on that?

How you are going to package it has no bearing on whether to dry hop or not. You still are going to want to do it, as that will bring out more hop flavor.

 

[NickL]

How you are going to package it has no bearing on whether to dry hop or not. You still are going to want to do it, as that will bring out more hop flavor.

I agree with this.



Also, I'm guilty of being nervous sometimes also. But the worst thing that can happen is you dump it (i've dumped a few), and then you have an excuse to brew again.

In reality, with good sanitation practice, you will end up with drinkable beers every time. So just have fun with it.

"Relax, have a homebrew." - Charlie P

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

My ingredients list looking at their website looks to be 40-44$ plus StarSan. Plus water. So hopefully no dumping.

I've been reading and watching YouTube videos for nearly a year and talking to people, so just nervous/anxious about finally doing it. Especially since I'm not the most handy, and not really good at things of this nature (I can't cook to save my life), etc.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Does anyone have any suggestions or comments on my brew day coming up? Or about my recipe?

I am curious what people think:
* Two things:
** The Scotzin website doesn't list Munich Malt 10L, just Munich Malt Light 8L and Munich Malt Dark 15L... Which should I use?
**Two, the website shows no IPA yeast. What style of yeast is a good alternative?

Thanks!

 

[xpops]

My ingredients list looking at their website looks to be 40-44$ plus StarSan. Plus water. So hopefully no dumping.

I've been reading and watching YouTube videos for nearly a year and talking to people, so just nervous/anxious about finally doing it. Especially since I'm not the most handy, and not really good at things of this nature (I can't cook to save my life), etc.

Paralysis by Analysis...just get your first batch under your belt, and you'll be golden! You'll feel 100% more confident at the end of that first brew day!

Keep notes on everything. gravities, temperatures, times, processes. this will help you on future batches!

 

[xpops]

Does anyone have any suggestions or comments on my brew day coming up? Or about my recipe?

I am curious what people think:
* Two things:
** The Scotzin website doesn't list Munich Malt 10L, just Munich Malt Light 8L and Munich Malt Dark 15L... Which should I use?
**Two, the website shows no IPA yeast. What style of yeast is a good alternative?

Thanks!

i would personally go with the lighter Munich. It will come down to a personal preference that you'll eventually figure out. i personally dont like a lot of dark grain in my IPAs, but some people do.

at less than 10%, and considering you already have some 20L, choosing between 8L and 15L probably probably wont make a world of a difference, but i'd still personally go with 8L.

for the yeast, you could go with any of the clean dry/liquid yeasts. Nottingham, US-05, WLP001 are all listed on the first page and are a good option for your first IPA!

Also - definately dry hop. it doesn't matter how you're packaging. The worst part about brewing an IPA, is cracking that first bottle and finding it lacks that hop hit!!

good luck, and keep us posted!!

 

[ncbrewer]

I'd suggest skipping the secondary - just leave it in primary the whole time.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Any other suggestions of skipping secondary?

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Went with the light Munich instead of dark. Also went with WLP001 California Ale Yeast because of no IPA yeast.

 

[eadavis80]

I secondary when I dry hop (in fact, I just did that a few hours ago), but many will dry hop in primary. It doesn't really matter. Many fear oxidation/infection with any transfer (which can happen), but if you're sanitary that should not happen. Plus, I'm assuming since you're just starting you have only 1 primary and 1 secondary. A benefit of racking to secondary after 10-14 days of primary would be that you can brew again whereas if you dry hop in primary you should not be bottling up that beer for a month or so. Good luck on your first brew day - relax and don't have more than 2 beers before you pitch your yeast. After that, it's out of your hands and up to the yeast to do the rest. I think the recipe looks good. I didn't see a target OG on your recipe, but pitching 2 vials of yeast (assuming no starter) is a good idea.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Yes common practice these days is to skip the secondary. US-05 is my favorite IPA yeast. 8L vs. 15L is a pretty small difference. Absolutely dry hop. The reason dry hopping can be a problem is that the hops are all floating around in the beer and clog up your bottling wand. If you dry hop you should cold crash your beer 48 hours before bottling. That is to put it in a cold place and the hops and any yeast still in suspension sink to the bottom of your fermentor.

 

[sancycling]

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the hobby!!!
All that excitement and nervousness is what makes brewing fun. Just brew it!!! Most likely you will make plenty of mistakes the first time, and few more, but it is part of the learning curve. The good thing is that, if you keep everything sanitary, you'll make good beer. Later you will start getting picky with tastes, aromas, color, foam, and so on.
Good luck!!!
Take notes on everything even if you think it is irrelevant.

 

[Sammy86]

Went with the light Munich instead of dark. Also went with WLP001 California Ale Yeast because of no IPA yeast.

No such thing as an IPA yeast...there are Ale yeasts and Lager yeasts...you can use a wide variety of Ale yeasts for an IPA as many above posters have stated.

My personal favorite yeasts for IPA's are Safale S-04 or Wyeast 1098.

 

[xpops]

Any other suggestions of skipping secondary?

Yup. Skip it. Unless you're aging on fruit/oak/something else, just let your fermentation run it's course in primary.

 

[xpops]

Not to overwhelm you on your first brew, but do you have any method of controlling temperature during fermentation? even the use of a swamp cooler can make a big difference.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

To be honest, the game plan is to use the closest in my office.

 

[Kanonen80]

Not to overwhelm you on your first brew, but do you have any method of controlling temperature during fermentation? even the use of a swamp cooler can make a big difference.

I used the "wet shirt" method my last batch and it worked well enough. Just wrapped the carboy with a wet t-shirt and set a fan to blow on it. Was enough to drop it a few degrees.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Currently waiting for the strike water to heat up. Using a brand new Anvil burner that I got as a surprise birthday gift from the wife. Its been about 20 minutes and we're sitting at 120. Waiting for it to get to 168 before pouring into the mash tun.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

How long does it normally take to heat up strike water to 168?

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Ok, figured out why it was taking so long (I barely had the propane tank open). Now the water and the grains are in the mash tun and I'm just waiting for the 60-70 minutes to be up.

 

[Braufessor]

i'd suggest skipping the secondary - just leave it in primary the whole time.

+ 1

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Ok, just about to vorlauf and then go from mash tun back to brewkettle for the boil.

My recipe I printed out from BeerSmith says to add Hops at 5Min boil and at 60Min boil. It also says the Boil itsel is 60Minutes. So does that mean I'm adding hops right at the end of the boil?

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

My recipe calls for hop additions at 60 minutes, 5 minutes, and 0 minutes. How does the timing work exactly?

 

[BigCrazyAl]

I may be late answering you but the 60 minute addition means to add it when there are 60 minutes left in the boil so for you add them first. 5 minutes and 0 minutes follow the same logic. I hope that helps

 

[gromitdj]

I suppose you might be done by now... but the hop times are counting backwards. So you add the first charge at the beginning (or 60 mins remaining) and the other at 5 mins remaining. Good luck! One thing is for certain, there will be mistakes. The key is to learn from them.

 

[Moose_MI]

I remember my first brew....I was almost as nervous as when I took my wife to hospital to deliver our first child.

You got this dude! You're gonna make beer...it will not be the best beer you've ever had...in fact you will almost certainly find things about it that you wish were different.......and then you will brew again.

That's pretty much how this hobby goes.....oh, and don't forget the constant need to buy new cool equipment....that's when you know you're doing it right

Cheers!

 

[NickL]

Any other suggestions of skipping secondary?

Yep. Unless it's going to be in there for over a month, secondary isn't necessary.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

I suppose you might be done by now... but the hop times are counting backwards. So you add the first charge at the beginning (or 60 mins remaining) and the other at 5 mins remaining. Good luck! One thing is for certain, there will be mistakes. The key is to learn from them.

Yea.... I ended up doing them backwards. Adding them in the reverse order basically (the ones that said 0 minutes, I added at the start, the ones that said 60 Minutes, I added at the end). Oops.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Some pictures from my first brewday.