n00b alert- My first brew scheduled for this weekend

[Truble]

Hello all,
After wanting to try it for a while, helping some others more experienced, and doing A LOT OF READING, I am going for the gusto this weekend. I have read and really enjoyed John Palmer's "How to Brew" 1st edition online. Not sure if anyone else out there has read it. I found that it explained a greatmany things for me. As this is my first batch, I am also going with the staright forward ale recipe he lists out for starters, which is a combo non-hopped DME/LME brew with added bittering and finishing hops.

Just found the forum today, and like what I have seen thus far.


mark

"look- you don't like me, and I don't like you. Let's just get through this and then I can go back to killing you with beer."

-Homer Simpson, speaking to his brain

 

[loopmd]

Welcome to the boards!

Sounds like you've done your homework. Let us know if you have any questions before this weekend.

Good Luck

Loop

 

[Buddhabuddha]

Good Luck!!

CHEERS!

 

[Darth Konvel]

Welcome aboard, Truble. Sounds like you're on the right track. Palmer's 'How To Brew' is perhaps the de facto standard for getting into brewing.

 

[Truble]

Yeah, I really liked his book. I think that he cuts a good line between practice and theory. I heard that he has a 2nd edition available for purchase as well, and I am thinking of picking it up to support his cause...

 

[Orfy]

Yep. Not many people make their full book available online for free.

 

[Truble]

Well, I couldn't wait until Saturday. The wife decided to take an extra yoga class tonight, so the kitchen is mine!!!!! Right now, I am sanitzing all my new toys, and then it's time to hit it.


wish me luck

 

[SwAMi75]

Best of luck and remember.....relax.

 

[rhinostylee]

One item of note . . .

I brewed last weekend, and watched carefully as my wort almost boiled over. However, I turned the over-head fan on my stove on high, and it basically eliminated boil-over risk.

This may just seem like common sense for everyone else, but it was a happy discovery for me! The fan kept foam from rising on the top of the boiling wort.

 

[Truble]

yeah, I do that a lot when I cook-My stove has an overhead hood and a downdraft system too. I am relaxed- Got a pint in hand, waiting for 2 Gallons to boil- everything cleaned and sanitized. When this is 212*, it goes into the fermenter, and I start the 3 Gallon boil for the wort. When that goes in, I will hydrate and proof the yeastie beasties.....

BTW- I got my stuff at a place called Strange Brew, in Marlborough, MA. It is near my office, and a couple guys I work with like his shop...they brew a lot, so I am trusting them. They have a site, www.home-brew.com. Pretty small place, but great stuff, as far as my limited n00btastic opinion goes.....

 

[Truble]

I am sure that everyone else has thought of this, but it fjust occurred to me-I am sitting here waiting for 2 gals to boil, so I can start the 3 gal boil for the wort. I have the 2G in my brew pot. I have a 4 burner stove, and lots of pans ( I like to cook too)....and yet, I was sitting there thinking about how slow 1 pot boils....DUH! I now have 3 pots going- should cuit down the time a little- once they are all close to boilng, I will recombine them into the brew pot.

 

[Truble]

I have achieved, at least I think I have, Hot Break! After adding the bittering Hops, it boiled for a bit then went nuts with a big froth, and slowly died down..I have a nice rolling boil now with very little foam....nice smell to boot!...

 

[Walker]

yup.. that's the hot break. keep going!

 

[Truble]

well- so far so good. I finished the boil, adding in some finishing hops at -15 minutes, then moving to the sink to speedy cool the wort. I used Ice and water. I have a 2 tub sink and they are designed to flow into each other rather than overflow onto the floor, so I just let the cold water run into the tub w/the wort and ice, and it kept a nice flow of water going around the pot. I had already rehydrated and proofed the yeasties, and they were ready for a party- pitched and aerated, I set it off to stand in the corner or my not-often used dining room. 7 hours later (this morning) I got action- getting a nice burp every 8 seconds. I suspect that this will start to pick up, but I am encouraged that it is working. Now I wait............

 

[Walker]

sounds like you are golden.

don't get too fixated on the bubble rate. I've had beers emit a CONSTANT burp of bubbles with no pause, and I've had beers that steadily bubbled at a rate of 1 bubble every 10 seconds, but they did that for over a week.

As long as it's bubbling, it's fermenting. Just let the yeast do their job now at whatever pace they decide to dp it, and you will have good beer.

congrats.

-walker

 

[Truble]

thx-yeah that's what I figured. Just talked to a couple coworkers who brew, and they said the same thing. Now I am trying to decide whether to go with a secondary fermentation or not. My wine-making buddy has a spare carboy he said I could use, so I am intrigued. I was originally planning on only the primary, in order to keep the 1st batch simple.

 

[Walker]

i would actually skip the secondary. this will be a perfect opportunity for you to prove to yourself if secondaries are worth it. By that, I mean that you can brew this EXACT SAME recpe again in a week or two and use the secondary that time. Then compare the 1st batch with the 2nd batch and formulate your opinion.

for your first batch, DO try to keep things very VERY simple. a little success on the first batch is very encouraging. a little failure on it can have the opposite effect.

-walker

 

[Truble]

sounds like a plan. didn't think of it that way.

 

[SwAMi75]

sounds like a plan. didn't think of it that way.

I'd just take everyone's word for it and rack it to secondary.

 

[Truble]

Progress update/Request for Sanity check-

OK, so I am almost 5 days into primary. I am down to about 1 airlock burp every 40-45 seconds. I have been monitoring the bubbling, and went as follows:

0-8 hours: ramped up to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds or so
9h-2 days: steady bubble every 3 seconds or so
2d-4d: slow steady decrease to about 1 every 20 seconds
4d-present: down to 1 every 40-45 sec

Temp seems to have stabilized at ~66*F

 

[Walker]

If you are not using the secondary this time, you can probably relax on the monitoring of the bubbling. You'll want to leave the beer in the (primary) fermenter for close to two weeks to give the beer a chance to clarify a little (the yeast will start settling to the bottom.) Then bottle that baby and be patient for another couple of weeks.

good luck! sounds like things are going great!

-walker

 

[Cheesefood]

Welcome, Truble. Say goodbye to your money! Think of this site as more of a support group to help you get through weeks 2-6. It's great for getting recipes and help, but more than anything it's great eliminating your fears of raising a bad beer.

 

[Truble]

cool- yeah, I figured that I was watching it too much, but it is my first batch, and what can I say- I am obsessed with it! I am already looking forward to my next batch. As long as the current batch is good, I am figuring that for thxgiving, but I am trying to plan something tasty for Christmas. Once this batch is racked, I am going forward with the next one.

 

[Walker]

Welcome, Truble. Say goodbye to your money!

YOU CAN HOMEBREW FOR LESS MONEY THAN BUYING COMMERCIAL!

Cheesefood and I disagree on this one, but at least you have both opinions now.



-walker

 

[Truble]

Well, I have a Pale Ale in the tank right now, and aside from one-time expenses, the cost for the batch was ~$28 and some sweat equity. I got hit for $16 for a 12pk of Harpoon IPA two weekends ago. If my brew turns out good, that is a decent enough price diff.

Considering my other hobby is my 1977 MG Midget, my wife appreciates the relatively lower fiscal requirements of home-brew. Hobby costs increase exponentially in relation to the number of wheels involved.

 

[El Pistolero]

YOU CAN HOMEBREW FOR LESS MONEY THAN BUYING COMMERCIAL!

Cheesefood and I disagree on this one, but at least you have both opinions now.

Disagree all you want, but please stop shouting.

 

[Walker]

My bad... I forgot my smiley on that one. It was just good-natured poking at cheesefood. No animosity intended.



-walker

 

[Truble]

question: would it make sense to strain the beer as I syphon it over to my bottling bucket? I know I need to be concerned about aeration from splashing, but it seems to me that a simple cloth filter attached to the end of the syphon tube with a sanitzed zip-tie or something like that would work.

Am I going too far?

 

[Walker]

Am I going too far?

I would say that you are going too far, but this is YOUR beer and you should do what YOU want. The beer will actually clear up pretty well on it's own (it will clear up BETTER with the use of a secondary, by the way).

Clarity is really a superficial/cosmetic thing. It's kind of neat to have a clear beer, but it doesn't really make any difference in the end if you are concerned about flavor.

-walker

 

[Truble]

flavor/drinkability are paramount, and I understand that I will get clearer results with a secondary. I was just thinking of ways to avoid any impurities that might be left over from the hops/trub/whatever from getting into the bottle. I suppose I will reserve my concerns until I actually bottle a batch

 

[Walker]

do you have a separate bottling bucket, or are you currently working with just one single bucket?


-walker

 

[Truble]

My kit came with a separate bottling bucket with a spigot.

 

[Walker]

perfect!

You can eliminate most of the crud from getting into your bottles with careful transferring of the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. When you siphon the beer out of the fermenter, just do the best you can to avoid transferring any of the sediment into the bottling bucket. You will have to sacrifice a small amount of beer, but not very much.

Let the beer rest for 10 to 15 minutes after transferring to the bottling bucket so that any sediment that DID come over has a chance to settle to the bottom of the bucket (and below the spigot tap).

The beer will clear up remarkably in the bottles, and there will be a thin layer of sediment in each bottle (mostly yeast that was needed for carbonating anyway.)

I really suggest doing the minimal amount of work for this first batch. Then, after you get the chance to enjoy the fruits of your labor, you can tweak your procedures on the second batch and begin making improvements.

-walker

 

[Truble]

thx- that's what I was looking for.

 

[Orfy]

Truble from what I'vepicked up, secondary gives "things" A chance to drop or float, amongst othe things. (I'll find out when my first batches finish).


Hey Walkers got a face.

 

[Walker]

Hey Walkers got a face.

Yeah.. I finally tossed in my $10 to support the site yesterday. I was debating on whether to put up my real face or not, but this one is much more pleasant.

-walker

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Considering my other hobby is my 1977 MG Midget, my wife appreciates the relatively lower fiscal requirements of home-brew. Hobby costs increase exponentially in relation to the number of wheels involved.

Homebrewing, like many other hobbies, is very easy to scale to the level of financial involvement you're comfortable with. I think the problem comes in for many of us OCD's who keep thinking of ways to make it "better" which often equates to $ in many cases, either in ingredients or new equipment. We're happier with our beer after each step and can't imagine why somebody else wouldn't be, although that's not necessarily the case! It's a slippery slope of extract->ag->kegs->kegerator->???->RIMS, but you pretty much hop off the train wherever you want. I have a buddy who does nothing but extract brewing (with steeped grains) and I wish my AG batches were half as good.

Take it in steps...each batch add something to your process if you want, such as checking the ph of your water and correcting it, or using whole leaf hops, or jumping to ag...or just brew extract based recipe kits!

 

[Cheesefood]

YOU CAN HOMEBREW FOR LESS MONEY THAN BUYING COMMERCIAL!

Cheesefood and I disagree on this one, but at least you have both opinions now.



-walker

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying it's not as much fun to make Ghettobrau as it is to make good beer. Heck, if I wanted just cheap beer, I'd stick with 40's of Old English.

 

[Cheesefood]

question: would it make sense to strain the beer as I syphon it over to my bottling bucket? I know I need to be concerned about aeration from splashing, but it seems to me that a simple cloth filter attached to the end of the syphon tube with a sanitzed zip-tie or something like that would work.

Am I going too far?

Straining would aerate it, which isn't what you want. Strain it before putting it in your primary.

 

[Walker]

If he keeps the cloth filter on the tip of the hose, and the hose under the surface of the beer in the bottling bucket, it won't aerate at all.

-walker