Cheers all! Just brewed my first American Pale Ale after a 30 year hiatus!!! Fermenting now in a Fermonster. Hugh and beautiful krauzen layer but very few bubbles in the three piece airlock. I’ve only used the S type airlock before. I may have a leak in the Fermonster lid but it seemed to seat well and I really cranked it down pretty good by hand. Proceeding forward! Glad to be on the forum!!!
My first brew ( in a long time)!
- Thread starter Bilbo24
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Welcome to the community and back to obsession!
wallyLOZ
Well-Known Member
Welcome from Missouri, neighbor!
Welcome back! Fermonster lids have an o-ring that seats in a channel inside the lid. The o-ring is slightly larger in diameter than the channel so it's a pain to get it seated properly.
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Bilbo24
Well-Known Member
I found that out about the o-ring but finally it sat quietly in its spot!!
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Bilbo24
Well-Known Member
Not exactly!! I would probably die trying to ride a bike again! No wounds making the beer!
Thanks!!
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Bilbo24
Well-Known Member
Great to be back into it!!! It was fun!!!
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Bilbo24
Well-Known Member
Thank you!!
DoctorDuvel
Well-Known Member
I thought my 5 years off was a long time. There wasn't even electricity when you last brewed lol. Welcome to the future!
DoctorDuvel
Well-Known Member
I'm curious - what kinds of brews were you making back then, and what were the commercial beers that inspired you?
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Bilbo24
Well-Known Member
Back then I was brewing ales too. Only did it a few times. Worked well if I’m remembering right. Five gallon batches bottled to returnable Coke bottles. I think they were probably American amber, blonde or pale ales. Extract kits. The commercial beers that inspired me to brew were probably all lagers, mostly German but I didn’t try them back then. I started this time with an American Pale ale kit from MoreBeer. I really enjoy a very broad range of beer except the IPAs that are very grapefruity!! My favorite styles are bock, maibock, stouts, witbier, helles, pilsners… you get the idea.
I wanted to get back into the hobby before I tried lagers. I’ve got a couple of extra refrigerators and freezers that I can use and I’ve got an Inkbird controller that I bought for cider and mead.. but want to get some of the basics back into my brain first!! Cheers!!
I wanted to get back into the hobby before I tried lagers. I’ve got a couple of extra refrigerators and freezers that I can use and I’ve got an Inkbird controller that I bought for cider and mead.. but want to get some of the basics back into my brain first!! Cheers!!
DoctorDuvel
Well-Known Member
Good stuff, man. Yeah, it really wasn't that long ago but history in craft beer and homebrewing moves pretty fast, so i'm always interested in hearing what people were doing/drinking pre-2000ish. I love those styles too, and i think you're taking a good approach. Look forward to seeing updates!
That's great to hear you are back in the saddle! How did the American Pale Ale turn out? Also how do you carbonate your beer? Are you using bottles or have you stepped up to a keg-erator?
I have a Fermonster as well and mainly use it to secondary ferment. I learned from another brewer that adding plain gelatin powder to your wort (towards the end of fermentation) will really help clear up any haziness.
