first brew fermenting (finally) and a few questions

[SpeedyR]

so Monday I put my new christmas present to use and brewed up my first batch of Brewers Best American Pale Ale. Just followed the directions and seemed to go fine. It did take it a few days to start to see bubbles in the airlock (just started today actually, I waited for a while so I didn't do the usual newbie post of "why isn't it bubbling???")

so on to the questions:

1) my recipe called to heat water to 150-165 and then add grains in sack. I turned off the burner so it wouldn't get too high, and figured that for 15 minutes or so it would be fine to "steep" at the temps even if it got a bit cooler. correct assumption or should I have left the burner on low? It sounded like it was "boiling" where the sack of grains was sitting on the bottom of the pot?
2) I have a thermometer in the wort as I brought it to a boil and then added the first can of LME. seems like the thermometer was reading in the 160-170 range even though it was boiling. Should I have turned it up higher or does the boiling point lower with the additional of the LME/hops?
3)followed the directions of adding hops at various points, then hit it with my new homemade wort chiller. 50' of 3/8" copper tubing with compression fittings for the hose. was cold outside, so it didn't take long to cool things off. I think I overdid it on the cooling side as it was much colder after I added the spring water (like 55-60 degrees). As I strained it as I poured it into the fermenting bucket, the strainer kept filling the pores with hops and stopping things up. Do I just need a bigger strainer, or is mine too fine, or do you just scoop the hops out as they fill up?
4)my fermenting took a long time to start (brewed monday night, didn't start to bubble till this afternoon (Thursday). I"m assuming it was because of the low temps of the wort (I put the bucket upstairs by a heater to get it up into the high 60's low 70's- that seemed to kickstart it)?

the plan is to ferment about 3 weeks then bottle it and start with an Imperial Pale ale then maybe a lager since it's nice and cool outside and I have a glass 5 gallon carboy that I want to try for a secondary. Now that I've started it's hard to stop!!!

last question (for now!)- I just got a wine thief, assuming that's a good thing to use to check FG/OG readings? Anything else not included in the basic kits that's helpful for bottling? I'll probably go pick up a bottle tree thing to drain my bottles as I clean them. ok, one more- i'm assuming I can bottle into my growlers I have from different shops? wasn't sure about the caps on them or if I need to have something different?

thanks, spent a few long evenings reading a lot on the forums, hopefully someday I can return the favor of passing along some knowledge!!

 

[scottyg354]

1) Should have checked temp throught the steeping process. 15 minutes isn't too long but better safe then sorry.

2)Sounds like you have a broken thermometer. I don't think there is anywhere on earth where the boiling point is 160-170. Think about it that means on death valley's hottest day, the place would have been 22-32 degrees away from boiling.

3)You can pitch at 55-60. Just delays the start of fermentation a bit. Hence your initial paragraph.

4) See above

I brewed about 8 brews before really purchasing anything other than a wine thief and a cyclinder for check gravity. You should be good to go. Bottle tree is nice, but I would save yourself bottle money and look into kegging eventually.

 

[ozziewaldo]

Sounds like we have good people in our lives. Got started with my birthday present. Your grains will not get as hot as the rest of the wart. General rule of thumb lower temp 150 to add fermi tabla sugar. 160 to add body to your beer. The average time to steep your grains if you are doing an extract is about 30 min. Have fun and good brewing

 

[RM-MN]

1. Steeping temperature isn't real critical. You're fine. Some instructions will have you put the grains into the cold water and heat it to boiling. Not the best instructions but they still work for steeping.

2. Adding malt extract actually raises the boiling point. Replace your thermometer.

3. I don't filter out anything. It all goes into the fermenter. Saves on headaches, saves time, tastes the same.

4. You did good. According to White Labs the yeast gets its start making off flavors when it is pitched too warm. Your was nice and cool. Perfect. It will take a bit longer to show signs that it is fermenting but lower temperatures produce better beer. Try to keep your in the low 60's instead of the high 60's.

5. Growlers aren't meant to take the extra pressure while carbonation is happening. Once carbonated they can hold it but using them for carbonation is asking for broken growlers.

6. Your pale ale is a light color beer with moderate alcohol content. You can take your first hydrometer sample at the end of the second week and another a couple days later. If they match, bottle it. Your Imperial you intend to make is a horse of a different color. It will take longer to ferment out and longer to mature too. You should use extra yeast since this is a big beer. Make sure to have a blowoff tube on the fermenter too because this might be hard to control.

 

[SpeedyR]

good points. I did put the grains in for just over 20 minutes. I just turned off the burner the last 10-15 minutes of it.

I'll pick up a good thermometer tomorrow. I put it in boiling water prior to using it and it read about 200 degrees but the other temps just seemed to be off. either way a new thermometer is cheap.

 

[BigFloyd]

good points. I did put the grains in for just over 20 minutes. I just turned off the burner the last 10-15 minutes of it.

I'll pick up a good thermometer tomorrow. I put it in boiling water prior to using it and it read about 200 degrees but the other temps just seemed to be off. either way a new thermometer is cheap.

When steeping crystal grains, etc., I'd rather be a little low than too hot. If you get above 170, you can release some astringent flavors. Same thing if you try to squeeze the moisture out of the grain bag too hard (better to just sparge the bag with some 155-160* water and let it drip).

A good thermometer is your friend. Buy a decent one that can handle liquids.