Hey Guys,
So this morning I attempted the 9l brew (http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38674). I wanted to write a little report of the things I did and hopefully get some feedback. I was really happy up until I started the hop boil, then things went down hill.
I ordered my grains from Craft Brewer and had them all milled for me so that part was taken care of. I got a 19l pot from Big W for $16 and it did the trick.
I heated 10l of water to 71degrees, put in the bag (also ordered from Craft Brewer) and dumped the grain in. Gave it a slight mash and put the lid on, covered in towels and set the timer for 1 hour. The temperature was 66 degrees once the lid went on, so that was perfect.
An hour later I took the towels off, took the lid off and did a temperature reading, 64 degrees, so I was stocked. Took the grain bag out and dumped it into a second pot, lifted and let it drain and did some squeezing. Filled the second pot up with 1l of 70 degree water and dunked the grain bag back in. Gave it a swirl and lifted it back up to drain for 10 minutes and squeezed it again before pouring the liquid into the first pot.
I had a taste as it was heading for boil temperate and it was really really good!
Once the boil started, things just didn't go so well from there, or at least I thought. Once the boil hit, I didn't get that layer of muck on top, it was a very dark amber liquid and it was just bubbling along (I don't think this actually matters, just different to the guide). I put 10g of Simcoe in the hop bag and chucked them in. I had put the lid on the pot but took it off after someone mentioned not to, it was only on for 5 minutes. I left that boiling for 45 minutes before putting in 7g of the Riwaka in the same bag and letting both boil for another 15 minutes.
I noticed about now that the wort level had dropped almost 2 inches in that hour. While the hops were boiling I did my teaspoon of yeast and sugar in a small jar with 100ml of cold tap water. I gave it a thorough stir and then let it sit, however, after 1 hour, nothing had happened.
Once the hops were done, I put the pot in the laundry sink and replaced the water around it every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. The temperate got down to 25 and it didn't look like a nice liquid, around the outside was fine, but in the middle it was very cloudy and a different colour, once the thermostat went in, and kicked it all around the whole pot went that cloudy look.
Only ended up with 5l of wort.
Thinking this was odd, I added 2l of cool water and gave it a massive stir and because of the failed yeast, just sprinkled the other half of the yeast packet on top of the wort, sealed it up and set the fermenter away.
I did a gravity reading before the yeast went in and it was 1056, also had a taste, had a nice taste (not quite as good as it was before the hop boil), but I thought very bitter.
So my questions are:
Why did I lose so much liquid during the boil?
Did I do the hops correctly? The bitterness seemed overwhelming.
Is it possible the yeast was dead and that's why it didn't do anything in the small jar. I did have to have the products shipped from Queensland to Melbourne, so they might have had a rough trip.
I'm not dis-heartened, I think it's a great learning curve, but I just want to see what you guys think.
Who knows, might turn out to be the best beer ever! Pity I might not get to drink it... rapture. <_<
Thanks!
So this morning I attempted the 9l brew (http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38674). I wanted to write a little report of the things I did and hopefully get some feedback. I was really happy up until I started the hop boil, then things went down hill.
I ordered my grains from Craft Brewer and had them all milled for me so that part was taken care of. I got a 19l pot from Big W for $16 and it did the trick.
I heated 10l of water to 71degrees, put in the bag (also ordered from Craft Brewer) and dumped the grain in. Gave it a slight mash and put the lid on, covered in towels and set the timer for 1 hour. The temperature was 66 degrees once the lid went on, so that was perfect.
An hour later I took the towels off, took the lid off and did a temperature reading, 64 degrees, so I was stocked. Took the grain bag out and dumped it into a second pot, lifted and let it drain and did some squeezing. Filled the second pot up with 1l of 70 degree water and dunked the grain bag back in. Gave it a swirl and lifted it back up to drain for 10 minutes and squeezed it again before pouring the liquid into the first pot.
I had a taste as it was heading for boil temperate and it was really really good!
Once the boil started, things just didn't go so well from there, or at least I thought. Once the boil hit, I didn't get that layer of muck on top, it was a very dark amber liquid and it was just bubbling along (I don't think this actually matters, just different to the guide). I put 10g of Simcoe in the hop bag and chucked them in. I had put the lid on the pot but took it off after someone mentioned not to, it was only on for 5 minutes. I left that boiling for 45 minutes before putting in 7g of the Riwaka in the same bag and letting both boil for another 15 minutes.
I noticed about now that the wort level had dropped almost 2 inches in that hour. While the hops were boiling I did my teaspoon of yeast and sugar in a small jar with 100ml of cold tap water. I gave it a thorough stir and then let it sit, however, after 1 hour, nothing had happened.
Once the hops were done, I put the pot in the laundry sink and replaced the water around it every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. The temperate got down to 25 and it didn't look like a nice liquid, around the outside was fine, but in the middle it was very cloudy and a different colour, once the thermostat went in, and kicked it all around the whole pot went that cloudy look.
Only ended up with 5l of wort.
Thinking this was odd, I added 2l of cool water and gave it a massive stir and because of the failed yeast, just sprinkled the other half of the yeast packet on top of the wort, sealed it up and set the fermenter away.
I did a gravity reading before the yeast went in and it was 1056, also had a taste, had a nice taste (not quite as good as it was before the hop boil), but I thought very bitter.
So my questions are:
Why did I lose so much liquid during the boil?
Did I do the hops correctly? The bitterness seemed overwhelming.
Is it possible the yeast was dead and that's why it didn't do anything in the small jar. I did have to have the products shipped from Queensland to Melbourne, so they might have had a rough trip.
I'm not dis-heartened, I think it's a great learning curve, but I just want to see what you guys think.
Who knows, might turn out to be the best beer ever! Pity I might not get to drink it... rapture. <_<
Thanks!
