First brewing

[ArroganceFan]

just put the hops into the boiling wort. how often should i stir or should i?

this ROCKS:rockin:

 

[bradsul]

Once you have a rolling boil it will stir itself. Just watch for hops to stick to the pot, I usually scrape those back in.

Congrats on the first brew. Hope you're ready to become obsessed like the rest of us.

 

[ArroganceFan]

Once you have a rolling boil it will stir itself. Just watch for hops to stick to the pot, I usually scrape those back in.

Congrats on the first brew. Hope you're ready to become obsessed like the rest of us.

I caught the hops on the side, but thanks for the heads up. I am not ready to be obsessed because I already am obsessed!! :rockin:

So much fun

 

[ArroganceFan]

While the boil is going on, I am trying to get everything in order for the fermenter. Looking at the airlock, I notice some little particles on the inside. I bought my kit used, so I am assuming that this is from normal use, and should not effect the beer. Is this something I should worry about or should this be ok?

 

[Yooper]

Clean it by squirting hot tap water through it and get it nice and clean. Then sanitize it by covering all the surfaces (dunking it works well) with the sanitizer.

 

[ArroganceFan]

Clean it by squirting hot tap water through it and get it nice and clean. Then sanitize it by covering all the surfaces (dunking it works well) with the sanitizer.

Thats what I tried, but the particles dont want to come out. It has been soaking in starsan for over an hour now.

 

[cheezydemon]

It should be OK then, stuff seldom goes in the airlock, a lot of CO2 comes out. Is your yeast ready to go? Do you have an ice bath ready?

 

[ArroganceFan]

ice bath and yeast are ready to go :rockin: :rockin:

 

[homebrewer_99]

Can you reach it with a Q-tip?

 

[ArroganceFan]

I cant get the hydrometer to read...it looks like the stuff is solid on the bottom of it.

 

[ArroganceFan]

Well, the transfer wasn't f@#$%^g pretty. I tried to use the method where you put ice into the primary and then transfer the wort over for instant cooling. The ice was a lot harder to get out of the containers then I thought it would be, and I am fearing contamination. I also think I have over oxygenated the hot wart. We will see though, for now I will RDWHAHB, and see how things go...

 

[cheezydemon]

It is not a thermometer, the reading is where it settles to, floating in the wort. The surface of the wort should be at 1.048 let's say(just for example) The hydrometer will float with the surface touching 1.048.

Make sense?

 

[BierMuncher]

Here's how you read the hydrometer.


In this case the reading is 1.056. This would be taken several times during the process.

Once right away after the wort has cooled and then several times over the next few days to check the fermentation progress.

Once the reading is static for 2-3 days in a row, your fermetnation is complete. Do a quick calculation by subtracting the last reading from the first. Let's say your final gravity is 1.015.

That's a delta of .041 points. Multiply that .041 by 131 (just a magic number) and that is your alcohol content.

.041
x
131
=
5.371%

 

[ArroganceFan]

ahhhh lol im an idiot

how does 1.062 sound for an IPA? Directions say it should be 1.059, so its pretty close

 

[cheezydemon]

Yeah I fear sanitized ice. I always use a bath to cool my wort, keeping the lid on tight. And you CAN"T over aerate at this point. It is impossible. Don't worry, odds are it will be OK. just keep it sealed up good from here. You did put the yeast in right?

 

[ArroganceFan]

Yeah I fear sanitized ice. I always use a bath to cool my wort, keeping the lid on tight. And you CAN"T over aerate at this point. It is impossible. Don't worry, odds are it will be OK. just keep it sealed up good from here. You did put the yeast in right?

Yah I did put the yeast in. The only thing with that is, the directions said to shake it well before pitching it to make sure it all comes out. Well I must have shaken it too hard because when I went to open it, it popped like a soda can after its been shaken. It wasnt too bad, but some was lost. The majority got in there ok though.

You mention putting the lid on, at what point was that supposed to happen? The directions I was reading never said anything about putting a lid on...

 

[cheezydemon]

By sealed up I meant with the airlock that you mentioned having. Good Luck!

 

[DeathBrewer]

Yah I did put the yeast in. The only thing with that is, the directions said to shake it well before pitching it to make sure it all comes out. Well I must have shaken it too hard because when I went to open it, it popped like a soda can after its been shaken. It wasnt too bad, but some was lost. The majority got in there ok though.

You mention putting the lid on, at what point was that supposed to happen? The directions I was reading never said anything about putting a lid on...

you put the lid on your stockpot when you're cooling the wort. this keeps out possible contaminates.

i used to leave the lid off because i thought it would cool faster (letting the hot air out) and never had an infection, but i find with the lid on it seems to go just as fast anyway and it's always good to take every step you can to avoid bacteria.

i usually do my last 10 minutes of the boil with the lid on to help sanitize it, then i can just leave it on when i cool.

 

[ArroganceFan]

Ahh I thought you might be referring to some point during the boil...

 

[cheezydemon]

Ahhhh right the lid! Is that why you asked about the lid? because you wanted to know about that? Why didn't you say so! My bad!
Yes I agree that putting the lid on before the boil ends is the way to go. Definitely do not - repeat- do not put the air lock on 10 minutes from boil end. That might be bad. It probably would get the gunk out of it though!

 

[ArroganceFan]

I will have to remember to put the lid on the last 10 mins of the boil, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the info