First Brew

[danile666]

Ok, So I brewed my first Homebrew today, an Irish Stout. Only had one mishap. When pouring the crystal specialty grain into the grain bag the bag slipped out of my partner in crimes hand, and spilt about 50% (3oz) on the floor. Didnt have any extra so brewed with what we had. The rest of the grains and such went fine.

The Gravity target range was 1.047-1.050 It actualy came out to 1.052. Have it in the fermenter ready to go.

Anyways, what flavor difference will the missing crystal give?

Also can the guiness draught bottles be re-used without removing that thingy? (forgot what it is called...the do-hicky inside the bottle.)

THanks,

-Daniel

 

[Yooper]

The 3 ounces of crystal won't be missed, so don't worry!

I wouldn't reuse the Guiness bottles with the widget inside- how would you clean and sanitize it?

 

[RichBrewer]

Welcome to HBT Daniel!

As Yooper said, I'd be Leary of reusing a bottle with a widget inside.

 

[RichBrewer]

Welcome to HBT Daniel!

As Yooper said, I'd be Leary of reusing a bottle with a widget inside.

 

[danile666]

Ahh...widget!

ok, I appreciate it...wont reuse the guiness bottles then

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Had the recipe called for more crystal, you may have missed it, but like Yooper said, 3 oz won't matter. It will add unfermentable sugars to the brew increasing the body.

 

[eddie]

Ahh...widget!

ok, I appreciate it...wont reuse the guiness bottles then

You can reuse the bottles. Just tip the bottle upside down and pull the widget out with a pair of needle nose pliers. It take about a second or so.

 

[danile666]

Well it smells good. I hadnt seen any airlock action, and couldnt resist taking a peak. Lots of foam on top...about 3 inches. So I believe my yeast is workin it's magic ...

Also Eddie was correct. Those widgets come out easy, I filled the bottles up with water to make em float to the top so I didnt get the little last drop of guiness on me

Oh BTW I am completely hooked now...I ordered another primary fermenter last night, and am getting a carboy from a family member, and got a recipe for a harp clone. Will try and see if it works, and have me some black and tans in a month or so (what would a harp recipe taste like if it was made like a steam beer? I dont feel like getting into lagering, and ordered the wyeast 2112 california lager yeast)

-Daniel

 

[danile666]

Well the airlock stopped bubbling, so I took a gravity reading thursday, friday, and saturday, and it was right on with the target gravity. I didnt have any bottles yet, and managed to get my hands on a carboy, So my buddy and I started to clean it. While my buddy was dumping the water out of the carboy he dropped it...Shatter

At least it was a free carboy!

Anyways I had read all the stuff about letting beer sit on yeast too long, and I didnt want that to happen so we needed bottles quick, and with no local brewstore we had one option...drink a lot.

So we went through 1 12 pack of harp, 1 6 pack of guiness, 1 6 pack of irish red, and the brilliant geniouses we are...1 18 pack of coors (twist off, took us all night to remember it when a chick we invited to help us with our endeavor pointed it out)...So we got another 12 pack of corona (I know not brown bottles, but funds were limited, and it was the only thing the chicki would drink.

So all in all, lots of beer, and a fun night. We managed to get all but about 1/2 of a gallon into the bottles, and my friend was more then happy to finish the 1/2 gallon the next day.

It is an irish stout recipe, I thought it was not as dark as it should be. It was the color of coffee after someone has dumped milk into it...kinda the same consistency too. I thought I could realy taste the alchohol in it. It had that little bit of a sting to it. But neither my buddy nor the chick friend could taste the alcohol taste I noticed. Probably could have aged btr, and hopefully the bottles will age it some.

Oh and the reason we didnt have bottles was because I got that carboy, and my b-day passed a couple weeks ago, and my father was getting the bottles for me...he hasnt ordered them yet.

now wait for these to carbonate, and I have another kit on the way...see how that one goes...

-Daniel

Oh the original gravity was1.052 and the final was 1.022, within the recipes range

 

[fdefulvio]

There is no need to rush to get the beer out of your primary. In fact, it is recommened that you let it stay in there or a secondary for at least another week or two to improve flavor. If you read through the threads, you'll find that many people agree that a secondary is not even necessary.

I bottled my first batch after only 8 days in the primary, and it came out pretty good. It was a little cloudy when first bottled, but settle out after a few days and now pours crystal clear. My second batch I'm going to let finish for at least another week or two.

The beauty of this hobby is that it really is easy to make "good" beer the first time even if you don't do everything as suggested. The art is learning to make "really good" beer, then "great" beer.

 

[Nurmey]

A valiant effort you undertook to get all those bottles!

Next time just leave it in the primary for 3 or 4 weeks and you'll have clearer, better tasting beer. Meanwhile drink some more pop top purchased beer to add to your collection.

Most importantly, be careful with those carboys! Maybe you should look into Better Bottles if you have fumble fingered friends.

 

[danile666]

well Carboy wasnt too bad. It was given to my father a long time ago by hapinstance. Just kinda sucked with what I read everywhere...But we got enough, and as soon as my father gets the bottles I will have more (he ordered them for my b-day). They will probably end up sitting in the bottles for quiet some time too. I can only drink everyother week because I am on-call for emergencies. So I should get a good 1 week to crack one, and see the carbonation level, and then a total of 3 weeks till I can realy drink any.
But yeah great effort...

-Daniel