Going to Brew a Belgian IPA

[libirm]

But as this is my first brew so I have a few questions:
1) The sanitizer can make up to five gallons- do I make all five or just half to sanitize the equipment?
What do I do with it after? Save it?
I need some to sanitize my hydrometer after I add enough water to make 5 gallons. Then again after a week.
2) Directions say to measure OG after I add the water to make sure that it is in proper range, what is the proper range? Directions says OG should be 1.052-1.056, is that the proper range?
3) To get the wort into the hydrometer for a reading, do I use a the siphon that came with the kit? Is there a good source for showing me how to read the Hydrometer correctly?

Thanks for the help!!!!
PB

 

[KepowOb]

1) What sanitizer are you using? I know the directions of Star San are for 5 gallons... I scale it according to how much I need for a particular task (so 1/2 oz for 2.5 gal, if that's all you want for the moment).

Get a spray bottle and fill it up with your sanitizing solution when you make one though. It'll stay good for a long time in there, and you'll be able to spray down a lot of things along the way, making it a lot easier than always having to dunk things into a big tub of your solution. This would be great for when you need to take hydrometer readings.

2) 1.052-1.056 would be the proper range. Just know that with an extract kit, if you have the right volume, you'll be in range. There are a lot of posts here about people having a very low OG, and it's usually because when you use water to top off an extract brew, it doesn't mix well with the wort. It's actually very hard to mix properly (don't worry, it'll mix during fermentation).

3) I use a turkey baster to take a sample for my hydrometer. Wine thieves also work well. You could siphon it I suppose, but a turkey baster is much easier IMO.

 

[Irbefan]

But as this is my first brew so I have a few questions:
1) The sanitizer can make up to five gallons- do I make all five or just half to sanitize the equipment?
What do I do with it after? Save it?
I need some to sanitize my hydrometer after I add enough water to make 5 gallons. Then again after a week.
2) Directions say to measure OG after I add the water to make sure that it is in proper range, what is the proper range? Directions says OG should be 1.052-1.056, is that the proper range?
3) To get the wort into the hydrometer for a reading, do I use a the siphon that came with the kit? Is there a good source for showing me how to read the Hydrometer correctly?

Thanks for the help!!!!
PB

1) I always dump sanitizer after use. Fill up a bucket with it and use it to put equipment in that needs to be sanitized. Also, if you have a clean spray bottle, fill it up from the bucket for future use. You can spray sanitize things like your hydrometer. I always keep some on hand.
2) that is the correct OG for that beer per the directions and amount of extract that came with that kit. The OG should fall in that range.

3) get a Thief for pulling samples and gravity readings. Some people use a turkey baster or something to that effect. The siphon really isn't practical for that purpose. As for reading it, I assume its a triple scale hydrometer, the only scale you need to worry about is the one that says "Sp. Gr.". It's the 1.000 scale. Place it in a tube so it floats and read at the liquid line level. The scale might just say 50 without the 1.0, but that's 1.050. If it's 2 hash marks below 50, that's 1.054.

I hope that helps.

 

[libirm]

Great Advice Fellow Brewers- will start in about 20 minutes !!!

 

[KepowOb]

Great Advice Fellow Brewers- will start in about 20 minutes !!!

Good luck, let us know how it goes

 

[libirm]

It went great- finished about 10:00 pm EST.
Sitting in fermenter as I type.
One question- the instructions in package says to pitch the yeast on top and stir.

The yeast instructions says to hydrate the yeast first- I did the latter.

Is one way better?

Thanks again for all the help & well wishers.!
PB

 

[Irbefan]

Personally, I don't rehydrate dry yeast. Some do, some don't. Po-TA-to, po--tah-to.

 

[libirm]

Gentleman- we have bubbles!:rockin: