completegeek
Well-Known Member
Technically I guess it's my second batch (my first was a Mr. Beer kit), but it's my first 5 gallon batch. It was tons of fun and I learned things you can only learn by actually doing.
I had everything pretty well organized to begin with but there are definitely a few things I'll remember to do next time.
1. Buy twice the ice for the cool down.
I bought 20 lbs of ice and it melted in a heartbeat sending me on a scramble to pick up more bags.
2. It takes quite a while on my stove to boil several gallons of water
At least 30 minutes, maybe more, to get 3 gallons boiling. It definitely wasn't a very vigorous boil either. Get the water going first and waaaaay ahead of time.
3. Don't toss the sanitizer until the last minute
Actually I think a spray bottle with sanitizer would have saved me a lot of head ache. I needed to check that the wort was cool enough to pitch the yeast and had to make a small batch of sanitized water because I had poured the rest down the sink.
Even with a few missteps the airlock is bubbling away happily and I have my fermenter in a tub of water in my extra closet with a few icepacks to keep the temperature down. I've kept it at about 64-68 from the beginning.
Here's to beer!
My airlock bubbling away
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh5/complete_geek/?action=view¤t=105_0092.flv
I had everything pretty well organized to begin with but there are definitely a few things I'll remember to do next time.
1. Buy twice the ice for the cool down.
I bought 20 lbs of ice and it melted in a heartbeat sending me on a scramble to pick up more bags.
2. It takes quite a while on my stove to boil several gallons of water
At least 30 minutes, maybe more, to get 3 gallons boiling. It definitely wasn't a very vigorous boil either. Get the water going first and waaaaay ahead of time.
3. Don't toss the sanitizer until the last minute
Actually I think a spray bottle with sanitizer would have saved me a lot of head ache. I needed to check that the wort was cool enough to pitch the yeast and had to make a small batch of sanitized water because I had poured the rest down the sink.
Even with a few missteps the airlock is bubbling away happily and I have my fermenter in a tub of water in my extra closet with a few icepacks to keep the temperature down. I've kept it at about 64-68 from the beginning.
Here's to beer!
My airlock bubbling away
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh5/complete_geek/?action=view¤t=105_0092.flv