Preparing for first Brew Day

[Justibone]

If you don't want to drink it... then it's not okay.

Seriously, that's how you know. It will taste or smell bad after you've bottled it and it's aged properly, etc.

 

[Justibone]

And I'm pretty sure quite a bit of the trub got siphoned into the fermentor. I'll have to lookinto a way to filter next time. Would a coffee filter be too much?

Yes.

A sieve/strainer/colander is good, though, b/c it gets the gunk and aerates at the same time.

 

[Hartski]

Alrighty. So now I know of some things I can improve upon for the next batch. Now i need another fermenter so i can try a second batch next weekend.....

 

[statseeker]

Honestly, I dont mind the trub at the bottom of the fermenter. That's yeast food. If the yeast converts even a small percentage of it into CO2 or alcohol, then it's worth it to me to keep it in there until either I rack to a secondary or go directly to the keg. Most of the trub will be left behind when I remove the beer anyway.

 

[rjwhite41]

Noticed you were from Iowa. Where do you live? By the way, the Hawks have been very disappointing the last two weeks. I was there when they beat Michigan St though and it was awesome!

 

[Hartski]

Noticed you were from Iowa. Where do you live? By the way, the Hawks have been very disappointing the last two weeks. I was there when they beat Michigan St though and it was awesome!

I'm from around Anamosa, but I live in Cedar rapids now. I want to know where the team that played Michigan State was the last two weeks. They sure didn't show up......

 

[rjwhite41]

Hopefully they show up next week or else it's going to be a long night.

 

[Hartski]

Hopefully they show up next week or else it's going to be a long night.

Indeed. Not getting the warm fuzzies over this game...
On a positive note, my beer is alive!! Getting a bubble every 2 to 3 seconds.

 

[rjwhite41]

Congrats! It should be going like crazy in no time. Great time of year for a Porter. Remember patience is a virtue when making beer. It's a great hobby and I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions you can always PM me and of course these forums are a great place for info and answers. GO HAWKS!

 

[Hartski]

Thanks! She's bubbling every second, now! Hope it doesn't overflow...........

 

[Hartski]

Well, no worries about overflowing. i think my beer fellasleep after only 3 days. It's down to 58 degrees in the basement, so I'm bringing it upstairs tonight.

 

[Justibone]

Be careful. Stirring it up and heating it up can both cause an increase in activity. If she "wakes up", she can still make a mess. I wish you could have seen my pyment after I thought it was done... whew. Scary. I'll never assume fermentation is done again, I hope!

 

[Hartski]

I'll try stirring it up, too. When can I start tasting it?

 

[Justibone]

When you start taking hydrometer samples.

 

[Hartski]

Well, I moved the fermenter upstairs, and it's starting to bubble again, albeit slowly. Then I started to clean labels off some Sam Adams bottles that I've been saving. 3 bottles in I decided to return the bottles and just buy new ones. I can be lazy sometimes..........

 

[ChandlerBang]

Well, I moved the fermenter upstairs, and it's starting to bubble again, albeit slowly. Then I started to clean labels off some Sam Adams bottles that I've been saving. 3 bottles in I decided to return the bottles and just buy new ones. I can be lazy sometimes..........

Seriously, put all of the bottles in a plastic tote with luke warm bleach water. Fairly strong bleach water. Make sure you get the bottles completely full of water to kill and mold in the bottle and to insure they stay completely submerged. Snap the top on so kiddies and pets can't play in it and forget about it for a couple days. When you come back to it most of the labels will be floating in the water and pretty much all of the glue will be disolved. A warm rinse with a light brush and they are ready for storage. I'm pretty lazy, but I'm cheap too.

 

[Hartski]

Okay, I'll try that. Need to go get a tote tonight.........

 

[Justibone]

Don't dump the dissolved glue down your bathtub, though... it can clog the drain. Also don't dump it on any type of vegetation you would like to continue to be "alive", b/c of the bleach. I'd imagine the toilet might be the best place to dump that bleach water... but I don't really know.

 

[Hartski]

Meh. we have large open drains in the basement floor. That'll be good enough to dump the bleach water down.

 

[ChandlerBang]

Don't dump the dissolved glue down your bathtub, though... it can clog the drain. Also don't dump it on any type of vegetation you would like to continue to be "alive", b/c of the bleach. I'd imagine the toilet might be the best place to dump that bleach water... but I don't really know.

Yikes didn't know about the glue thing, but with the bleach does that really matter?

Michelob bottles are the best. I had a bunch of Cask Ale and Amber Bock bottles I just did. Amazing how the glue dissapears. I then used a plastic brisel fingernail brush under warm water to clean off the last bit of glue.

I plan to wash in the dishwasher before I sanitize to bottle. What's the deal with dishsoap killing head retention? Does that include dishwasher soap too?

 

[rjwhite41]

Yes that goes for dishwasher soap too. You can sanitize in a dishwasher though, just don't put any soap in it and it will sanitize the bottles.

 

[Hartski]

But if you sanitize after you use dish soap it'll be okay, right?

 

[rjwhite41]

As long as you rinse it really well and I wouldn't count on your dishwasher getting into the bottles real well. I would recommend you soak in oxyclean to clean them and always rinse immediately after use. When I used to bottle I would rinse after I used them and that was really all the cleaning I did and then I would soak in an Iodophor solution to sanitize. However the heat from the dishwasher (drying cycle I believe) would be a much easier way to sanitize and I know John Palmer recommends it in "How to Brew".

 

[Hartski]

wish i had a dishwasher. Totally hand clean for me.

 

[rjwhite41]

I'm guessing since you're addicted to golf (as am I) you will get addicted to homebrew (as am I) too. You might as well start shopping for a freezer to convert already. Then you can keg and you don't have to worry about bottles!

 

[Hartski]

yeah, i've been looking at keg fridges. The ones i've seen are only about 300 bucks.

 

[specialkaye]

wish i had a dishwasher. Totally hand clean for me.

I've got a dishwasher, most people call her SWMBO.
Seriously, I just hand clean my bottles. For sterilizing, I use one of those things that squirts the sanitizer up into the upside down bottles.

 

[Justibone]

As for glue clogging the bathtub, it definitely can. It did, for me -- but I didn't use bleach so I don't know what effect that would be. Then again, I did do 48 beer bottles and about 60 wine bottles before it clogged, and the clog wasn't complete, just kinda slowed-down draining. Fortunately the apartment maintenance guy didn't ask too many questions.

If I do the bleach-soak method to clean bottles, I will definitely dump the water down the toilet. Basement drains would be good, or maybe the garbage disposal, but a normal drain like a sink or shower would probably be somewhat ungood.

Oh, and +1 on Michelob bottles. The winter cask ale is also really tasty.

 

[rjwhite41]

yeah, i've been looking at keg fridges. The ones i've seen are only about 300 bucks.

I would recommend you convert a used fridge or freezer. You can buy a conversion kit if you like and it's really easy to do. Just search craigs list for a used mini if you are short on space or live in an apartment or for a chest freezer (which can double as a lagering fridge) if you have the space for one of those.

 

[ChandlerBang]

Oh, and +1 on Michelob bottles. The winter cask ale is also really tasty.

If I can figure out how to clone that, I would brew every day.

 

[Hartski]

Okay, so the bottles are in a big tote full of bleach and water. Hope it does the job. I dunno when I'll actually get to the bottling, because the brew is still in the fermenter, bubbling away.....

 

[Hartski]

Got some cheesecloth to strain my beer when i rack it into the bottling bucket. Will I need to sanitize that, too?

 

[Justibone]

Got some cheesecloth to strain my beer when i rack it into the bottling bucket. Will I need to sanitize that, too?

Yes.

It will get the big chunks like hops and whatnot, but yeast will go right through cheesecloth, I think.

 

[Hartski]

Yes.

It will get the big chunks like hops and whatnot, but yeast will go right through cheesecloth, I think.

Awesome. I don't want chunky beer. And if all the yeast doesn't get through, i just won't have as much carbonation, right? I can fix that with a chunk of dry ice in the glass.

 

[Skaggz]

In order to filter out yeast you need and extremely fine filter system. Running in through cheese cloth should not remove any measurable amount of yeast cells still in suspension. You should be fine.

 

[Hartski]

So I'm hoping fermentation will be far enough done by Friday or Saturday that I can bottle this first batch and get another one going. Trying to decide between the American Cream Ale kit or a Hefeweizen (spelling?) kit.

 

[Justibone]

You'll be happier with the end result if you don't rush it.

 

[Hartski]

Yeah, I'm not trying to rush it, but isn't almost 2 weeks plenty of time to ferment? Obviously I'll let the hydrometer tell the tale, but I don't want to open up the fermenter too soon or too late to start taking readings.....

 

[Justibone]

For your first brew, sure, 2 weeks is good.

Later on, try to go for 3 or even 4.

 

[Hartski]

Well if 3 or 4 weeks is normal, I won't get too worried about it. Was going to pick up a second fermenter this weekend, anyways.