My first brew (LOG)

[TUCK]

*MODS* *If this thread is supposed to be under a diffrent topic please move, and sorry bout that.*

Ok so if you did not see my other thread I am brewing a Cream Ale with blackberry accents. The cream ale is a kit and I purchased blackberry flavoring from the brew shop.

If everything goes as planned I am calling her Black Burtha

Here are some pics since I know a log is no good wihtout pics.

I plan on keeping this updated so I can get some quality feedback from all of you.

Thanks and chime in at anytime.

My new toys (minus the primary bucket)

BOILING WURT

When adding the hops it foamed up a little and instantly went down when I reduced the heat. Man, the smell of fresh hops was wonderfull. Now I know what that smell is that I always smell at the sweetwater brewary in Georgia.

My cousin and I go every Wednesday. For 6 bucks you get a free glass and they keep it full of fresh brewed beer right at the brewary...mmmmm, love it!

So we (cousin and I) have some brewskies while we wait for the boil to end. I covered the kettle and stirred every once in a while until it was time to add the last hops pack. 5 mor mins and done.

We throw the kettle (lid on, probably shouldn't have it on so it can cool quicker but oh well) in the sink filled with ice. With in a matter of minutes all the ice melted.

So I looked around to find another method since I was out of ice and could not go to the store because I have been drinking.

I cleaned out the freezer and put the kettle in for a few but the door would not shut all the way, yet my primeary would fit perfectly.

So I added the water to the prim. (which I boild then coold cause it was tap water)

Then added the wurt which I mesured to be 95 degrees.

Threw the bucket in the freezer and waited about an hour (I hope this is ok).

Toook it out and boy was I tired it was around 3 in the morning. I hope it was chilled enough b/c I did not take a temp (I know big mistake but I did not expect the wurt to take so long to cool.

How long does it take you to cool your wurt in an ice bath?

Anyway, sprinkled the dry yeast atop (pitch) and stired a few time to incorporate.

I have seen people put vodka in the airlock, I did not have anything but rasberry vodka so thats what I used, I hope this was not a mistake


Primary waiting to come out the closet

Now as you can see it is chillin in the closet at around 68-70 degrees

When I got home from work today I noticed the bucket top rised as if there was pressure inside (which I hope there is) or maybe I am just hoping I did everything right and this is how I am re-assuring myself.

Thanks for reading and happy brewing ALL

 

[Orfy]

Nice kit man.......

Hope it tastes good.

1st upgrade - glass primary?
2nd Upgrade - Wort Chiller?

Water in the bubbler will be fine, drink the vodka!

 

[TUCK]

Nice kit man.......

Hope it tastes good.

1st upgrade - glass primary?
2nd Upgrade - Wort Chiller?

Water in the bubbler will be fine, drink the vodka!

Thanks.

Yes I wanted another carboy and ditch the whole bucket idea but I had already spent enough (according to my wife). HA, and I told her "it only cost like 50 bucks honey" -Liar

The hell with her I got some bre comin

Wort chillers- Man those things a expensive.

Do you have one and if so how much and what kind?

 

[Orfy]

Check out the link on my signature,

I made it myself. less than $30. cools the wort for pitching less than 30 minutes for a full 6g boil.

I'm all for keeping the cost down. My full kit cost me next to nothing. I made most of it.

I must admit I spent the money I saved on keggs etc. But I was lucky enough to buy in bulk from ebay, sell most of it and the profit paid for my bits.

http://www.ushould.co.uk/brew/

 

[TUCK]

Sweet man. I think that just motivated me to build one myself.

Do you boil with it (wort chiller) in the kettle ? I would think so, to kill the possible bacteria.

Just run the water straight from the water hos and wa-la...right?

BTW nice setup man, love the keg setup too

 

[TUCK]

OHHHH!!!

I see bubbles!!!!

One every 2 or 3 seconds.


Sweet...maybe I did somthing right so far.

Damn I can't wait, but patience will please me in the end so these local micr-brews will have to do for now

 

[Blender]

You can chill 4-gallons or so fairly quickly in an ice bath. One thing that helps is to stir the wort every 5 minutes or so. When you add the top up water make sure that it is nice and cold which will also help. You might have sticker shock when you price out copper tubing. Do a search as it may be cheaper to purchase a ready made one. I would recommend that you read some about brewing beginning with How To Brew. > http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

 

[TUCK]

You can chill 4-gallons or so fairly quickly in an ice bath. One thing that helps is to stir the wort every 5 minutes or so. When you add the top up water make sure that it is nice and cold which will also help. You might have sticker shock when you price out copper tubing. Do a search as it may be cheaper to purchase a ready made one. I would recommend that you read some about brewing beginning with How To Brew. > http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

Thanks bro.

See those are the little things I need to learn;
I did not stir it while cooling it cause I was so anal about keeping th lid on so I would not infect the beer with airborn bacteria.

Maybe I am just being paranoid

 

[Blender]

What are you using for sanitization? I would stay away from bleach and find iodaphor much easier. Read, read and read and you will be better prepared the second time around.

 

[TUCK]

What are you using for sanitization? I would stay away from bleach and find iodaphor much easier. Read, read and read and you will be better prepared the second time around.

I am using a no-rinse sanitizer that came with my brew kit.

I have all the necessities I believe (correct me if I am wrong). Other than a wort chiller and a keg setup (which I have 2 CO2 tanks ready to be used.

 

[TUCK]

*UPDATE*
So far I have a bubble every 2 seconds in the air lock, hope this is good.

Only thing I think I need is for it to be cooler, it is around 72.

Damn where did winter go people around here (GA) are still wearing shorts and short sleeves.

 

[TUCK]

*UPDATE*


I now see a bubble come every 2 min.

I think it is getting close (please correct me if I am wrong, I am still a noob)

If I am correct I am going to add this flavoring to my secondary, but I have one question:

should I throw the bottle in a pot of water at 115degrees for around 20min to assure of no contaminents?
Or is this ok to just dump into a sterilized carboy?

Thanks in advance.

Happy Brewing

 

[TUCK]

Sorry the pic is messed up at the moment but it is a plastic bottle of flavoring.

Can anyone answer my question please?

 

[JeanLucD]

Hmmm converting to *C.... 46.... Heating it to 46C for 20 mins is probably good to do, just to be safe, but if I was doing it I probably couldn't be bothered doing it I doubt much would be in the flavouring. Especially if it is like 40%+ alcohol like most of them are - no bugs in that. Also I think you should possibly add this in the secondary or just before bottling (in the bottling bucket if u have one) if u want a stronger flavour. Otherwise for a more intergrated flavour chuck it in now. This is just from reading the boards, so I'm not 100% sure.

 

[TUCK]

Hmmm converting to *C.... 46.... Heating it to 46C for 20 mins is probably good to do, just to be safe, but if I was doing it I probably couldn't be bothered doing it I doubt much would be in the flavouring. Especially if it is like 40%+ alcohol like most of them are - no bugs in that. Also I think you should possibly add this in the secondary or just before bottling (in the bottling bucket if u have one) if u want a stronger flavour. Otherwise for a more intergrated flavour chuck it in now. This is just from reading the boards, so I'm not 100% sure.

Thanks for the input

I put it in the secondary and the wort has now been racked as well.

I plan on waiting at least 5 days.

Gravity was 1.010

 

[Orfy]

46c will not kill the bad nasties. You need at least 65c for the most common ones.
The flavouring will not be 40% proof (just the stuff that it goes in)

I'm sure it'll be fine what ever you do.

 

[TUCK]

Damn...sorry my web host is a piece of sh*t and the photos are not working.

I am working on it asap.

BTW their is llittle to no activity in the secondary at this point. I am just going to wait it out for around 2 weeks until my next brew arrives (in the mail) which is a new castle clone from AHBS

Have a good one

 

[Torchiest]

From what I understand, secondaries usually have little to no visible activity. The action is occurring at the speed of continental drift.

 

[Orfy]

Sometimes racking to secondary can kick start a little activity but not much should be happening, if it is then you've probably racked a little early.

Sometimes I get a 2 point drop in secondary after 2 weeks.

 

[TUCK]

Great, thanks for the uplifting remarks. I was begining to worry.

So the yeast is still alive it is just that their is no more food for the yeast to feed on...am I understanding this correctly.

And when it is primed at bottling the yeast have a field day and feed like crazy which in turn creates your beautiful carbonated beverage ?

 

[Orfy]

That's it.

They've already pissed all the alcohol they have, now you just need to get them in the bottle with a little feed and let them fart CO2.

Yeasty beasties are wonderful things.

 

[TUCK]

and let them fart CO2

LOL, thanks bro

 

[TUCK]

This brew has been bottled.

At bottling the taste so far is very light and a slight blackberry flavor. It has a stronger blackberry aroma than flavor which I like.

It is very good I think, and quite clear with a nice color and aroma.

And the next brew has already taken place...

 

[TUCK]

This brew is for a light brown ale similar to newcastle.

I got a few extras with this purchase, and I hope they prove to be worth it.

Here I search through the box like it is Christmas already.

Yeast was still cold sitting in a ziplock bag with a partially thawed ice pack

Here are the extras I got, which are;

1- a alcohol booster, which is coarse corn sugar to be added into the boil

2- a vial of "yeast fuel" don't really know exactly what it is but hope it works (hope it's not just some dry yeast put into a vial to look important)

Here is a shot of my goodies ( I put the grain in the bag prior to photo)

 

[TUCK]

Brew pots/Water

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! Smells sooo good!!!

Little Steeping action

This was rough holding a bag dunking it like a tea bag for 45 min. I was too afraid of leaving it on the bottom in fear of burning the grain on the hot bottom surface

 

[TUCK]

Added my LME and it looks like I have a pot of poop, but boy it smells great

Evil BrewMan

Well thats it I hope this one turns out great, hopfully I will have a keg or two to put it in