Hey all!
First time poster, been reading these forums like a madman for the past 6 weeks. Brief background: my wife got me a one-gallon starter kit from Brooklyn Brew for Christmas. I brewed the Everyday IPA in January with no knowledge other than what was on their website. Fast forward five weeks and it was okay... but pretty yeasty taste. I stuck em in the fridge for an extra week, and they turned out not bad after that. 6.5/10.
Commence much reading, listening of podcasts, buying of equipment, and daydreaming at work. I've now got a Chocolate Maple Porter (AG, 1 Gal) in bottles, Caribou Slobber (Extract, 1 Gal) in primary to be bottled this Tuesday, Black IPA (Extract, 1 Gal) in primary, and this past Monday I brewed a Coffee Brown Ale (AG, BIAB, 2 Gal). So, I'm doing lots of brewing with my newfound knowledge, but haven't yet actually had the end result.
So, to the point of my post: I'm worried about the Coffee Brown Ale. Yes, I know. Relax. Still. I need to vent and hear some feedback as to how screwed it might be.
First off, the mash went great. Love the BIAB. No issues there.
However, here's a litany of what I'm stressing over:
-- This recipe came from Brooklyn Brew's Chestnut Brown Ale recipe kit. I went to my (amazing) LHBS to double the recipe. However, the hops I got from the LHBS smelled funky and were much darker in color than the vacuum-sealed pack from Brooklyn Brew. I used them anyway... which was dumb, because I probably could have thrown in some Amarillo hops I had, instead. So, spoiled hops...?
-- I have an electric stove with a glass top range. As such, I couldn't get my wort to a rolling boil without keeping the lid mostly on. I vented about an inch. DMS?
-- I don't recall seeing a hot break.
-- I couldn't take an OG reading... I have a turkey baster for sampling, and it couldn't reach down far enough into my 3 gallon carboy once I racked to it. I also didn't think to take a gravity reading after the mash.
-- I fear I may have underpitched. I used the Mr. Malty calculator, which told me to use 40% of an 11.5 gram packet. I did so, rehydrating. Later on, it occurred to me that with all my one gallon batches, I'd always done 50% of a packet of yeast, so why was I doing less for a two-gallon batch?! Blow-off activity was very active for 24 hours, but the krausen never got higher than 1/2 an inch. After the bubbles settled down, the foam and krausen disappeared completely. I got nervous the next morning and threw in about 3 grams of dry Safale-04 I had lying around (36 hours after my original pitch). I aerated a little and waited. NOTHING. I may as well have thrown in dirt. No further activity.
-- This was a brand new 3 gallon carboy, and stupidly I didn't mark measurements on the side, so I had no idea if I needed to top off or not. I did, with pre-boiled and cooled filtered water, about 1.5 quarts. But I really have no idea how much beer I have in there, which will be an issue when I bottle (priming sugar measurements).
-- I whirlpooled, but then moved the kettle right before I racked to the carboy so I could have it on a slightly lower surface. I knew this was a no-no, but it was necessary. I should have whirlpooled again, but it was really late, and my wife wasn't feeling well, so I was feeling pretty guilty by then and just wanted to clean up. So, lots of sediment got kicked up and got into the carboy. Also, I can't cold crash this time around because it's too big for our fridge.
Ok, I think that's it. Enough negativity. I just want to thank people in advance for reading so long. And I also want to express that even though I had issues with this batch, I absolutely cannot wait for the next time I brew!
Ilan
First time poster, been reading these forums like a madman for the past 6 weeks. Brief background: my wife got me a one-gallon starter kit from Brooklyn Brew for Christmas. I brewed the Everyday IPA in January with no knowledge other than what was on their website. Fast forward five weeks and it was okay... but pretty yeasty taste. I stuck em in the fridge for an extra week, and they turned out not bad after that. 6.5/10.
Commence much reading, listening of podcasts, buying of equipment, and daydreaming at work. I've now got a Chocolate Maple Porter (AG, 1 Gal) in bottles, Caribou Slobber (Extract, 1 Gal) in primary to be bottled this Tuesday, Black IPA (Extract, 1 Gal) in primary, and this past Monday I brewed a Coffee Brown Ale (AG, BIAB, 2 Gal). So, I'm doing lots of brewing with my newfound knowledge, but haven't yet actually had the end result.
So, to the point of my post: I'm worried about the Coffee Brown Ale. Yes, I know. Relax. Still. I need to vent and hear some feedback as to how screwed it might be.
First off, the mash went great. Love the BIAB. No issues there.
However, here's a litany of what I'm stressing over:
-- This recipe came from Brooklyn Brew's Chestnut Brown Ale recipe kit. I went to my (amazing) LHBS to double the recipe. However, the hops I got from the LHBS smelled funky and were much darker in color than the vacuum-sealed pack from Brooklyn Brew. I used them anyway... which was dumb, because I probably could have thrown in some Amarillo hops I had, instead. So, spoiled hops...?
-- I have an electric stove with a glass top range. As such, I couldn't get my wort to a rolling boil without keeping the lid mostly on. I vented about an inch. DMS?
-- I don't recall seeing a hot break.
-- I couldn't take an OG reading... I have a turkey baster for sampling, and it couldn't reach down far enough into my 3 gallon carboy once I racked to it. I also didn't think to take a gravity reading after the mash.
-- I fear I may have underpitched. I used the Mr. Malty calculator, which told me to use 40% of an 11.5 gram packet. I did so, rehydrating. Later on, it occurred to me that with all my one gallon batches, I'd always done 50% of a packet of yeast, so why was I doing less for a two-gallon batch?! Blow-off activity was very active for 24 hours, but the krausen never got higher than 1/2 an inch. After the bubbles settled down, the foam and krausen disappeared completely. I got nervous the next morning and threw in about 3 grams of dry Safale-04 I had lying around (36 hours after my original pitch). I aerated a little and waited. NOTHING. I may as well have thrown in dirt. No further activity.
-- This was a brand new 3 gallon carboy, and stupidly I didn't mark measurements on the side, so I had no idea if I needed to top off or not. I did, with pre-boiled and cooled filtered water, about 1.5 quarts. But I really have no idea how much beer I have in there, which will be an issue when I bottle (priming sugar measurements).
-- I whirlpooled, but then moved the kettle right before I racked to the carboy so I could have it on a slightly lower surface. I knew this was a no-no, but it was necessary. I should have whirlpooled again, but it was really late, and my wife wasn't feeling well, so I was feeling pretty guilty by then and just wanted to clean up. So, lots of sediment got kicked up and got into the carboy. Also, I can't cold crash this time around because it's too big for our fridge.
Ok, I think that's it. Enough negativity. I just want to thank people in advance for reading so long. And I also want to express that even though I had issues with this batch, I absolutely cannot wait for the next time I brew!
Ilan