So, yeah, I'm a newbie here. My first batch. And, boy, do I think it's gonna be a winner. I searched the forums for, "I totally f'd up my first batch," but came up with nothing, so I figure I'll start it up...
First off, I started with Victory Hop Wallop followed by Dogfish 90-Minute IPAs. So even though I read the instructions a dozen times, it was all a blur...
Everything started out OK... I got the water up to 170ish with the bag of crushed stuff. Steeped for 20 min. Then removed the bag, brought it to boil, stirring, only boiled over once. Put the yeast in the warm water in a sterilized mug, covered. Boiled, added hops, boiled for 55 minutes. Added hops, boiled for 5 minutes. All good.
Took the pot out, immersed it in cold water from the tap. Decided to let the water run over the top of the pot--cover on--and that seemed to cool things down fast. Went to the bathroom. Came back, and the water had leaked into the pot, and dark beauty started spilling into the sink. Awesome.
Shut off the tap, poured off some of the excess, took the top off to let it cool off faster... Then realized that keeping the top off exposed it to bacteria, then slammed it shut. Kept water running, but took the temperature of my "cool" water, and it was a cool 79 degrees. Cooled the stuff down to about 85 degrees and then decided to siphon. (That's the beer talking there.)
Totally f'd up the siphoning, spilled all over the floor, had the plug tap open, ran out of rinsing solution, just decided to use tap water to start the siphon, and finally got most of the brew into the fermenter. Damn.
Threw the hydrometer in... It hit bottom. No reading. Whatever. I have a mess in the kitchen, and I'm drunk. Pop that top on, throw it in a dark, cool, corner, and we'll see what happens.
Am I destined for swill and bellyaches? Or is there any hope? Can I be part of some tradition of hillbilly drunks stumbling around to candlelight trying to get a brew going amongst the dust and dirt of Appalachian-Heaven, and then end up with some palatable?
P
First off, I started with Victory Hop Wallop followed by Dogfish 90-Minute IPAs. So even though I read the instructions a dozen times, it was all a blur...
Everything started out OK... I got the water up to 170ish with the bag of crushed stuff. Steeped for 20 min. Then removed the bag, brought it to boil, stirring, only boiled over once. Put the yeast in the warm water in a sterilized mug, covered. Boiled, added hops, boiled for 55 minutes. Added hops, boiled for 5 minutes. All good.
Took the pot out, immersed it in cold water from the tap. Decided to let the water run over the top of the pot--cover on--and that seemed to cool things down fast. Went to the bathroom. Came back, and the water had leaked into the pot, and dark beauty started spilling into the sink. Awesome.
Shut off the tap, poured off some of the excess, took the top off to let it cool off faster... Then realized that keeping the top off exposed it to bacteria, then slammed it shut. Kept water running, but took the temperature of my "cool" water, and it was a cool 79 degrees. Cooled the stuff down to about 85 degrees and then decided to siphon. (That's the beer talking there.)
Totally f'd up the siphoning, spilled all over the floor, had the plug tap open, ran out of rinsing solution, just decided to use tap water to start the siphon, and finally got most of the brew into the fermenter. Damn.
Threw the hydrometer in... It hit bottom. No reading. Whatever. I have a mess in the kitchen, and I'm drunk. Pop that top on, throw it in a dark, cool, corner, and we'll see what happens.
Am I destined for swill and bellyaches? Or is there any hope? Can I be part of some tradition of hillbilly drunks stumbling around to candlelight trying to get a brew going amongst the dust and dirt of Appalachian-Heaven, and then end up with some palatable?
P