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My first beer brew thread


Ralphie

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17 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

"Man, this house smells like a brewery!"

"....oh, wait....."

 

You do know, when you have the inevitable Traditional Boilover you're going to be sleeping in the garage for a while....

Yeah, it makes me mad that we used to have a huge ass pot probably aboot 8-10 quarts. These 6-8 ones have very little headspace. :whistle::biker::facepalm:

 

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I call my brewery Worry Wort Brewery. I stress everything. I was brewing during a Big Brew Day, and all the guys were having a heart attack worrying about a boil over. Josh said, "The ONE thing she's not worried about, but the rest of us are freakin' out!" Heh heh...No boil over. 

Hope it's going well, Ralph.

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18 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

I think it's cool that all you have to do is push a button on your stove, and it automatically makes you pizza or chicken nuggets.  It's like the beta version of the Star Trek replicators, almost.

This only makes 10 bottles of beer, dammit! A lot of work for that!

and mrs. MK did not like the smell!

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43 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

Well I guess that is a lesson for next time!  When I googled spent grain, all I saw were warnings aboot how hops are toxic to dawgs, so I was aboot to just throw it away, but then I realized there are no hops, they are added during the boil after the grain is removed. 

I guess I googled wrong. :(

https://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/sustainable-uses-of-spent-grain

On the plus side, I have another kit.  I am just surprised and happy that the cheapo kits use grain and not extract.  Funny, the kits are almost identical - same box but different brands and packing, etc.

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1 hour ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

There is a brew pub that opened in an old church and they make pizza with either the spent grain or traditional.  I really like the idea of using the spent grain but actually the crust wasn't very good.  Their beer is excellent.

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1 hour ago, smudge said:

Well, is it still going? It's been so many years since I've made that small a batch, I don't remember how long active fermentation goes. Of course just because you don't see bubbles doesn't mean it's done. What temp is it at now?

Yup, this is only about day 2 of actual fermentation.  Getting a bubble every few seconds now.  Temp is 68.  I guess that "dead week" where I had it a touch too cold with no fermentation might hurt if I didn't get the sanitation done well.  So what is the porpoise of replacing the hose with a fermentation lock after 3-7 days?

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Perfect!!

Actually, you didn't really need to use the blow-off tube. The air lock would have been sufficient.

This is why I don't like yeast packets in kits. They tell you nothing of the strain including optimal fermentation temps. But it looks like you're doing well now.

What do they have you using for sanitation? A packet of powdery stuff? Or does it have a label? You could sanitize the air lock and make a quick swap at any time if you'd like. Or you can leave the blow off tube.

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18 minutes ago, smudge said:

Perfect!!

Actually, you didn't really need to use the blow-off tube. The air lock would have been sufficient.

This is why I don't like yeast packets in kits. They tell you nothing of the strain including optimal fermentation temps. But it looks like you're doing well now.

What do they have you using for sanitation? A packet of powdery stuff? Or does it have a label? You could sanitize the air lock and make a quick swap at any time if you'd like. Or you can leave the blow off tube.

When I opened the second kit to use its yeast packet I found that its instructions were a little more detailed as far as temperature.  When they say cool, I think more 60-ish than mid 60s.  Yes, I used a powdery stuff in a packet for sanitation - man, that was perfect - could not have been easier!  I have Charley Papazian's 3rd edition Homebrewing book, and he talks bleach, which scares me to death as far as residue.  A wine maker at work also gave me a packet of sodium metabisulfite which must be what the powder in the kit was.  I was also expecting extract in a kit.  It was so much more fun doing grain right from the start.  The instructions say 3-7 days before switching to the airlock, so I'll do that soon.  One difference is the book talks aboot using a hygrometer to determine when it is done, but the kit says nothing aboot that.  I guess I better hit Submit Order on that bottle capper and caps order that is sitting in my Amazon cart.

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It probably says "cool" so you don't think bread temps for your beer yeast. Totally different organisms.

No, don't use bleach. If you have things to order from Amazon, get a little container of brewing sanitizer. I use StarSan, but I do bigger batches. You should be able to get a packet of something for your small batch.

If you use a hydrometer to measure for final gravity, you'll end up using about 1/3 of a bottle of beer. Just an FYI.  If you DO go that way, for God's sakes don't dump the sample; drink it! The beer will be very young, but it will give you an idea of the end product. And you won't have wasted beer. :)  

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OK, day 8 of fermentation (I hope!).  I am a little concerned that the bubbles stopped after aboot 3-4 days, so I hope the fermentation is still proceeding.  I guess I'll know next weekend when I go to bottle it - I'll taste a touch and see if it tastes like beer or like wort (which I assume is sort of sweet).

There looks to be aboot 2" of stuff in the bottom, so I assume it is grain and I need a finer strainer.  Rats, that will decrease my yield quite a bit!

So I guess I need to get that bottle capper and bottle caps on order. :whistle:

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1 hour ago, Ralph T. Mooseknuckle said:

OK, day 8 of fermentation (I hope!).  I am a little concerned that the bubbles stopped after aboot 3-4 days, so I hope the fermentation is still proceeding.  I guess I'll know next weekend when I go to bottle it - I'll taste a touch and see if it tastes like beer or like wort (which I assume is sort of sweet).

There looks to be aboot 2" of stuff in the bottom, so I assume it is grain and I need a finer strainer.  Rats, that will decrease my yield quite a bit!

So I guess I need to get that bottle capper and bottle caps on order. :whistle:

Depending on temperature and the strain of yeast, fermentation can go fast or slow, so I'm guessing you.re good there. The stuff in the bottom is called trub. It's the dead caucuses of the yeast. The fact that you have that layer in the bottom is a good indication that you had good yeast propagation and fermentation.

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1 hour ago, UglyBob said:

Depending on temperature and the strain of yeast, fermentation can go fast or slow, so I'm guessing you.re good there. The stuff in the bottom is called trub. It's the dead caucuses of the yeast. The fact that you have that layer in the bottom is a good indication that you had good yeast propagation and fermentation.

Hmm - well, I think I did give it a double-shot of yeast, since I thought the first was bad, when actually I think I just had it too cold.  Let, see if they say a gallon should yield aboot 10 12 oz bottles, that leaves just 8 fl oz for trub.

IMG_0524.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/7/2017 at 8:29 PM, Longjohn said:

There is a brew pub that opened in an old church and they make pizza with either the spent grain or traditional.  I really like the idea of using the spent grain but actually the crust wasn't very good.  Their beer is excellent.

Which place? The Church Brewworks, or another?

I've always liked their pizza better than their beer!

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