First Attempt Tonight

[hoythunter12]

I just got the Brewers Best starter kit and their Summer Ale kit. My buddy and I are going to be making our first run at it tonight. Super excited about it. Any tips for a first timer?

 

[freisste]

Be clean, sanitize everything that will touch your brew after boiling. Do your best to be patient while cooling. It will slow down a lot at cooler temps, but you really want to be below 70 when you pitch, if possible. Then hold the temp as steady as possible (put your fermenter in a larger tub of water and add ice as necessary to keep the temps steady and low).

Also, relax. Beer is pretty resilient. Good luck.

 

[hoythunter12]

Thanks for that advice. I cleaned everything out of the box last night, and I plan on using the sanitizer right before we start.

For placing the carboy during fermentation I was planning on putting it down in my basement. I live in central PA so my basement is probably low 60's. Is this a suitable temperature for fermentation or should I try and keep it warmer?

 

[Doed]

Your basement temp sounds pretty good. You could check the yeast manufacturers website for their recommendations on fermentation temp, but mid 60's is a good safe starting point in your homebrewing adventure.

When your wort starts to boil, it will most likely foam up a lot, so be ready to stir like crazy, adjust the heat down, put a fan on it or use a spray bottle with water in it to help control the foaming. If you have the opportunity before hand, you can get some foam control Fermcap-S. It works amazing keeping the foam down during the boil. The foaming will happen again when you add your hops, just not as bad.

Good sanitation is the key like freisste mentioned.

Be patient, don't rush the beer. This is the hardest advice to follow.

 

[Mozart]

+1 on the advice on curbing boilovers and on sanitation.

I don't know your kit and if it has steeping grains, but if it does, one thing that cuts a good bit of time from my process is to steep in other than my main brew pot.

As an example, in my particular case, I have a 20 quart brew pot and typically boil 2.5 gallons of water, topping off in the fermenter.

If I use steeping grains, I'll place 2 quarts of water in a smaller pot or saucepan, steep the grains in that, while bringing 2 gallons of water to a boil in my main brew pot. When I'm done steeping, I add the steep water to the main brewpot and bring to a boil before adding the extract and hops as normal.

This process is a lot faster than steeping in the full volume of water, then trying to bring that full volume of water up to a boil afterward.

Cooling your wort as fast as you can is good too, but don't fret it if you don't! The only real difference it makes is in clarity of the finished product, not taste.

I happen to have a metal tub I use for a water bath. What has worked for me is cooling the kettle in the tub with just plain water first, pulling of the 'worst' of the heat. Then when the bath water gets good and warm, I'll dump it, refill it, and then add the ice and put my pot in the kettle again.

And don't worry if it doesn't go perfectly! I'm a new brewer myself, and have made mistakes, but still got very tasty beer in the end despite them.

Cheers!

 

[Tonyctitan]

Thanks for that advice. I cleaned everything out of the box last night, and I plan on using the sanitizer right before we start.

For placing the carboy during fermentation I was planning on putting it down in my basement. I live in central PA so my basement is probably low 60's. Is this a suitable temperature for fermentation or should I try and keep it warmer?

Hey good luck! I just bottled my first batch last night. Did you go to scotzin bros for your gear?

 

[hoythunter12]

Everything went pretty well last night. We really didn't run into any problems. I had our stove on high during boiling, however it didn't foam up too badly or even give the threat of boiling over.

Tonyctitan - Yeah I did go down to scotzin bros, I was actually there last Sunday for every thing. Seem pretty knowledgeable and helpful. Any other good places in the area?

 

[Tonyctitan]

I'm not sure where you're located exactly but the guys over at Lancaster homebrew are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I got my starter kit at scotzin bros. I'm also headed back there today because I got a gift certificate for Father's Day so I have to spend it immediately!

 

[hoythunter12]

I am around the Carlisle area. I would much rather have a home store rather than rely on the web to order supplies and kits. Lancaster is a little too far to travel on a regular basis for me.

 

[woozy]

I live in central PA so my basement is probably low 60's. Is this a suitable temperature for fermentation or should I try and keep it warmer?

*Warmer* is almost *never* the concern. That's a great environment for fermentation. But you might still want to keep it in water and ice packs. Thing is the brew itself ferments at 5 to 10 degrees higher than the ambient room temperature.

Temp control is the single one thing to control off flavors. But then I'm of the belief that one can only process so much information at one shouldn't try to make one's first beer perfect. A first beer should be fun and easy and pretty good. It doesn't need to be great.

Good luck.

 

[Tonyctitan]

I am around the Carlisle area. I would much rather have a home store rather than rely on the web to order supplies and kits. Lancaster is a little too far to travel on a regular basis for me.

Haven't really looked for any in Carlisle but remember I'm about as new to this as you are. I did stop a stotzins today and picked up a red ale kit.

 

[hoythunter12]

Fermenting has been going really well, as far as I know. Airlock was bubbling at a good rate of 1 - 2 bubbles per second. It started slowing up as of this morning. I'm really liking the color of this ale and hope it stays fairly opaque.

I posted an image, the foam on top is starting to look greenish, which I'm thinking is nothing but the hop pellets left over. I've seen recent pictures of infection from this site and it doesn't look anything like that. Any input on progress so far from someone with any experience? Thanks in advance.


ps- this site is awesome

 

[Doed]

That looks normal to me.