stratslinger
Well-Known Member
I brewed up my own second batch yesterday - my first ever solo brew (I've helped out on maybe a dozen brews with a friend prior to my own first batch), and it went quite smoothly.
First of all - whoever has suggested using reflectix to insulate a pot: Thank you!!! It was a bit nippy outside, and I decided against going out, firing up the turkey fryer, and doing a full boil. I ran a test in the morning to see if I could boil 3 gallons of water on my electric range - I came close before SWMBO and I had to leave for breakfast and an early movie, but it took damn near an hour to hit 205. Lo and behold, the movies are right next door to Lowes, so I went in and grabbed a roll of reflectix, and that stuff worked like a champ. I still had to keep the pot partially covered, but I think it was uncovered enough that any DMS from the steeping grains was a non factor.
The kit was the AHS Pecan Porter. It was a little slow to get to a boil (maybe 30-40 minutes with the reflectix), but stayed nice and consistent once it got there. SWMBO claims it made the house smell like sweet potatoes; I suspect I don't have a whole lot more indoor brew days in my future!
I pitched S-04 and put the fermenter away with a brew belt on a timer (my basement gets too cold for Ale fermentation this time of year). Just checked on it this morning - according to my fermometer, it's right around 61F (on the low side for S-04, but the packaging claims it's within the acceptable range, the krausen is already 2" thick (glad I have blow off tube in place!), and I can hear it bubbling away.
Now - for the S-04 fermenting a porter; would I benefit from tweaking my timer such that I maintain a higher temperature in the fermenter? I've read that S-04 is super hardy, and I'm not concerned about it failing to do it's job; I'm more interested in opinions on whether a colder, cleaner ferment would be more or less preferable to a warmer, possibly funkier one. If it makes any difference whatsoever, I'm planning to soak the oak chips for this kit in bourbon, to create a bourbon pecan porter; I'm thinking cleaner ferment would be better so as to not muddy up the other flavors there, but I don't have a ton of experience yet to really base that on...
First of all - whoever has suggested using reflectix to insulate a pot: Thank you!!! It was a bit nippy outside, and I decided against going out, firing up the turkey fryer, and doing a full boil. I ran a test in the morning to see if I could boil 3 gallons of water on my electric range - I came close before SWMBO and I had to leave for breakfast and an early movie, but it took damn near an hour to hit 205. Lo and behold, the movies are right next door to Lowes, so I went in and grabbed a roll of reflectix, and that stuff worked like a champ. I still had to keep the pot partially covered, but I think it was uncovered enough that any DMS from the steeping grains was a non factor.
The kit was the AHS Pecan Porter. It was a little slow to get to a boil (maybe 30-40 minutes with the reflectix), but stayed nice and consistent once it got there. SWMBO claims it made the house smell like sweet potatoes; I suspect I don't have a whole lot more indoor brew days in my future!
I pitched S-04 and put the fermenter away with a brew belt on a timer (my basement gets too cold for Ale fermentation this time of year). Just checked on it this morning - according to my fermometer, it's right around 61F (on the low side for S-04, but the packaging claims it's within the acceptable range, the krausen is already 2" thick (glad I have blow off tube in place!), and I can hear it bubbling away.
Now - for the S-04 fermenting a porter; would I benefit from tweaking my timer such that I maintain a higher temperature in the fermenter? I've read that S-04 is super hardy, and I'm not concerned about it failing to do it's job; I'm more interested in opinions on whether a colder, cleaner ferment would be more or less preferable to a warmer, possibly funkier one. If it makes any difference whatsoever, I'm planning to soak the oak chips for this kit in bourbon, to create a bourbon pecan porter; I'm thinking cleaner ferment would be better so as to not muddy up the other flavors there, but I don't have a ton of experience yet to really base that on...
