Finally Put Down My First Brew

[kaitai]

Rather than go with a straight K&K, I ended up getting a CB american pale ale wetpak. Good fun making it.

A total of 60 minutes to boil. Added grain and sparged at 45 minutes then took of the heat and sprinkled in the hops at the 60 minute mark. Let sit for 10 minutes and then spent another 10 cooling the wort down.

Put it all in the fermenter and pitched the yeast at around 27 degrees. Bit high for the yeast, but didn't want to leave the wort exposed. Had an SG of 1045, perhaps 1046. My hydrometer reading skills have yet to develop


Hope she goes all right. Trying to get that temp down to the 20-21 mark now.

 

[Dunkel_Boy]

American pale ale wetpack, you mean one of those 15/19L fresh wort packs, or just pale malt in liquid form?

I'll bring up a few points later about boiling grains... :blink:

 

[kaitai]

one of these

http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/category96_1.htm

Hopped extract. You give it a 60 minute boil, adding steeped grain during the boil and hops at the end of the boil.

comes with a s04 yeast.

 

[barfridge]

That sounds good for a first brew, getting you on the road to insanity...erm...I mean good beer.

Already you are learning processes which you use making AG, and not a can opener in sight. I hope it goes well for you

 

[Dunkel_Boy]

I'd say that that's good, looks like a good deal there and should produce a good beer... I really hope I'm misunderstanding something... you're boiling the specialty grains?
Grains should be steeped in warm (65-70C) water for about 20-45 minutes BEFORE boiling, then you can go for gold. If you boil grains, your beer is going to be dripping with tannins. Again, I hope I've misinterpreted something.

 

[kaitai]

... I really hope I'm misunderstanding something... you're boiling the specialty grains?
Grains should be steeped in warm (65-70C) water for about 20-45 minutes BEFORE boiling, then you can go for gold. If you boil grains, your beer is going to be dripping with tannins. Again, I hope I've misinterpreted something.

[post="50372"][/post]​

Nope, didn't boil the grains. Steeped them in hot tap water for 45 minutes, then strained the liquid into the wort and then sparged with warm water. Then I just chucked the used grains.

 

[Dunkel_Boy]

Sweet.
You should end up with a great brew, in that case...

 

[kaitai]

Hope so. Smells good anyways. Managed to refrain from drinking the contents of the test jar.

Quick question. If I decide to rack the bew to secondry for a while. I still chuck an airlock on that right? What sort of temp to do keep that at? Still around the 20 mark?


Cheers

 

[joecast]

sure you can put an airlock on it. i usually do, but rarely (ie. never) see any bubbling in the secondary. you still want to keep it sanitary though.

as for temp. a lot of guys on here do what is called cold conditioning. basically dropping the temp right down to help the yeast settle out and give a clearer beer. if you have the means (a beer fridge or somewhere cool to store your fermenter for a few weeks) its great. if not, 20C or below is good. the lower the better basically. someone else should have more info, but thats all i can offer for now.
joe

 

[kaitai]

Thanks for the info. I actually didn't realise the you rack and cc straight away, though that cc'ing was a seperate step.

When you mean cold, how about a turned on fridge? if I can find room in my fridge for example. Should be enough room if I take the crispers out.

Probably easiest to rack into one of square, plastic jerry cans you grab from kmart and not bother with an airlock. Should fit in the fridge easier.


Cheers

 

[barfridge]

to answer your questions: yes, and yes

 

[kaitai]

Great, thanks guys. In fact, I should be able to fit two cubes in the fridge. Soon as this one is done, I think I might try a bock to have ready for the winter.

can hardly wait to see those yeasties are doing their work by morning....

I imagine you bring the brew back to room temp. before bulk priming?

 

[joecast]

I imagine you bring the brew back to room temp. before bulk priming?

[post="50399"][/post]​

yeah, once you prime and bottle, bring back to about 20C (or let fermenter sit at room temp for a day before hand) and leave for a week or two to carbonate. then store a bit cooler until ready to drink. if you are using the plastic PET bottles you wil know when they carbonate just by squeezing the bottles.
joe

 

[Dunkel_Boy]

You don't need to bring it back to room temp to carb it, but it will get to that temp anyway.
I just wouldn't bother waiting, I can't see much of a point.
Technically, for cold conditioning/secondary fermentation, you should choose a fermenter that has a little headspace as possible and takes the entire volume of beer. You get a similar effect aging the bottles, but it basically happens quicker in the secondary fermenter because of the massively increased volume (it's a function of yeast).