lostmind
Well-Known Member
Hey all,
So I have been reading (a ton) about homebrewing the past month or more. I don't quite know why, as I am not a huge beer drinker (more of a wine guy, I guess) but for some reason making your own beer is very appealing.
I think what really caught me was the all grain stovetop "brew in a bag" guide on this site. That just seems like... starting at ground zero, absolute control over what goes into your beer... and the sheer simplicity of it - no giant crazy contraptions required.
So I found the only real homebrew supply store in Vancouver here. I waltz in and start asking questions of the owner (beermaking.ca) and he gets pretty upset that I've read a guide on the internet and think I can go and make my own all grain beer. Not wanting to upset the guy, as he is pretty much the only homebrew store in town, but also because he seems like a decent sort of guy - I let him talk me into doing a brown ale extract brew with a small bag of freshly ground grains, two bags of hops, 8lbs of pale malt in a giant bucket and a packet of dry yeast. Plus I bought the homebrew starter kit with the plastic primary fermentor, 5gallon carboy, misc supplies.
Anyways, I brewed that batch and it was quite fun. Wort tasting was fun (I sanitised 4 different spoons for tasting!), the whole process was pretty neat and I enjoyed it. I made a couple of mistakes I think:
I rehydrated the yeast in water that was a bit too cold (20-25c). So it wasn't super active (but it was bubbling after I added a few tbsp's of wort).
I overcooled? the wort by filling the sink with cold water and ice cubes. I brought it down to 18-19c in 15 mins by stirring the wort with a sanitised spoon and making 4 different ice baths...
I topped up the wort in the primary fermentor with water that was also too cold (room temp, about 17-18c) using previously boiled water.
I added (pitched?) the yeast and put the bucket in my basement bathroom, which is only 14c. The next morning I woke up, saw no activity in the airlock and moved the primary fermentor upstairs and within hours it was bubbling like mad.
So I hope this still tastes decent but we'll see. Great learning experience regardless.
I have to get bottles still and I need to move the beer to the carboy in a couple days... But after that...
What do I do? Brew more extract beer? Try all grain in a bag? What's the consensus of the folks on the forum here? Am I nuts to try and follow this guide?:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/
Thanks for your input!
So I have been reading (a ton) about homebrewing the past month or more. I don't quite know why, as I am not a huge beer drinker (more of a wine guy, I guess) but for some reason making your own beer is very appealing.
I think what really caught me was the all grain stovetop "brew in a bag" guide on this site. That just seems like... starting at ground zero, absolute control over what goes into your beer... and the sheer simplicity of it - no giant crazy contraptions required.
So I found the only real homebrew supply store in Vancouver here. I waltz in and start asking questions of the owner (beermaking.ca) and he gets pretty upset that I've read a guide on the internet and think I can go and make my own all grain beer. Not wanting to upset the guy, as he is pretty much the only homebrew store in town, but also because he seems like a decent sort of guy - I let him talk me into doing a brown ale extract brew with a small bag of freshly ground grains, two bags of hops, 8lbs of pale malt in a giant bucket and a packet of dry yeast. Plus I bought the homebrew starter kit with the plastic primary fermentor, 5gallon carboy, misc supplies.
Anyways, I brewed that batch and it was quite fun. Wort tasting was fun (I sanitised 4 different spoons for tasting!), the whole process was pretty neat and I enjoyed it. I made a couple of mistakes I think:
I rehydrated the yeast in water that was a bit too cold (20-25c). So it wasn't super active (but it was bubbling after I added a few tbsp's of wort).
I overcooled? the wort by filling the sink with cold water and ice cubes. I brought it down to 18-19c in 15 mins by stirring the wort with a sanitised spoon and making 4 different ice baths...
I topped up the wort in the primary fermentor with water that was also too cold (room temp, about 17-18c) using previously boiled water.
I added (pitched?) the yeast and put the bucket in my basement bathroom, which is only 14c. The next morning I woke up, saw no activity in the airlock and moved the primary fermentor upstairs and within hours it was bubbling like mad.
So I hope this still tastes decent but we'll see. Great learning experience regardless.
I have to get bottles still and I need to move the beer to the carboy in a couple days... But after that...
What do I do? Brew more extract beer? Try all grain in a bag? What's the consensus of the folks on the forum here? Am I nuts to try and follow this guide?:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/
Thanks for your input!