Hello All,
I just did a 5 gallon red ale kit by Brewer's Best tonight. I went out and bought a 6 gallon fermenter today and was kind of excited to try it. I wasn't quite ready but went ahead anyhow. Here's what happened.
I needed to boil 2.5 gallons and thought my pot was big enough but it wasn't. So I did a split boil 5 quarts in each. The split boil seemed to work out ok.
I discovered my thermometer was broken so I had to guess at the temp for the steeping grain. I'm almost positive it was too hot (over 170 degrees) most of the time. I was concerned so I yanked it out after 15 minutes which was 5 minutes early.
Cooling was where I had my biggest and perhaps fatal error. I cooled the two pots in my double sink. I filled each side with cold water and when I put the first pot in it submerged long enough for about a pint or two of the cold water to get in. The second pot cooled fine.
I dumped the 2.5 gallons of wort into the fermenter which I had put 2.5 gallons of cold water in. I aerated, pitched the yeast, aerated again and sealed it up.
I noticed in the bottom of one of the pans that some of the extract had burned on - not much though.
So I guess what I am wondering is the odds for success in this batch. The sink/tap water that got in the wort was cold and clean and I used the same tap water for the fermenter anyhow. I just hope the sink didn't contain nasties that infected it. The wort was just off the boil so it was HOT. I'm thinking that might help.
Thanks for any comments on this. I am going to be better prepared next time!
I just did a 5 gallon red ale kit by Brewer's Best tonight. I went out and bought a 6 gallon fermenter today and was kind of excited to try it. I wasn't quite ready but went ahead anyhow. Here's what happened.
I needed to boil 2.5 gallons and thought my pot was big enough but it wasn't. So I did a split boil 5 quarts in each. The split boil seemed to work out ok.
I discovered my thermometer was broken so I had to guess at the temp for the steeping grain. I'm almost positive it was too hot (over 170 degrees) most of the time. I was concerned so I yanked it out after 15 minutes which was 5 minutes early.
Cooling was where I had my biggest and perhaps fatal error. I cooled the two pots in my double sink. I filled each side with cold water and when I put the first pot in it submerged long enough for about a pint or two of the cold water to get in. The second pot cooled fine.
I dumped the 2.5 gallons of wort into the fermenter which I had put 2.5 gallons of cold water in. I aerated, pitched the yeast, aerated again and sealed it up.
I noticed in the bottom of one of the pans that some of the extract had burned on - not much though.
So I guess what I am wondering is the odds for success in this batch. The sink/tap water that got in the wort was cold and clean and I used the same tap water for the fermenter anyhow. I just hope the sink didn't contain nasties that infected it. The wort was just off the boil so it was HOT. I'm thinking that might help.
Thanks for any comments on this. I am going to be better prepared next time!