badsneaker
Well-Known Member
I brewed my first batch last Friday (3/14/08), an English pale ale, and never going to forget the heart-warming aroma of hops and malt filling my house. Even SWMBO made favorable noises about it. (Support is good, right?) These past few days, Im thinking over everything with a, Ok now, what did we just do? Even after weeks trying to get up to speed with Palmer, Papazian and HBT, being a first-timer I kept my mind on following the instructions without really thinking about the why. In any case, it occurs that brew night was the first time in a long time that I wasnt in multi-tasking mode. Brewing is the perfect obsession.
Now that some information is beginning to sparge down into my brain, a few thoughts occur and Id like to get some opinions. This all might be old news to everyone else, but to me its like a fog lifting
1. The yeast dictates the fermentation temperature. Many yeast strains have the same general temp range, but you need to pay attention. (I used White Labs British Ale 005 and have kept the temperature between 65º-70º per the recommendation for this strain. I was happy to see the air lock bubbling away 15 hours after pitching, right when White Labs said it would.)
2. The temperature to be mindful of is the worts, not necessarily the room temperature. From the thermometer on the fermenter, I noticed my wort temp fluctuating between 68-70, but the room has been continuously 70.
3. About a gallon evaporated during the boil, and I conclude this would be about right. Per Palmers recommendation, I used a 21-quart porcelain canning pot. Interestingly, I was able to get the temperature from boiling to below 85 in about 10 minutes using a 20 pound bag of ice and cold water. I wonder if starting with 6 gallons in a larger pot would get me closer to 5 gallons by the end of the boil.
4. Distinguishing between cleaning, sanitizing, and sterilizing is the key. PBW is a percarbonate-based cleaner. So is Oxiclean, but PBW sanitizes more efficiently. But then, so does 6% food grade hydrogen peroxide. Sanitizing lowers harmful microorganisms to a safe level while sterilizing kills all microorganisms. A lot of different solutions. Sanitizing is like brewing, whatever works best for me.
5. Water hardness is a big factor. My water supply is a well, I brewed my first from water that went through the softener, <70 ppm. But I might have better results tapping the water before it goes through the softener and using a filter.
Thanks for taking the time to read my rantings!
- Brewer, Interrupted
Now that some information is beginning to sparge down into my brain, a few thoughts occur and Id like to get some opinions. This all might be old news to everyone else, but to me its like a fog lifting
1. The yeast dictates the fermentation temperature. Many yeast strains have the same general temp range, but you need to pay attention. (I used White Labs British Ale 005 and have kept the temperature between 65º-70º per the recommendation for this strain. I was happy to see the air lock bubbling away 15 hours after pitching, right when White Labs said it would.)
2. The temperature to be mindful of is the worts, not necessarily the room temperature. From the thermometer on the fermenter, I noticed my wort temp fluctuating between 68-70, but the room has been continuously 70.
3. About a gallon evaporated during the boil, and I conclude this would be about right. Per Palmers recommendation, I used a 21-quart porcelain canning pot. Interestingly, I was able to get the temperature from boiling to below 85 in about 10 minutes using a 20 pound bag of ice and cold water. I wonder if starting with 6 gallons in a larger pot would get me closer to 5 gallons by the end of the boil.
4. Distinguishing between cleaning, sanitizing, and sterilizing is the key. PBW is a percarbonate-based cleaner. So is Oxiclean, but PBW sanitizes more efficiently. But then, so does 6% food grade hydrogen peroxide. Sanitizing lowers harmful microorganisms to a safe level while sterilizing kills all microorganisms. A lot of different solutions. Sanitizing is like brewing, whatever works best for me.
5. Water hardness is a big factor. My water supply is a well, I brewed my first from water that went through the softener, <70 ppm. But I might have better results tapping the water before it goes through the softener and using a filter.
Thanks for taking the time to read my rantings!
- Brewer, Interrupted
