The waiting game

[spak]

So far so good. My first batch ever(Mr Beer) is done. I boiled 2 HME Irish Stout cans with a bit of honey and added about 3 ounces of cocoa powder. I am super excited. 2 weeks of waiting, and then I have to wait 3 weeks for bottling haha.

I hope it turns out good. I was really OCD about the sanitizing. I made sure I had a pan filled with some of the one step next to me, and I had my digital thermometer, spatula, and funnel sitting in there. Also pitched my yeast in a bit of sugar water first to get it going. Took 20 minutes! I thought my yeast died, but then the foam showed up. Phew.

OG: 1.063

 

[fretsforlife]

Hey, good luck with that, I hope you get some decent beer from it. I did 3 Mr.Beers before buying a home brew kit. One of them was decebt, the other 2 were awful. Mr. Beer is great to start with, but if for whatever reason it isn't what you expected, don't think that's as good as it gets. You can only expect so much from pre-hopped extract. Keep at it!

 

[Zamial]

Grats! Welcome to the club.

That sounds pretty darn good to me. Chocolate stouts are a favorite around here. I also add in honey to most of my brews.

 

[Golddiggie]

One thing I will mention... You only need to sanitize anything touching the wort AFTER the boil is done. So while you're cooking/boiling it, the spoon, and such, don't need to sit in sanitizer. Just make sure everything is clean before you start...

I didn't start with mr. beer... Jumped right into 5 gallon extract kits from the LHBS (for all of three batches) before transitioning to all grain (one mostly mash batch between extract and all grain)...

BTW, welcome to the obsession... Don't let the first batch discourage you, IF it's not great... As you brew more, and go with better ingredients, your batches will improve. I will say that I was at a brew day where another person brought results from mr. beer kits... Let's just say, we were kind to the guy, but I only had one small glass of it...

 

[spak]

Hey, good luck with that, I hope you get some decent beer from it. I did 3 Mr.Beers before buying a home brew kit. One of them was decebt, the other 2 were awful. Mr. Beer is great to start with, but if for whatever reason it isn't what you expected, don't think that's as good as it gets. You can only expect so much from pre-hopped extract. Keep at it!

Yea I have a feeling thats how many batches it will be before I start doing Dry malt extract recipes in buckets. I have been really liking some of the extract clones I have been seeing around, and I really want to make a few.

Grats! Welcome to the club.

That sounds pretty darn good to me. Chocolate stouts are a favorite around here. I also add in honey to most of my brews.

thanks! It is a fight between stouts and IPAs for my favorite style haha

One thing I will mention... You only need to sanitize anything touching the wort AFTER the boil is done. So while you're cooking/boiling it, the spoon, and such, don't need to sit in sanitizer. Just make sure everything is clean before you start...

I didn't start with mr. beer... Jumped right into 5 gallon extract kits from the LHBS (for all of three batches) before transitioning to all grain (one mostly mash batch between extract and all grain)...

BTW, welcome to the obsession... Don't let the first batch discourage you, IF it's not great... As you brew more, and go with better ingredients, your batches will improve. I will say that I was at a brew day where another person brought results from mr. beer kits... Let's just say, we were kind to the guy, but I only had one small glass of it...

good to know, I just wanted to be extra careful haha. Yea I realize the mr beer kits can be a bit mediocre, but thats why I did NOT go with one can for my first batch with nothing else I really want to do a nice bitter American IPA for my next batch (I'm drinking a Mojo IPA right now actually, awesome stuff) So I will probably do some combination of Mr. Beer HMEs and UMEs for the next one(with hop pellets in the boil), unless i figure out a way to do it with DME and hops or something.

I really like the idea of smaller batches for now because I will likely be the only one drinking(until i join HBA and go to meetings that is) So I will probably do half batches when I get my buckets and carboy.

Oh and I broke the hydrometer thats in the pic mere hours after it was taken:cross: Slipped out of my hands lol. Not all bad because that gives me a reason to go to LHBS and get some ingredients for my next batch

 

[Golddiggie]

See if the LHBS has kits they make themselves with UME and such... I would go with one of those for the next batch...

Keep in mind, with ale yeast (proper yeast) you're looking at 2-4 weeks on the yeast cake (primary, no secondary) then another ~3 weeks to bottle condition/carbonate before you can drink it. So, if you're the only one drinking, plan to brew once a month... Unless you'll go through it faster... Most of us find that we drink more home brew than we would have commercial brew... Well, I do at least.

 

[spak]

all ready to go when my fermenter frees up. I need to take a FG reading tomorrow to see where I am now(got another Hydrometer, so im gunna take better care of it this time lol). Will most likely keep it fermenting for 1 more week, unless I am at like 1.015 or so(or will take multiple gravity readings over a few days). 3 ounces of Cascade, 1 ounce of Centennial. Bag of extra light DME, one step sanitizer, can of amber extract, steeping bag, Irish moss, Campden tabs, 1/2 lb of Crystal Malt 20L, bottle vinator, and a vial of White Labs California Ale yeast.

Apparently Amarillo Gold is no longer available for the time being. So I was suggested to use more Cascade. so I am going to do 1 ounce Centennial(60 min), .5 ounce cascade(30, 15, 5, 1 minutes) and then dry hop with 1 ounce of cascade. This is going to be grapefruit in a bottle. I am going to do a 1L starter 3 days before I boil.

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: My IPA
Brewer: Spak
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 2.07 gal      
Boil Size: 1.15 gal
Estimated OG: 1.085 SG
Estimated FG: 1.019 FG
Estimated ABV: 8.7%
Estimated Color: 14.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 117.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
1.25 lb       Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM)         Dry Extract  24.8 %        
3.30 lb       Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM)           Extract      65.3 %        
0.50 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)     Grain        9.9 %         
1.00 oz       Centennial [10.00%]  (60 min)             Hops         83.3 IBU      
0.50 oz       Cascade [5.50%]  (30 min)                 Hops         17.6 IBU      
0.50 oz       Cascade [5.50%]  (15 min)                 Hops         11.4 IBU      
0.50 oz       Cascade [5.50%]  (5 min)                  Hops         4.6 IBU       
0.50 oz       Cascade [5.50%]  (1 min)                  Hops         1.0 IBU       
1.00 oz       Cascade [5.50%]  (Dry Hop 7 days)         Hops          -            
0.50 tsp      Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)                Misc                       
1 Pkgs        California Ale (White Labs #WLP001)       Yeast-Ale  

Notes:
Boil with DME, add Amber extract after boil, steep Grain at 155F for 30 minutes

all I need to do now is drink some beer to get some bottles saved up, and then grab a capper and some bottle caps