So after a week of reading Palmer's How to Brew I felt ready to unpack my shiny new home brew kit and make my first batch, an all extract Porter from True Brew. It was a great time and I'm waiting anxiously to see how everything comes out. In the mean time I'm adding to my bottle collection (the fun way) and keeping an eye on the temperature of the primary.
Below are some notes I took while preparing everything. Large text items are notes I made for procedures before I started, ones in smaller text are notes about those procedures and readings where appropriate. Items in all caps are places I feel I either made a mistake or could have done something better. Feel free to make suggestions or ask questions, I've been reading great examples of both so I know you all can do it
Ingredients in True Brew Porter kit:
2 lbs Muntons Dark DME
1 can Muntons Dark LME
About .5 lbs Chocolate Malt
1 oz UK First Gold Hop Pellets
About 4 oz Malto-Dextrin
Muntons Dry "Active Brewing Yeast"
Procedures for True Brew Porter
Add 2 packets of C-brite to 5 gallons of warm water in the primary
Put all items that need to be sanitized into primary and let stand for 1 minute
Pour sanitizer on lid in sink to sanitize lid
Cover items that will be used later with plastic wrap, put lid on primary
Add 1 gallon water to brew pot (4.5 gallon stainless steel)
Warm water to 150, remove from heat
Steep Chocolate Barley 30 minutes
Remove grain bag and add 2 gallons water and turn on heat (high)
Add DME (2 lbs) and Malto-Dextrin (~4 oz)
Stir until dissolved
Stirred moderately until all additions were dissolved, about 5 minutes
Stirred for about a minute every 5 minutes until roiling boil reached
Bring to a boil and add hops
Stirred for about a minute after boil started, about 1:50 pm
ADDED HOPS IMMEDIATELY, Palmer suggests waiting for the hot break to occur
Boil 30 minutes
Rehydrate yeast at 95-105 degrees, wait 20 minutes to pitch
Pre-boiled water was 100.1 degrees at rehydration, 2:07 pm
IMMEDIATELY GENTLY STIRRED YEAST INTO WATER, everything I have read says to wait 10 minutes before gently stirring
After 30 minutes remove wort from heat and add LME
Added the LME to the brew kettle and stirred until apparently dissolved
WHILE STIRRING, UNSANITIZED SPOON FELL INTO WORT TWICE WHILE OPENING THE LME
SCRAPED THE LME CAN WITH AN UNSANITIZED SPATULA TO GET IT ALL OUT, not the smartest thing I’ve ever done
DIPPED THE SPATULA INTO THE WORT TO TRY AND GET THE MOST OFF OF IT, again not the smartest thing I’ve ever done
STIRRED WHILE ADDING THE LME AND SCRAPER THE BOTTOM OF THE POT SEVERAL TIME WITH THE SPOON, don’t think it will greatly affect the overall taste but don’t know
Let stand for 10 minutes
LET STAND UNCOVERED FOR 10 MINUTES
Cool wort in ice bath to 65-77 degrees
Put in ice bath at 2:37 pm
2:54 pm added 2 gallons of warm water to primary
Covered primary with sanitized lid while wort cooled further
Pour wort to primary back to brew pot 5 times to aerate
3:30 pm poured 77 degree wort to primary
Aerated wort by pouring between primary and brew pot 6 times. Major froth formed.
Add clean water to bring total to 5 gallons and aerate 5 times again
Aerated again with a good froth forming
Pitch yeast
Shake primary for a few minutes
Shook for probably 1 minute
Add lid and airlock
Added vodka to the air lock (Ketel One no less, I’ll have to find some less expensive stuff)
GOT IT GOOD AND SEALED THEN REALIZED I HADN’T TAKEN A SAMPLE FOR OG READING. OPENED BUCKET TO PULL SAMPLE WITH SANITIZED STAINLESS STEEL TURKEY BASTER.
OG reading was 1.052 at 74.8 degrees. Corrected OG is 1.054
EXPECTED OG PER PACKAGING WAS 1.043-5
Expected FG is 1.012-4
Store and monitor temperature
Via Fermometer
Day 1, 7:33 pm 68 degrees
Day 2, 8 am 70 degrees, airlock bubbling
Day 2, 11:00 pm 68 degrees, no bubbling in airlock
Day 3, 7:30 am 66 degrees.
Day 3, 4:20 pm 65 degrees.
Below are some notes I took while preparing everything. Large text items are notes I made for procedures before I started, ones in smaller text are notes about those procedures and readings where appropriate. Items in all caps are places I feel I either made a mistake or could have done something better. Feel free to make suggestions or ask questions, I've been reading great examples of both so I know you all can do it
Ingredients in True Brew Porter kit:
2 lbs Muntons Dark DME
1 can Muntons Dark LME
About .5 lbs Chocolate Malt
1 oz UK First Gold Hop Pellets
About 4 oz Malto-Dextrin
Muntons Dry "Active Brewing Yeast"
Procedures for True Brew Porter
Add 2 packets of C-brite to 5 gallons of warm water in the primary
Put all items that need to be sanitized into primary and let stand for 1 minute
Pour sanitizer on lid in sink to sanitize lid
Cover items that will be used later with plastic wrap, put lid on primary
Add 1 gallon water to brew pot (4.5 gallon stainless steel)
Warm water to 150, remove from heat
Steep Chocolate Barley 30 minutes
Remove grain bag and add 2 gallons water and turn on heat (high)
Add DME (2 lbs) and Malto-Dextrin (~4 oz)
Stir until dissolved
Stirred moderately until all additions were dissolved, about 5 minutes
Stirred for about a minute every 5 minutes until roiling boil reached
Bring to a boil and add hops
Stirred for about a minute after boil started, about 1:50 pm
ADDED HOPS IMMEDIATELY, Palmer suggests waiting for the hot break to occur
Boil 30 minutes
Rehydrate yeast at 95-105 degrees, wait 20 minutes to pitch
Pre-boiled water was 100.1 degrees at rehydration, 2:07 pm
IMMEDIATELY GENTLY STIRRED YEAST INTO WATER, everything I have read says to wait 10 minutes before gently stirring
After 30 minutes remove wort from heat and add LME
Added the LME to the brew kettle and stirred until apparently dissolved
WHILE STIRRING, UNSANITIZED SPOON FELL INTO WORT TWICE WHILE OPENING THE LME
SCRAPED THE LME CAN WITH AN UNSANITIZED SPATULA TO GET IT ALL OUT, not the smartest thing I’ve ever done
DIPPED THE SPATULA INTO THE WORT TO TRY AND GET THE MOST OFF OF IT, again not the smartest thing I’ve ever done
STIRRED WHILE ADDING THE LME AND SCRAPER THE BOTTOM OF THE POT SEVERAL TIME WITH THE SPOON, don’t think it will greatly affect the overall taste but don’t know
Let stand for 10 minutes
LET STAND UNCOVERED FOR 10 MINUTES
Cool wort in ice bath to 65-77 degrees
Put in ice bath at 2:37 pm
2:54 pm added 2 gallons of warm water to primary
Covered primary with sanitized lid while wort cooled further
Pour wort to primary back to brew pot 5 times to aerate
3:30 pm poured 77 degree wort to primary
Aerated wort by pouring between primary and brew pot 6 times. Major froth formed.
Add clean water to bring total to 5 gallons and aerate 5 times again
Aerated again with a good froth forming
Pitch yeast
Shake primary for a few minutes
Shook for probably 1 minute
Add lid and airlock
Added vodka to the air lock (Ketel One no less, I’ll have to find some less expensive stuff)
GOT IT GOOD AND SEALED THEN REALIZED I HADN’T TAKEN A SAMPLE FOR OG READING. OPENED BUCKET TO PULL SAMPLE WITH SANITIZED STAINLESS STEEL TURKEY BASTER.
OG reading was 1.052 at 74.8 degrees. Corrected OG is 1.054
EXPECTED OG PER PACKAGING WAS 1.043-5
Expected FG is 1.012-4
Store and monitor temperature
Via Fermometer
Day 1, 7:33 pm 68 degrees
Day 2, 8 am 70 degrees, airlock bubbling
Day 2, 11:00 pm 68 degrees, no bubbling in airlock
Day 3, 7:30 am 66 degrees.
Day 3, 4:20 pm 65 degrees.