My first brew day ...

[Podzemni]

Hi there! Just put my fermentor away, uhhh this was stressful xD

So this is how the brew day went:

I desinfected my fermentor, then went out to get water from a nearby spring... Got 21 litres of really good water and headed home... I didn't expect this thingy to be so heavy to carry, i already have a few solutions in mind (wheels xD) ...

My well water
So far, so good ... When I arrived home, i put water with desinfector in a plastic container and put in my equipment.
I poured water from my fermentor into my boiling pot (cca 3 litres) and started to brew ...
Second notification, will need to invest in 30l pot, because mine was just too small, and, despite being warned against, I managed to have a small tiny boilover -.- Also, i noticed that my spoon thingy was waaaay out of balance, and while i reached for some stuff it fell out of my pot on the floor, so I had 3 small breaks (had to desinfect my spoon as it fell on the floor -.-)...

After cleaning the boilover
Next thing i noted was ... I didnt know how much energy it goes into cooling the wort ...
I sanitized everything again, poured wort into fermentor (wich already had 17 litres of water in it), shook it for a minute, checked temperature, added yeast and put it on top of my old trumpet in the closet ...

Questions:
1. Will boilover have any effects on the taste? I don't expect much because it's my first batch and it an extract brew, but still ... I'm quite mad to let it happen ...
2. I DID NOT boil all 21 litres of water, just 3 litres with extraxt and sugar, should I be concerned about infections? It's a really good fresh water from the spring, but still ...
3. I added yeast at about 25.5 degrees celsius, is it too high, or can I wait because it will cool over night?

Thank you!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Questions:
1. Will boilover have any effects on the taste? I don't expect much because it's my first batch and it an extract brew, but still ... I'm quite mad to let it happen ...
Not at all.
2. I DID NOT boil all 21 litres of water, just 3 litres with extraxt and sugar, should I be concerned about infections? It's a really good fresh water from the spring, but still ...
You should be fine. I've never boiled top-off water.
3. I added yeast at about 25.5 degrees celsius (77.9 F), is it too high, or can I wait because it will cool over night?
Depends on the yeast, but that seems to be the high side of acceptable. You can totally wait until the following day next time to give the wort a chance to cool. Ideal for most ale yeasts is about 71F (21.5C).

Overall it sounds like you had a successful brew day. Looking forward to see how it turns out.

 

[Podzemni]

Thanks for the quick answers
I need to check the temperature in the basement, if it's about 21-23 celsius i will transfer my fermentor there ...

Also for the next time, i want to upgrade:
-easier way of transporting my precious spring water
-bigger pot
-well balanced spoon
-large plastic container for disinfection

Can't wait to see how it turns out aswell

 

[boydster]

1) I wouldn't worry about the boil over at all, it certainly won't ruin your beer.

2) Do you know if your spring water is treated in any way at all? UV pasteurized or something to kill any potential microbes that are in it? It sounds like you got your water directly from a spring, and that could have some bugs in it that you don't want in your beer, so in that case boiling it would be best.

3) What kind of yeast did you use?

 

[jddevinn]

Tap water is treated and has a chlorine or chlorine based antibacterial (that should be chemically removed before brewing) the spring water does not. I would not worry about it at this point for this batch, however in the future I would preboil the top off water or do a full boil.

 

[Podzemni]

@bodyster the water is not treated in any way at all, it was used from a spring ... I used the yeast provided with the extract, it says the best temperatures are 20-25 degrees celsius. I moved the fermentor in the basement, and now its at 24 celsius, still a bit high ...

For my next batch I will move the whole process from my apartment to my weekend house, i have my own spring water there, a cellar with stable temperature. I will also invest in a 30l kettle, so I can boil all of the water and so on.

 

[boydster]

Sounds like you've got a good plan in doing a full boil on your next brew. As far as temp goes, the most important time is the first few days - until just after peak krausen - and the temperature you want to be concerned with is the temperature of your fermenting beer rather than the ambient temperature. During that time, the yeast is generating a lot of heat all by itself, so a fermentor sitting at 24C ambient temp could mean a fermentation temperature pushing 30C. Some people like to set up a fridge with a temperature controller (STC-1000 is pretty popular) that has a probe in the beer, so if the temperature starts to climb the fridge kicks on. Another solution is to use a swamp cooler - just a large plastic tub filled with water that you put your fermentor in. Then you can freeze bottles full of water to switch in and out of the tub to help keep the temperature of your beer within the yeast's target range.

 

[Podzemni]

I have a termomether sticker on my fermentor, the first day it was 24-25, and after 24 hours i moved it to the basement, the next morning it was 22, and today it is also 22, so I guess that`s a good thing. Time will tell i guess
Thanks for the suggestions, as I will move the whole process and hopefully got hooked on brewing, I will build some kind of fermentation chamber ... One step at a time though, i`m only in the middle of my first ever brew, and it`s an extract brew, so I will move one step at a time. Still have one extract left, then I will try BIAB. Is it normal that the BIAB is more expensive than extract?