drhusker18
Well-Known Member
Glad to have that monkey off my chest.
First- the day started off great as our three kids (one who is teething) slept in till 830am!! Awwyeah. Then it got worse- some stomach bug hit our oldest and then the 3 year old woke up from her nap and got it spiking around 103F. I could have pooled my kids and boiled my wort!! Haha
I decided around 10 am that I would give it a shot. Have 3 extract kits from NB. I decided on a Hefeweizen based on the great comments from certain posters. So I smacked the yeast and let it rise. Got my gear down and wiped clean and organized. Took me a while to get started as my wife had a few errands and we were dealing with the sickos. Around 1pm I got my pot and flame going to clean since it is borrowed turkey frier from my dad. Boiled water to clean the pot but I realized the gas was flirting with empty- sorta. Plus it gave me a chance to check my wort chiller for leaks. Finally at 4pm I got the 5 gallons (new) started heating and following the directions. Things went smooth but I was worried about the gas still. I put the afterburners to it and torched the water to a boil and then added according to the recipe and general practices. It was a delayed extract type. Went well and after boil was reached the gas could be turned down to maintain. Things progressed well. I now know what it means to add DME fast- or the result if you don't! Added an extra hop addition of Galaxy at 0.5 oz @10' and 0.5oz @5'. Got thing sanitized or started the dilutions. Then cooling started and went very well and quick about 15-20min with my chiller. Great purchase. But I need longer tubes in it- quick fix this week.
Since I was using the liquid hefe yeast I was going to aerate between my primary and a sanitized bucket. Well......not sure if I over did it but man, foam foam FOAM. It filled the top of my primary bucket. So I was in freakout mode. I had to use my paddle (resanitized) to scrape out and see my liquid level. Once I had that I took an OG. Said 1.052 or 1.054. Couldn't get a good read with some bubbles in the tube. Then I noticed it was high for the kit- then noticed i forgot to correct boil off. Added the remainder and remeasured the OG and came to 1.050 at 69F. The kit said to achieve 1.049- so I guess that is close.
As a few have pointed out my wort seemed dark and I hope it lightens up. About as low as I can get is 68 for fermentation. Clean up went well and easier than I thought. Will keep a tube just in case for blow off.
About the only other thing is to find time for my next two. Caribou slobber and grapefruit pulpin. After that I will be exploring more options! Either all grain or more flavorful brews. The reason I added the galaxy was to impart some tropical and fruit flavors. I was going to add citra but saving that for my Ale Asylum Bedlam clone.
One thing I do know is that my wife won't let me do this inside- man it stinks a joint up.
Very excited to be taking up this hobby- should be a lot of fun and able to have some friends join in and meet some new folks. Sorry for the long post but I feel the first one is warranted.
Feel free to comment!
First- the day started off great as our three kids (one who is teething) slept in till 830am!! Awwyeah. Then it got worse- some stomach bug hit our oldest and then the 3 year old woke up from her nap and got it spiking around 103F. I could have pooled my kids and boiled my wort!! Haha
I decided around 10 am that I would give it a shot. Have 3 extract kits from NB. I decided on a Hefeweizen based on the great comments from certain posters. So I smacked the yeast and let it rise. Got my gear down and wiped clean and organized. Took me a while to get started as my wife had a few errands and we were dealing with the sickos. Around 1pm I got my pot and flame going to clean since it is borrowed turkey frier from my dad. Boiled water to clean the pot but I realized the gas was flirting with empty- sorta. Plus it gave me a chance to check my wort chiller for leaks. Finally at 4pm I got the 5 gallons (new) started heating and following the directions. Things went smooth but I was worried about the gas still. I put the afterburners to it and torched the water to a boil and then added according to the recipe and general practices. It was a delayed extract type. Went well and after boil was reached the gas could be turned down to maintain. Things progressed well. I now know what it means to add DME fast- or the result if you don't! Added an extra hop addition of Galaxy at 0.5 oz @10' and 0.5oz @5'. Got thing sanitized or started the dilutions. Then cooling started and went very well and quick about 15-20min with my chiller. Great purchase. But I need longer tubes in it- quick fix this week.
Since I was using the liquid hefe yeast I was going to aerate between my primary and a sanitized bucket. Well......not sure if I over did it but man, foam foam FOAM. It filled the top of my primary bucket. So I was in freakout mode. I had to use my paddle (resanitized) to scrape out and see my liquid level. Once I had that I took an OG. Said 1.052 or 1.054. Couldn't get a good read with some bubbles in the tube. Then I noticed it was high for the kit- then noticed i forgot to correct boil off. Added the remainder and remeasured the OG and came to 1.050 at 69F. The kit said to achieve 1.049- so I guess that is close.
As a few have pointed out my wort seemed dark and I hope it lightens up. About as low as I can get is 68 for fermentation. Clean up went well and easier than I thought. Will keep a tube just in case for blow off.
About the only other thing is to find time for my next two. Caribou slobber and grapefruit pulpin. After that I will be exploring more options! Either all grain or more flavorful brews. The reason I added the galaxy was to impart some tropical and fruit flavors. I was going to add citra but saving that for my Ale Asylum Bedlam clone.
One thing I do know is that my wife won't let me do this inside- man it stinks a joint up.
Very excited to be taking up this hobby- should be a lot of fun and able to have some friends join in and meet some new folks. Sorry for the long post but I feel the first one is warranted.
Feel free to comment!
