NEWBIE - Please Help Me Get Started!

[skraeling]

I am just getting started out as well. I have done 1 batch and it turned out terrible. I would say one of the best pieces of advice I have gotten from this forum is to keep a detailed BREW JOURNAL! As I said, my first batch totally sucked... So now I am trying to figure out what I did wrong with no reference material! I am sure I did many things wrong on my first try but at least I would have had documentation of my mistakes and could have looked back on them and learned a thing or two for batch #2...

temperature temperature temperature... oh and santize everything.

watchin temps is always important.

Dont steep specialty grains too hot (if doing extract)

dont pitch yeast into wort thats too hot either.. they reallllllly hate that.



step 1. learn the process
step 2. learn your equipment
step 3. master both

 

[BrettCo124]

Great advice from all! So, will the kit have directions in it? I obviously would need some direction to brew the first batch, and it comes with an American pale ale recipe kit with yeast. I'm getting nervous lol. It arrives tomorrow.

 

[mongoose33]

Great advice from all! So, will the kit have directions in it? I obviously would need some direction to brew the first batch, and it comes with an American pale ale recipe kit with yeast. I'm getting nervous lol. It arrives tomorrow.

Even though you said you'd bought this from allbrew, I think you mean morebeer, didn't you?

If that's right, you can see the kit instructions on this page:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-fermonster-homebrew-starter-kit.html

Click the "documents" tab and you'll see two documents, one of which is BRKIT300 instructions. It's a .PDF file so you can download it and get a head start on it tonite.

Now, if this isn't the kit you bought, disregard.

 

[BrettCo124]

I totally meant to say morebeer, lol. Can't believe they shipped it yesterday and it's arriving tomorrow! Thanks so much for the directions! I'm going to get started on reading it now.

I'll put out another post/pics once I get myself started. I'd love to hear what you all think.

 

[PADave]

Great advice from all! So, will the kit have directions in it? I obviously would need some direction to brew the first batch, and it comes with an American pale ale recipe kit with yeast. I'm getting nervous lol. It arrives tomorrow.

One thing I would recommend is to not follow the directions to a tee. With a little experience you will realize that kit instructions can steer you down the wrong road. For example I can almost guarantee the instructions say to secondary, ignore that step.

Yes, morebeer ships quick and gets it to you quick! :rockin:

Edit: After a quick look at those instructions, those are probably the best I've seen with a kit. Pretty detailed and got lots of tips.

 

[Ogri]

Edit: After a quick look at those instructions, those are probably the best I've seen with a kit. Pretty detailed and got lots of tips.

Indeed. Those are some comprehensive instructions. Plenty of brewing action there to keep a first brew day entertaining.:rockin:

 

[bucfan1234]

Have fun, and good luck with your first brew!

 

[BrettCo124]

Thanks everyone! So, I brewed my first batch... I don't know what to think. I just hoped the entire time I wasn't contaminating anything, and that I was doing everything correctly.

First questionable thing I noticed: I put three separate rounds of pellet hops in the mesh bag, and I noticed each time I went to open the bag again and introduce the next small bag of pellet hops, the hops were clumping together at the bottom of the mesh bag. Is this normal? Is all of that hops supposed to be inside of my fermenter right now, or is that normal and I just discard it afterwards? I discarded it.

Second, I took a gravity reading and it showed "60"... on my sheet that came with the kit, it says estimated original gravity: 1.045-50. Did I do something wrong? Or is this number okay?

Lastly, I noticed the full is not up to the 5 gallon mark, it's about a half-inch below it. Did I boil it too much and loose liquids? I followed it to the T, so I don't know where I went wrong, or if I went wrong.

I tried! Thanks all! Oh, and the fermonster kit is absolutely beautiful.

 

[BrettCo124]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482390476.352016.jpghere is a pic of the leftover hops from the mesh bag.

 

[seabrew8]

Your reading was 1.060? If so your beer will be stronger then what was listed on the instructions. So yeah you either had a high boil off rate or used less water which is nothing to worry about - i see your using extract.

Did you make sure the temp. was under 86 degrees before you pitched the yeast? Thats the only thing to be concerned about now that the yeast does its job.

You made sweet wort now the yeast turns it into beer.

If yeast could talk they would thank you for the meal!

 

[seabrew8]

This is a really nice starter kit by the way you can do a 5 gallon BIAB with what you have.

 

[Ogri]

What temperature was the wort sample you measured with your hydrometer?? When was your final addition of extract and how well did you mix?? If you took the measurement whilst the sample was really hot that will cause a higher reading. Likewise, if you made a near end of boil extract addition and took your sample froma denser, stratification level that would show a higher reading. 1/2" under the level you aimed for in the fermentor is considerable, inasmuch as a slightly higher OG reading, but I wouldn't have thought 10 to 15 gravity points. As Seabrew says, if the wort was cooled to a suitable temp before you pitched you shouldn't have too much to worry about and you will, very likely, have a nice batch of beer to drink about a month from now. Congrats on your inaugural brew.

 

[Ogri]

If yeast could talk they would thank you for the meal!

They will,,,,,,,by farting CO2 and peeing alcohol:fro:

This is a really nice starter kit by the way you can do a 5 gallon BIAB with what you have.

+1 on that. Quite envious of that lot and for a total bargain price.

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks everyone! So, I brewed my first batch... I don't know what to think. I just hoped the entire time I wasn't contaminating anything, and that I was doing everything correctly.

First questionable thing I noticed: I put three separate rounds of pellet hops in the mesh bag, and I noticed each time I went to open the bag again and introduce the next small bag of pellet hops, the hops were clumping together at the bottom of the mesh bag. Is this normal? Is all of that hops supposed to be inside of my fermenter right now, or is that normal and I just discard it afterwards? I discarded it.

Did you lift the bag out of the boiling wort? I'd expect them all to clump a the bottom if you did that.

Second, I took a gravity reading and it showed "60"... on my sheet that came with the kit, it says estimated original gravity: 1.045-50. Did I do something wrong? Or is this number okay?

I may be reading the wrong instruction sheet from MoreBeer but the one I saw said to expect an OG of 1.052-1.056. The 1.060 number is ok. You're going to make beer here. Or should I say, the yeast will.

Lastly, I noticed the full is not up to the 5 gallon mark, it's about a half-inch below it. Did I boil it too much and loose liquids? I followed it to the T, so I don't know where I went wrong, or if I went wrong.

You may have not quite had enough water to begin with, or you boiled too vigorously boiling off more liquid...either way, you could have added boiling water at the end to bring the amount up to 5 gallons. That would have, btw, dropped your OG of 1.060 to perhaps 1.055.

You'll gain a little of this back when you add the priming sugar at bottling time. You are supposed to add 4 oz of priming sugar to 2 cups of boiling water. So you'll get another pint of liquid.

I tried! Thanks all! Oh, and the fermonster kit is absolutely beautiful.

Why yes...yes it is.

One thing before I make a couple observations and try to draw a couple lessons here: What temperature you ferment your beer at will influence how it tastes. You do not want it fermenting too warm if you can avoid it.

The recipe sheet says 68 degrees. But even if you put your fermenter in a place where the ambient temperature is 68, the fermenting wort will be higher in temp due to the exothermic action of the yeast--i.e., they make heat when they do their thing. The wort will be probably 5 degrees higher and perhaps even 10 degrees higher than ambient temps. You do not want this--you want 68 degrees or even a bit less.

One answer is to put it in a refrigeration chamber that keeps temps of the fermenting wort at 60 degrees--but you almost certainly don't have this. Another answer is to put the fermenter in a shallow pan of water and drape a t-shirt over it hanging into the water. The water is drawn up into the t-shirt, and as it evaporates, it cools. I even will go so far at the outset to put some ice cubes inside the t-shirt and against the fermenter at the top; as they melt, they wet the t-shirt. My basement is about 65 ambient so this works well for me.

I'm including a pic below showing how that might look.

*************

Now you know why I warned you away from doing all-grain at the outset. There's a lot to learn! Now you have a context in which to place future learning online or otherwise.

That said, beer will be made here. Brewing is a fairly robust process meaning it's hard to REALLY screw it up unless you do just a few very poor practices. Keeping fermentation temp down is one. Sanitation is another. Focusing a bit on the water used is a third (though this is more important for all-grain than extract).

You asked about the hops--I must confess I've never heard of putting the hops in a bag. I always just dump them in the boiling wort, and I think almost everyone does it that way. As long as the hops were able to be suspended in the bag in the wort as it was boiling, you'll extract a lot (most?) of the bittering and flavor and aroma compounds. If you pulled that bag out of the wort before you chilled it, you'll get less flavor and aroma--unless MoreBeer compensated for that by adding extra hops. I think they did that, actually--2 ounces of each at the end is a fairly good amount.

My hops always end up in the fermenter. I pour all my kettle trub into the fermenter. You wouldn't have had as much as you pulled the hops out in the bag. But I just chuck that all in there.

Now, IMO, one of the most important factors in new brewing comes into play: every time you brew, try to do at least one thing better than the last time. You might add more water, or tie the bag of hops more loosely so they can circulate through the boiling wort better, or whatever. Make sure you cooled your wort before taking a hydrometer reading. Or ensure your wort temperature is down before pitching the yeast.

Anyway, now you've done it. Congrats!

 

[BrettCo124]

Hi all, thanks for the responses. I'll try and explain everything I did now:
6 gallons of water in the kettle on high.
Malt in mesh bag tied off for 30 minutes while it moved up to 170 degrees.
Once hit 170 (half hour), I removed the malt and turned off heat.
Added FULL bag of extract, as indicated on directions and had a friend continuously stir. Brought it back up to a rolling boil for an hour.
At some point here, I added my first thing of hops to a mesh bag.
When 20 minutes were left, I threw in the wort chiller to disinfect, along with that little white pill-looking thing (sorry, I forget the name lol).
10 minutes left, threw in the second thing of pellet hops, as indicated on directions.
5 minutes left, threw in the last thing of pellet hops in mesh bag.
Took it off the stove and immediately brought it to the sink where I ran the wort chiller immediately, and brought it down to 75-80 degrees.
Then I siphoned it to the Carboy and drew a sample.
Filled the test tube thingy up about 3/4 and spun the tester. It read "60" unless I completely was not looking at it correctly.
Sealed the carboy with the lid and stopper and the pressure release thingy (again, sorry lol).
Added the powder yeast to warm water for 15 minutes as indicated on directions, then tossed it in the carboy. One thing I noticed is some yeast is "clumped" together, floating at the top of the carboy. Do I need to worry?
It's now stored in a room that I'm hoping stays within the temp range indicated on the directions, but I can't be positive it will... that's all I remember.

I cleaned everything as indicated (by the way, can you let the items soak in the cleaner for a while, or do I need to dip it in and immediately remove it?).

I should have been more careful with the gravity reading, as far as understanding how to read it.. but I swore it read "60", which was a major disappointment to me because as I said, it's not what it said it would be on the directions (1.045-50). Does that mean that I fell in that range, or am I way off?

Last thing i want to mention is, when I put the pressure release thingy In (filled with sanitized water) some of it fell in the carboy... it just naturally leaked a little. Is that a problem?

I hope I made beer, but I donno first time trying, so I won't get my hopes up.

 

[mongoose33]

Hi all, thanks for the responses. I'll try and explain everything I did now:
6 gallons of water in the kettle on high.
Malt in mesh bag tied off for 30 minutes while it moved up to 170 degrees.
Once hit 170 (half hour), I removed the malt and turned off heat.
Added FULL bag of extract, as indicated on directions and had a friend continuously stir. Brought it back up to a rolling boil for an hour.
At some point here, I added my first thing of hops to a mesh bag.
When 20 minutes were left, I threw in the wort chiller to disinfect, along with that little white pill-looking thing (sorry, I forget the name lol).

Probably a Whirlfloc tablet. Good that you had one.

10 minutes left, threw in the second thing of pellet hops, as indicated on directions.
5 minutes left, threw in the last thing of pellet hops in mesh bag.
Took it off the stove and immediately brought it to the sink where I ran the wort chiller immediately, and brought it down to 75-80 degrees.

Good--your yeast will be ok with this. Sometimes newbies throw in the yeast at too high a temp, and kill or maim the yeast.

Then I siphoned it to the Carboy and drew a sample.
Filled the test tube thingy up about 3/4 and spun the tester. It read "60" unless I completely was not looking at it correctly.

Your hydrometer will be set to read at a particular temp. I have two, one is 60 degrees, one is 68 degrees. Your reading is probably a bit high if you had the wort at 75-80 degrees, so your OG is lower by a bit.

Sealed the carboy with the lid and stopper and the pressure release thingy (again, sorry lol).

It's an airlock.

Added the powder yeast to warm water for 15 minutes as indicated on directions, then tossed it in the carboy. One thing I noticed is some yeast is "clumped" together, floating at the top of the carboy. Do I need to worry?

No--the yeast will figure it out.

When I rehydrate dry yeast, I do two things: I spray a pyrex cup w/ star-san to sanitize it, and I boil the water and then cool it before adding the yeast. I stir the yeast with a sanitized thermometer to make a cream, and that's what I pour in the fermenter.

It's now stored in a room that I'm hoping stays within the temp range indicated on the directions, but I can't be positive it will... that's all I remember.

Check what that temp is--and then if it's not 63 degrees or so ambient, make up a swamp cooler like I showed in the previous post. I use a Turkey pan from the Dollar Store to put it in.

Your fermentation will take a day or so to take off, perhaps as much as 2-3 days, so you have time to get such a pan and make up a swamp cooler. This is important--you don't want this fermentation taking place in the 70s if you can avoid it. At high temp fermentation yeast can produce off flavors you do not want.

I cleaned everything as indicated (by the way, can you let the items soak in the cleaner for a while, or do I need to dip it in and immediately remove it?).

I let mine soak for 15 minutes or so.

I should have been more careful with the gravity reading, as far as understanding how to read it.. but I swore it read "60", which was a major disappointment to me because as I said, it's not what it said it would be on the directions (1.045-50). Does that mean that I fell in that range, or am I way off?

Hard to say. Your hydrometer would have read a bit high, depending on what temp it was calibrated to. Your hydrometer should say something at the bottom like 60 or 68 degrees or some such. You did end up with perhaps 4.5 gallons, which would have increased the resulting gravity by....maybe 10 percent?

A 1.060 gravity is fine. It just means your resulting beer will have a bit higher alcohol level.

Last thing i want to mention is, when I put the pressure release thingy In (filled with sanitized water) some of it fell in the carboy... it just naturally leaked a little. Is that a problem?

No, not a problem.

I hope I made beer,

You did, no question. Actually you did pretty well, seemed to have the process going well.

but I donno first time trying, so I won't get my hopes up.

Fermentation temperature is huge here. As I noted, you have a bit of time before fermentation takes off in earnest (it may have already begun by this morning). Put the fermenter in a pan of water (1-2 inches) and drape a t-shirt over it.

If it's really warm where you're fermenting, you may need to add ice to the water, or frozen water bottles.

You can buy a stick-on thermometer for your fermenter (sometimes called fermometers--clever, eh?) which will help you read its temperature. If there's a local homebrew store in your area, they'll sell them--costs in the $3-5 area. That will allow you to monitor temps easily.

If you have any kind of remote thermometer with a temperature probe, you can take a piece of foam insulation and press the temperature probe against the fermenter about halfway up; use bungee cords to keep the piece of foam insulation in place. That will read the temp of the fermenting wort while the insulation protects the reading from ambient temp. I show how I do mine below--I cut a little relief in the foam for the probe to sit in. But anything you can find which will hold the probe against the fermenter and insulate it from ambient temps will work.

 

[BrettCo124]

This is incredible advice, and answers to my questions. Thank you so much. You've been helping me so much from the beginning.

The room its fermenting in will actually be the colder room in the house. I'll find out the temp, but I'm not worried about it being too hot in the room itself. It's in the 20s where I live right now. The room is most likely around that temp of 65-70.

So, I definitely made a newbie mistake. I did not clean the bowl that I added the warm water and yeast too. It was cleaned in a dishwasher, but I did not clean it in the disinfectant. Also, I did not mix the yeast, it was half mixed and the other half was the dry yeast floating on the top.

Now I need to read the remainder of the directions to make sure I do everything else correctly.

 

[mongoose33]

This is incredible advice, and answers to my questions. Thank you so much. You've been helping me so much from the beginning.

The room its fermenting in will actually be the colder room in the house. I'll find out the temp, but I'm not worried about it being too hot in the room itself. It's in the 20s where I live right now. The room is most likely around that temp of 65-70.

So, I definitely made a newbie mistake. I did not clean the bowl that I added the warm water and yeast too. It was cleaned in a dishwasher, but I did not clean it in the disinfectant. Also, I did not mix the yeast, it was half mixed and the other half was the dry yeast floating on the top.

Now I need to read the remainder of the directions to make sure I do everything else correctly.

This is the continuous quality improvement part of the process. Every time, do at least one thing better. How you handle using the hydrometer next time will be better. So will how you do the yeast. So will monitoring and potentially correcting the amount of liquid at the end of the boil.

You're probably ok w/ the yeast--if there are enough viable yeast cells, even a little bacteria may be outcompeted from the outset. Dry yeast can also be sprinkled dry into the fermenter, so the fact that you had clumps won't matter much--eventually it will hydrate and the yeast in the clumps will become active.

You are now at the most difficult part of the entire brewing process, the part where you must exercise patience. This will become even more difficult after you bottle and while you wait for the bottles to condition and carbonate.

I hate having to exercise patience. Hate it, hate it, hate it. At some point you'll get enough beer in your pipeline that it will become easier. Last night I kegged a version of Biermuncher's Black Pearl Porter. It's been sitting in the fermenter for over a month (since Nov 16 to be exact). I'm in no particular hurry to finish it as I have a few bottles left from the previous batch of BPP, and I have plenty of other beers on tap to drink.

You've done well. Now comes the hardest part.

 

[eadavis80]

Yeah, I have an 8-gallon Tallboy SS kettle and looking back on it, I wish I had spent the extra $25 or so for the 10-gallon. I have learned to make my 8 gallon work for me, but I would rather have the 10 gallon.

 

[BrettCo124]

I believe my kit comes with a stick on thermometer. I should stick that to the side of the carboy?

Also, wouldn't there be a lot of hops residue in your beer if you didn't use the mesh bag? Since I'm so new, I didn't know whether all of that greens were supposed to be dissolved in the beer... I got nervous because I instantly thought I messed it up.

I think I may buy a burner for outside and just brew beer on the deck. It gets cold out around here, but oh well. I feel like it's less of a hassle if I have it all stationed outside. Haven't decided yet.

Lastly, do you pre-purchase your hops and malts and stuff? Or just order as you go? I can't tell if I want to have it all right in front of me, like a chef would in his restaurant.

 

[mongoose33]

I believe my kit comes with a stick on thermometer. I should stick that to the side of the carboy?

Yes, about 1/3 up from the bottom. You can see where I put it on the fermenter in this pic:

Also, wouldn't there be a lot of hops residue in your beer if you didn't use the mesh bag? Since I'm so new, I didn't know whether all of that greens were supposed to be dissolved in the beer... I got nervous because I instantly thought I messed it up.

The green stuff doesn't dissolve--it just settles to the bottom of the fermenter. You can see the layer of trub in the pic above, the sort of cream-colored greenish layer at the bottom. BTW, the word trub is pronounced TROOB.

I think I may buy a burner for outside and just brew beer on the deck. It gets cold out around here, but oh well. I feel like it's less of a hassle if I have it all stationed outside. Haven't decided yet.

I think it typically takes a few times to figure out what the most effective setup is. I brew in the garage w/ the doors open.

Lastly, do you pre-purchase your hops and malts and stuff? Or just order as you go? I can't tell if I want to have it all right in front of me, like a chef would in his restaurant.

I'm not sure what you mean by pre-purchase. I order hops and malt and yeast from either RiteBrew or from my Local Home Brew Store (LHBS). i do all-grain, so an order delivered last week had a 55# sack of Maris Otter malt, a 50# sack of basic 2-row malt, 10# of chocolate malt, 10# of munich malt, a couple packages of dry yeast (S-04 and S-05), and six 1-ounce packages of US Goldings hops.

I also have a number of other types of malts, crystal malts, and adjuncts like flaked rye, flaked oats, flaked corn at home.

I buy stuff based on what recipes I want to brew. The recipes will tell you how much of each to use, mash temps if you're all-grain, hop additions and when, and so on.

You can also order just what you need from the LHBS; a friend just brewed an IPA that required 13# of 2-row, 6 oz. of Thomas Fawcett, and Warrior, Simcoe, and I think Centennial hops. Plus the yeast. Picked it all up. I crush my grain with my own mill, but you can also have the LHBS crush it as well.

You can also buy kits that include all the necessary ingredients, both all-grain as well as extract. That way there are no ingredient decisions to make, it's all right there.

If I were you, knowing what I know, I'd brew maybe 2 more kits so as to ensure you have the brewing and fermentation and packaging part of this down. Then consider other ways to get your ingredients.

Fun stuff, eh?

 

[PADave]

I think I may buy a burner for outside and just brew beer on the deck. It gets cold out around here, but oh well. I feel like it's less of a hassle if I have it all stationed outside. Haven't decided yet.

Lastly, do you pre-purchase your hops and malts and stuff? Or just order as you go? I can't tell if I want to have it all right in front of me, like a chef would in his restaurant.

I do all my brewing outside. The bigger burner heats your water up quicker, you don't have all that moisture from the boil in your house, and if you do have a spill, it's easier to clean up.

Some people have a stock of various ingredients and hops on hand. I personally like to plan my next 2 to 4 brews and order everything for them at once. I don't have a good LHBS, so I order everything online. But morebeer has my order on my porch in two days, so it doesn't take that much planning in advance. I always keep ingredients on hand for at least one brew for that unplanned brew day.

 

[BrettCo124]

I'm pretty sure I'll be following that same path of brewing outside. There was so much moisture.

So, I checked my carboy and it says 62 degrees... too cold?

 

[PADave]

I'm pretty sure I'll be following that same path of brewing outside. There was so much moisture.

So, I checked my carboy and it says 62 degrees... too cold?

What yeast did you use?

 

[BrettCo124]

I don't have the packet anymore but it was dry yeast and was in a red packet. I put it in warm water for 10 minutes then poured it in the carboy. Should I just start calling it a fermenter for now on? Haha I don't know which is the common term to use.

 

[PADave]

Sounds like US-05. Fermentation gives off heat. Once it gets going you will see temps about 4-6 degrees higher. Mid 60's is perfect. So, no 62 is not too cold.

 

[BrettCo124]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482451596.059091.jpgthis one!

 

[BrettCo124]

That's perfect, thanks very much! I'll keep an eye on it, and if it drops temp in that room for whatever reason, I'll know and correct it. I have the temp strip on it now, so I can keep a better eye on it.

 

[Redlantern]

US-05 or other dry yeasts are great to keep in the fridge on standby. They last a very long time and can be used in case of a stalled ferment, or you spill your starter (another story) or have extra leftover ingredients and want to make a "kitchen sink" batch

 

[seabrew8]

I'm starting to think this thread should be a sticky!!

I wish i read this before my first ever brew.

 

[BrettCo124]

I really couldn't have been more fortunate to have had this thread go off like it did. I am learning so much. Would love to keep it going for as long as it has life left in it. From the detailed advice, all the way down to the kit I bought, I've had nothing but amazing advice. Check out my new, and first, kit. Look at how nice and shiny this thing is! View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482457909.008500.jpg loving this kit. It really has everything just like I was told it would.

 

[Randolf]

Wow,it's nice to jump in to brewing and be Gung Ho, from the gitgo. Like someone said,brew your way and make it your own. I got my 1st Mr. Beer kit in 1995,and am still brewing extract batches with steeping grains and hop additions.I prefer a 1 hour per batch brewday vs a longer all-grain session.I brew 2.5 gallon batches,so I always have a variety of brews on hand.Sometimes my brews are a little less than what I expected,but I drink them anyways.I'm the only drinker,so when I have a first pour of one of my Brews,I have an open Miller lite(SWMBO's drink) which I take a sip of first.Then my brew,and 9 times out of 10 mine tastes better,so I count that as a WIN. I'll never brew stuff like the Big brewers,and don't want to.I'm more than satisfied with the way I do things. So,good luck in your brewing endeavors and cheers!

 

[seabrew8]

Wow,it's nice to jump in to brewing and be Gung Ho, from the gitgo.

Good one!

 

[BrettCo124]

Thank you!

So for another update, I received a $30 gift card for purchasing the fermonster kit. I just used it for a second carboy. I figured that would be the best thing I could do to keep batches in a good rotation instead of having to wait. Next, a burner!

By the way, this morning my beer started fermenting! See photo! The airlock is active, about every 15 seconds. I hope that's what it's supposed to look like lol. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482526440.464827.jpg

 

[Morrey]

I admire your courage to skip all the cheaper options and just right get down the serious business of "bling" brewing. But don't be discouraged if the first brews or three you make are not commercial quality. A $400 Blichmann brew kettle won't really make any better beer than a $50 kettle unless the brewer has skills in the brewing process. Not being cynical, but set the bar realistically for your first few brews. You have made good choices so far and this hobby will reward you nicely with comments like...."really, you made this beer"? "Wow".

Next comes experience and a burner as you say...lol. I do applaud you for getting decent equipment to begin your hobby. Enjoy!!

 

[mongoose33]

Thank you!

So for another update, I received a $30 gift card for purchasing the fermonster kit. I just used it for a second carboy. I figured that would be the best thing I could do to keep batches in a good rotation instead of having to wait. Next, a burner!

By the way, this morning my beer started fermenting! See photo! The airlock is active, about every 15 seconds. I hope that's what it's supposed to look like lol. View attachment 381572

It's.....ALIVE!

Good idea to get a second fermenter. I don't know if I'd call it a carboy, though certainly the usage is the same. Carboy is, from what I can tell, generally reserved for glass (and occasionally) plastic vessels with the narrow neck. You'll appreciate the wide-mouth when it comes time to clean it.

You are, if you haven't figured it out, unabashedly, irretrievably, and irrevocably hooked on this. Anyone who immediately gets a second fermenter A) has figured out what's necessary to get a pipeline going, and B) has swallowed the hook, the line, and the sinker.

One thought: mind your temps. Keep that fermentation temp down in the 60s if you can--it'll help you produce better beer.

Meanwhile, you can think about a second brew. You learned a lot with the first one, now do another while improving the process wherever you can.

Brew on!

 

[BrettCo124]

Thanks mongoose33! I definitely took the bait. It's a lot of work (at least for my first batch ever) but Im really enjoying it. If this beer comes out tasty, I'll love it that much more.

Right now, it's hovering at the 60 degree mark. I'm nervous if it drops any lower than that. But I'm certain it will maintain a 57-60 degree temp throughout the winter. Is the 50s not good? Can I wrap a blanket around it, would that help at all?

Also, should I not touch this thing? I thought I read somewhere that at some point in the fermentation process, I should not even put a finger on the fermenter.

 

[motosapiens]

Right now, it's hovering at the 60 degree mark. I'm nervous if it drops any lower than that. But I'm certain it will maintain a 57-60 degree temp throughout the winter. Is the 50s not good? Can I wrap a blanket around it, would that help at all?

Also, should I not touch this thing? I thought I read somewhere that at some point in the fermentation process, I should not even put a finger on the fermenter.

i didn't look back far enough to see what yeast you are using for what beer, so i can't advise on the exact temps. In general, I have had good luck with ale yeasts and normal house temps (66-68), but I just invested $30 in an inkbird temp controller to run my wrap around heater element, and I'm really looking forward to just setting the temp and forgetting about it, instead of moving fermenters and carboys back and forth between garage (coldest), kitchen (warmer), and upstairs bedroom (warmest). I've only been brewing all grain for 3 years or so (20 years of extract brewing before that), but it seems like controlling the temp of your fermentation is one of the more important things.

 

[Brownalemikie]

You can touch the carboy, just don't expose the beer to outside air. You don't want nasties getting in there. As far temp during fermentation, IMO keep temp in low to mid 60's for at least the first few days....maybe upper 60's to lower 70's for remaining days to help yeast clean up everything.

 

[BrettCo124]

Thanks for the advice!

This is so freaking awesome! My beer is coming to life! It's all foamy now inside and I'm super excited!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482548390.132027.jpg