First brew

[kylegjohnson]

Hi everyone, just did my first brew. Midwest oatmeal stout recipe. Got the whole kit for Christmas along with the recipe of the month club. Don't have any idea if I did it write but followed Palmer How to Brew instructions and the recipe. Thanks for all of your posts. I searched more than on e to answer questions while brewing. Will try another one next weekend.


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[Dynachrome]

Welcome aboard.

I see you're doing a kit. That's how I got started too.

 

[boydster]

Congrats on your first brew!
Take good notes on everything you do, it really helps with tracking successes and honing in your process.

 

[kylegjohnson]

When you say take notes what should I write down? Thanks for the replies also


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[Transamguy77]

Congrats on your first brew!
Take good notes on everything you do, it really helps with tracking successes and honing in your process.

^^^^^This!!! Note your pitching temp, OG, how long in primary, how long in the bottle, what your fist one tasted like, what it tasted like a week later, any changes you made, if you added something different and when, FG. I note everything I can, after a few batches it all runs together and you can't remember what you added or how you made it but you will be glad you took notes so you can make it the same again.

 

[boydster]

^^^^^This!!! Note your pitching temp, OG, how long in primary, how long in the bottle, what your fist one tasted like, what it tasted like a week later, any changes you made, if you added something different and when, FG. I note everything I can, after a few batches it all runs together and you can't remember what you added or how you made it but you will be glad you took notes so you can make it the same again.

Also, keep track of your brew day - recipe adjustments, things that went wrong, exact mash temp, variations in mash temp, whatever you think could be a variable in repeating the creation of this beer is worth making a note about.

 

[BWE]

Welcome to the life of Brewing. I broke my cherry on a stout also. It turned out great and really kick started my process. I hope the same goes for you. Patients is the greatest attribute. My biggest tip (though notes are big) is the process you do it in. If you get a set standard to how you brew from start to finish, it makes life so much easier. You'll always know where everything is, and what you can do in between tasks. Being organized is the best way to brew.

 

[SeeMont]

Welcome aboard. Good advise so far. Sanitation is key. Ask questions and above all make it fun.

 

[m1batt1]

When working from a kit with everything lined out for you to start requires less notes but as mentioned temperatures gravities and time frames are good to keep tabs on. When you really want to start making detailed notes is when you start changing or modifying a recipe or creating your own. At that point everything you do is good to notate because you may come out with your favorite beer ever. And without those good notes you'll be guessing down the road when you try to duplicate it.

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[kylegjohnson]

Ok here's what I know so far. From 24-48 hours bubbles big time in the 3 part air lock. Since then. Pretty much nada. Should I be concerned? I was planning on 14 day fermentation and 14 day conditioning. Am I being paranoid since it's only been a fee days?


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[m1batt1]

No you should not be concerned I'm guessing you're using a bucket for your fermenter which means you've developed a leak somewhere in the lid. This isn't a concern either just the reason for no airlock activity. Go ahead with your current plan and you should be good!

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[JimRausch]

As Revvy has put it so eloquently in the past, "Bubbles mean nothing". They are merely a sign of gas being vented. Granted, that gas is probably CO2, and that is being produced by the yeast during fermentation, but there are other reasons for bubbles to show. And even when there are no visible bubbles, fermentation can occur. My guess would be that your initial temperature that you had your bucket sitting at was somewhere in the 70's. If that's the case, your fermenting beer would have an internal temp of upper 70's- maybe 80's. Yeast go crazy at those temps, so it's possible to see wild activity for a couple days, then nothing. Still, leave it alone for 2 weeks. It may not look like it, but things are still happening, good things. Let the yeast do their work, then check serial SGs before bottling/kegging.

 

[kylegjohnson]

Hi everyone... Interesting day. Bottled my oatmeal stout today final gravity was 14 and recipe called for 10-12. All went well with the bottling once we figured out how the bench capper worked. Lol. So now have 48 bottles in the basement.

Went ahead and decided to brew another batch and decided to use a new big mouth bubbler I bought. Used the nut ale kit from Midwest. Everything went fine with the boil etc. added hops final 3 min etc. then I poured the wort into the bubbler and yep you guessed it... Pow! The bottom broke out of it... I was planning on adding top up water and ice to the fermenter to cool the wort. Since I don't know how much wort I lost I had to guess how much water and ice to add to my plastic fermenter bucket. The OG was supposed to be 44-48. Mine was 38. In hind sight I guess I should've added some and measured added some more and measured etc. until 44-48 was reached. I think I saved it though. Will know in a month or so.

Thanks for all of your help


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[dsaavedra]

Hi everyone... Interesting day. Bottled my oatmeal stout today final gravity was 14 and recipe called for 10-12. All went well with the bottling once we figured out how the bench capper worked. Lol. So now have 48 bottles in the basement.

Went ahead and decided to brew another batch and decided to use a new big mouth bubbler I bought. Used the nut ale kit from Midwest. Everything went fine with the boil etc. added hops final 3 min etc. then I poured the wort into the bubbler and yep you guessed it... Pow! The bottom broke out of it... I was planning on adding top up water and ice to the fermenter to cool the wort. Since I don't know how much wort I lost I had to guess how much water and ice to add to my plastic fermenter bucket. The OG was supposed to be 44-48. Mine was 38. In hind sight I guess I should've added some and measured added some more and measured etc. until 44-48 was reached. I think I saved it though. Will know in a month or so.

Thanks for all of your help


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Yikes! Lessons learned I guess. Chill before putting into glass!

 

[kylegjohnson]

Oh and I forgot to say that my oatmeal stout tasted like warm flat beer so I guess it worked. Actually had a couple sips to make sure lol


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