First brew ever and nothing has gone wrong!

[veazer]

So I decided to give this home brewing thing a try and got myself all the gear I could afford and a brewer's best smoked porter ingredient kit. After reading all the horror stories I could find online I figured something would go horribly wrong, but nothing has!

I hit an OG of 1.056 ish, which seems pretty close to the 1.058-1.062 range they called for. The only things that didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped was that the bottom of my pot bowed and didn't make a good connection to the stovetop during boiling, so it took forever to boil, and my Ice bath to chill the wort took about 45 minutes as opposed to the 30 everyone seems to aim for. I've got the fermenter sitting in a 63 degree F water bucket/swamp cooler rig in my closet, and it's been happily bubbling since about 12 hours after I sealed the bucket. Once the fermentation slows down, should I move it out of the bucket into the ~66 degree closet air, or just turn off the fan, or just leave it as it is? Also, when bottling, should I use all the priming sugar the kit came with, or change it?

Anyone have any recommendations on what I should start next after I bottle this? I was thinking of trying EdWort's "Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale" extract version, but I was wondering if anyone's got a reason why I shouldn't aim for that one next? I'd like to move away from the kits pretty soon, but I'd be okay with using them for a bit longer to make sure I've got everything measured out right and whatnot.

Also if anyone has any tips for preventing my pot from bowing and losing contact with the stovetop except on the very outer coil, I'd love to hear them. I know this is what happened because whenever i pulled up slightly on the pot, the low rolling boil got extremely violent and the pot made a sort of popping noise when the material bowed the other way.

 

[morticaixavier]

congrats!

sounds like things went well for you. as in all things people report the horror stories many times more frequently than the everything went okay stories.

'every happy family is happy in the same way...'

I would suggest brewing something that sounds yummy to you. if that's the pale ale you mention then go for it. It's more important at this point to get a handle on the process and how to control fermentation (temps and pitching rates)

don't worry about the chilling taking longer. I chill my wort to ~90 with an immersion chiller then put the bucket in my temp controlled fridge to chill the rest of the way down to ~64 before pitching yeast. it often takes 12-24 hours to get there.

I don't know what to say about the pot bottom problem except to get a thicker bottomed pot.

 

[kh54s10]

Just to make sure fermentation has finished, you could just stop icing and cut off the fan for a couple of days. Resist the urge to go by the typical directions that say after so many days... Use your hydrometer to make sure your fermentation is done.

I would use a priming calculator, there are many online. I use the one on Northern Brewer's website. You can find it under resources at the bottom of the page.

For the next one, look at recipes and do one that strikes your fancy and start planning on the one after that. I use Beersmith and have 16 recipes started. Some are alterations of something I found online and others are from scratch.

Beat the bottom of the pot a little in whichever direction will keep it flat. If that doesn't work get a better pot. Keep the one you have, you will use it sometime. If you get a propane burner, the bottom shape will not matter.

 

[veazer]

Beat the bottom of the pot a little in whichever direction will keep it flat. If that doesn't work get a better pot. Keep the one you have, you will use it sometime. If you get a propane burner, the bottom shape will not matter.

Roger on the hydrometer usage, planning on giving it 2.5 weeks before I open it (patience) but this one I'm a tad confused on... Do you mean like take a mallet or a hammer and hit the bottom of the pot a little without damaging it? EDIT: it's a stainless steel 5 gallon pot.

 

[DennisinIowa]

Just from my experience.
Brew the exact same thing. Improve your boil with a propane burner(turkey fryer). Add a wort chiller.
When I started I was trying so many different things and kits, I didn't have a good handle on what was causing what.
Brewing the same kit will show up anything that needs tuning in the process.
Right now I am on the 3rd brewing of the same SMaSH brew, and keep getting better each time.
My 2 cents,
DennisinIowa

 

[Trox]

If the bottom of your pot is flexing like you are suggesting then it is very thin; either from usuage or a cheap pot, and I would look into getting a better pot asap. Your brew pot is one item that I wouldn't skimp on since a good one will last you pretty much forver, but a cheap one oyu could end up replacing every few years (depending on how much you use it). If you are only going to use your stove top then I would stick with a 5-6 gal pot (anything more oyur stove probably won't handle it), but if you are planning on using a propane burner eventually for full boils then look into a 10-15 gal pot.