I brewed my first PM this past weekend. Surly Bender kit from Northern Brewer. My 3 rd brew day under my belt (so to speak).
My first brew was the Brewers Best Black Lager extract kit. Drinking that now, has a funny after taste at the back end, but still heady and tasty. I am aware of some mistakes I made on that brew. It's fairly cloudy, maybe because I didn't strain the wort when I dumped into the fermenter, or too short in the fermenter (11 days). OG (1.048) low end of predicted range, FG (1.015) is high end.
My second brew was the BB American Amber extract kit. I corrected my earlier mistakes. Bottled after 3 weeks in primary. It's much clearer than my first brew. OG (1.050), FG (1.012).
For my 3 rd brew, I went to a PM because it can be done with the gear I have. The 5.5 lbs of grain in the kit made the house smell like a grainery. The smell of freshness explains how AG brewing can lead to better beer.
I urge other beginners like me to consider trying this. The only additional gear purchase, was the 5 gal paint strainer bags from home depot ($6). The kit cost more because it shipped cross-country to Arizona. My LHBS could probably set up an ingredient bill for less. It's more complicated and time comsuming, but worth it. About 6 hrs elapsed time from start to clean up.
For the mash process, I preheated my Coleman cooler and filled it with about 4 gals of 154 degree water and set my mash pot (154 degrees also) into the water and closed the lid. After 60 min. the mash temp was 152.The sparge went ok, except the sparge water was probably 160 by the time I poured the last cup.
I went with a 4 gal boil in my 20 qt pot. The only problem, I don't have enough BTU's using my outdoor kitchen (double burners, 12k btu each). It took about 30 min to boil from mash out.
I have some questions:
First wort hop addition (.25 oz) went in right away, 30 min before the boil started. Is that significant to alter the IBU's ? The sample tasted hoppy.
Also, the recipe used 3.5 oz hops. My hop sock was a compacted ball when I took out to drain about 5 min before flame out. Is that normal or should I reconsider using a hop sock and strain some other way ?
My OG = 1.061.
Thanks all, Happy brewing !
My first brew was the Brewers Best Black Lager extract kit. Drinking that now, has a funny after taste at the back end, but still heady and tasty. I am aware of some mistakes I made on that brew. It's fairly cloudy, maybe because I didn't strain the wort when I dumped into the fermenter, or too short in the fermenter (11 days). OG (1.048) low end of predicted range, FG (1.015) is high end.
My second brew was the BB American Amber extract kit. I corrected my earlier mistakes. Bottled after 3 weeks in primary. It's much clearer than my first brew. OG (1.050), FG (1.012).
For my 3 rd brew, I went to a PM because it can be done with the gear I have. The 5.5 lbs of grain in the kit made the house smell like a grainery. The smell of freshness explains how AG brewing can lead to better beer.
I urge other beginners like me to consider trying this. The only additional gear purchase, was the 5 gal paint strainer bags from home depot ($6). The kit cost more because it shipped cross-country to Arizona. My LHBS could probably set up an ingredient bill for less. It's more complicated and time comsuming, but worth it. About 6 hrs elapsed time from start to clean up.
For the mash process, I preheated my Coleman cooler and filled it with about 4 gals of 154 degree water and set my mash pot (154 degrees also) into the water and closed the lid. After 60 min. the mash temp was 152.The sparge went ok, except the sparge water was probably 160 by the time I poured the last cup.
I went with a 4 gal boil in my 20 qt pot. The only problem, I don't have enough BTU's using my outdoor kitchen (double burners, 12k btu each). It took about 30 min to boil from mash out.
I have some questions:
First wort hop addition (.25 oz) went in right away, 30 min before the boil started. Is that significant to alter the IBU's ? The sample tasted hoppy.
Also, the recipe used 3.5 oz hops. My hop sock was a compacted ball when I took out to drain about 5 min before flame out. Is that normal or should I reconsider using a hop sock and strain some other way ?
My OG = 1.061.
Thanks all, Happy brewing !
