attn: avi

[chupe666]

beer kit came yesterday. sick day!

i tried the Big River Brown Ale as my first batch; have an IPA kit for next time. the kit came with two plastic buckets (a fermenter and a bottling bucket) and a glass carboy- so i could've done 2-step fermentation, but decided to just do one this time.
Things i learned: i need a friggin wort chiller. it took like 4 hrs to get that crap cooled down. i mistakenly put the hot wort in the carboy with the cold water to try and cool it down, and it was way too big for the sink and the bathtub took forever to fill with cold water and cool it down. not enough ice. so i think before i do this again i will attempt to make/buy a wort chiller.

also: the temp still doesn't seem to want to cool down, even though i put it in the basement. it was at like 78 degrees this morning, and should be lower for best fermentation. i put it on the concrete floor with like 1 thin towel under it so hopefully it'll cool down today.

if it ends up tasting like crap, i won't be surprised. but i figured the first one would quite possibly end up that way. anyway, i'm excited! thanks for the urging!

 

[chupe666]

also, it was way bubbling away this morning after pitching the yeast last night, so it's doing something fermentation-esque.

 

[xfer]

better save up the sick time and do some brewing on the Official Board Sick-In day!

 

[avi]

huh, that's strange - I've never had that problem before myself. usually with the things I brew the wort gets cooled the right amount when I put it in the carboy with the water to get it up to 5 gallons. i wouldn't worry about the secondary fermentation for your first couple batches - all that's for really is clearer beer and the ability to make more batches at once. not really necessary.

the one thing you're gonna want for sure is the bottle clear attachment for the sink. SO MUCH easier since that's easily the most pain-in-the-ass part of brewing.

but yeah- have fun! good luck!

 

[chupe666]

i thought it was yesterday!
when is it? if it's in like 10 days, that might be a good bottling day.

 

[chupe666]

huh, that's strange - I've never had that problem before myself. usually with the things I brew the wort gets cooled the right amount when I put it in the carboy with the water to get it up to 5 gallons. i wouldn't worry about the secondary fermentation for your first couple batches - all that's for really is clearer beer and the ability to make more batches at once. not really necessary.

the one thing you're gonna want for sure is the bottle clear attachment for the sink. SO MUCH easier since that's easily the most pain-in-the-ass part of brewing.

but yeah- have fun! good luck!

maybe the liquid crystal thermometer you stick on the outside of the carboy i got is no good; do you use a different kind?

also- is that the jet spray attachment you put on the faucet you're talking about to clean the bottles with? i still have to clean my bottles & de-label them; have enough saved up tho.

 

[avi]

I use this thing that you screw into your faucet:

it only sprays when bottles are depressed on it. otherwise, I soak the bottles in the tub to clean labels, give em a pre-wash. the sink-thingy is mostly just for rinsing.

and my thermometer is one of those long ones that I dip directly into the fluid. I don't know anything about liquid crystal ones on the outside of carboys.

the thing I try to remember about beer brewing is that people have been doing it for hundreds of years without fancy technology. it's not an exact science and should hopefully be pretty forgiving for making mistakes. keep your gear clean and you'll be all good.

 

[xfer]

we haven't scheduled it! maybe sometime in september or october?

 

[chupe666]

update:

bottled the beer last sunday, which was okay but a bit messy. tried it after a couple days and it was actually carbonated well enough- though it'll get better i guess through next week.

the taste: awesome. i can't believe it turned out. really nice robust brown ale grains flavor, but with nice amount of hops bitterness and flavor. I DIG IT.
next time: India Pale Ale.

 

[avi]

sweeeeeet!
but yeah - bottling sucks and is always a messy pain in the ass in my experience. there's just no easy way to do it that I've found.

I've got a great-smelling belgium brewing right now. i sure hope nothing screws it up, cuz that'd be a crying shame.

also: saw the first pumpkin beer of the season. maybe time to resurrect the winter beer thread?

 

[chupe666]

man, when i was in chicago, the beer store said they would get the pumpkin beer in the following week. i almost cried. but that holiday lager with the orange/honey/spices was worth it.



i can't remember if i found any pumpkin down here last yr or not. gotta hunt for some.