My First Batch Is Now In The Fermenter!

[Thegundog]

Brewed my first batch of beer yesterday - a Brewers Best Kolsch Kit (5 gallon).

Extra special as my 25 year old was in town and like me, he was really into it - can't wait to deliver him a couple of cases of Kolsch (he lives 3 hours away).

I think it went pretty well overall, we boiled 5.5 gallons of water and ended up with 4.5 gallons at the end so we had to boil and add the difference. I guess I need to adjust and start with 6 gallons next time.

We followed the steeping instructions that came with the kit, but I need to get a little more confident in the process by studying more information on steeping.

Our OG was within the recipe range.

There is lot's of good looking activity in the airlock this morning.

Hopefully we will have a nice beer.....

My equipment is pretty standard stuff, that truthfully I've been piecing together over the past 3- 4 months through patient bargain shopping.

I have a Tri-clad 15 Gallon Bayou Classic Kettle with a Blichmann Brewmometer.

We dropped the Kolsch into a fastferment which I found for a very sweet deal.

Lastly I have my brew chair, might be my favorite unnecessary accessory

This site is a phenomenal resource.

 

[EcuPirate07]

Nice, just make sure you are fermenting in a good range for the yeast sometimes those kits are a little on the high side for recommendations but non the less good to hear the brew day was a success! You have just tasted the Kool-aid, enjoy!

 

[Altrez]

Awesome! Good job!!

-Altrez

 

[Sammy86]

Congrats on the brew!

 

[Sailingeric]

Time to get another brew going. You got to get the pipeline built up

 

[TripelDubbel]

time to get another brew going. You got to get the pipeline built up

+1

 

[bigrsmith]

Congrats on your first. If you are like me, you are probably ready to start another. I have finished 2 batches now and all are in bottles. I am so ready for another batch, but I don't have the bottles to do that yet. Best part will be drinking your own brew on your next brew day. Makes it all worth it to know you are drinking your own on future brew days.

 

[MrBJones]

Congrats!

Now comes the really hard part...waiting!

 

[BeerAddikt]

Congrats!

Now comes the really hard part...waiting!

Ain't that the truth!

And on another note...how did the cooling go on a full 5 gallon boil? I believe I see an immersion chiller. I'm about to start BIAB and am worried about cooling.

 

[eadavis80]

Love the old school WWE(F) chair!

 

[Thegundog]

Ain't that the truth!

And on another note...how did the cooling go on a full 5 gallon boil? I believe I see an immersion chiller. I'm about to start BIAB and am worried about cooling.

You are correct, I did use an immersion chiller and it worked great.

When I first turned it on, I grabbed the discharge end just to see if it was working properly and burnt the crap outta' my hand - the water being discharged was scolding hot!! I had no idea the circulating water running through the coil would be that hot. I'm on a well and water from the outside spigot is pretty cold.

 

[jmill]

Congrats!

My first was a kolsch as well. Keep those fermenting temps down. I didn't have any temp controls outside a swamp cooler later in the fermentation and ended up with a slightly buttery beer. Drinkable (recently finished the keg), but a distinct taste.

 

[BilliardGuy74]

Congrats! I caught the bug too! My 2nd batch is fermenting now, I've already upgraded to a Blichmann burner, I'm brewing my 3rd batch Friday, and my 3 tap kegerator should be delivered Monday. I should have shopped around like you and bought a larger brew kettle with a thermometer though. Guess that'll be next. LOL happy brewing