Greetings,
I thought I would drop in and say "Hello" to what looks like an outstanding forum. I have been wanting to take this up as a hobby for over ten years, and just now my first brew is in its third day of fermenting.
I am two months new to New Mexico, moved here from Denver to start a business of my own... more on that when I have more time to write.
So, my first experience has been pretty interesting, as of course I could not just use one of those standard extract mixes for my first time, even tho the dude at the store said "baby steps." The first try is a canned Bock mix, but I did a 15 minute boil of some cascade hops before adding the can as I love the hop (Bock purists please cut me some slack). On the side, I boiled some cranberries and raisins in water and spiced rum for like, 30 min to kill any alcohol and bacteria on the fruit, then brought the temp down on ice. (of course, now I read that you should never boil fruit). I pre-mixed the dry yeast in warm water to get it started, cooled the hop/canned mix, and then brought all of it together along with the sugars in the plastic bucket. The idea was to let it ferment with the rum fruit and hops for a few days in the bucket, then rack it off to the carboy for another week or so without all the solids.
Well, during clean up, I discovered that the floating glass thermometer was broken. Yes, I used it to stir the wort during cooling! The actual bulb was fine, but the glass surround and these tiny metal beads were in the mix!
I know, such a NOOOOB! So, I siphoned off the mix to the carboy with at least a half gallon left behind in the plastic which hopefully caught any glass and metal.
Now, remember that I am new..... the carboy is a 5 gal with about 4.5 gallons of brew in it, and I capped it with a three-piece airlock. I kept checking it every hour of course, and nothing was happening after two hours so I went to bed. The next morning, the thing had blown off the airlock and sprayed foam all over, and was vigorously chugging away with a nice foamy overflow. I sanitized a piece of plastic tubing and re-corked the carboy with the other end of the tube immersed in a bucket of water/sanitizing solution.
I know, not enough head room!
This is day three, and the fermentation has slowed down to a big bubble every 20 seconds or so. As soon as the - krausen? - settles down I will replace the tube with the cleaned and sanitized airlock.
Anyway, thought I would share this, as I know it will make a few people smile. I know I am having fun doing this, and am reading everything I can, and of course found this great forum to learn and interact as I go from making these errors to creating some really good craft brews.
Cheers!
John
I thought I would drop in and say "Hello" to what looks like an outstanding forum. I have been wanting to take this up as a hobby for over ten years, and just now my first brew is in its third day of fermenting.
I am two months new to New Mexico, moved here from Denver to start a business of my own... more on that when I have more time to write.
So, my first experience has been pretty interesting, as of course I could not just use one of those standard extract mixes for my first time, even tho the dude at the store said "baby steps." The first try is a canned Bock mix, but I did a 15 minute boil of some cascade hops before adding the can as I love the hop (Bock purists please cut me some slack). On the side, I boiled some cranberries and raisins in water and spiced rum for like, 30 min to kill any alcohol and bacteria on the fruit, then brought the temp down on ice. (of course, now I read that you should never boil fruit). I pre-mixed the dry yeast in warm water to get it started, cooled the hop/canned mix, and then brought all of it together along with the sugars in the plastic bucket. The idea was to let it ferment with the rum fruit and hops for a few days in the bucket, then rack it off to the carboy for another week or so without all the solids.
Well, during clean up, I discovered that the floating glass thermometer was broken. Yes, I used it to stir the wort during cooling! The actual bulb was fine, but the glass surround and these tiny metal beads were in the mix!
I know, such a NOOOOB! So, I siphoned off the mix to the carboy with at least a half gallon left behind in the plastic which hopefully caught any glass and metal.
Now, remember that I am new..... the carboy is a 5 gal with about 4.5 gallons of brew in it, and I capped it with a three-piece airlock. I kept checking it every hour of course, and nothing was happening after two hours so I went to bed. The next morning, the thing had blown off the airlock and sprayed foam all over, and was vigorously chugging away with a nice foamy overflow. I sanitized a piece of plastic tubing and re-corked the carboy with the other end of the tube immersed in a bucket of water/sanitizing solution.
I know, not enough head room!
This is day three, and the fermentation has slowed down to a big bubble every 20 seconds or so. As soon as the - krausen? - settles down I will replace the tube with the cleaned and sanitized airlock.
Anyway, thought I would share this, as I know it will make a few people smile. I know I am having fun doing this, and am reading everything I can, and of course found this great forum to learn and interact as I go from making these errors to creating some really good craft brews.
Cheers!
John
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/417FujUfrWL._SL500_.jpg)
