As way of introduction, my friend presented me with a home brew kit; kettle, carboys, hoses, cleaning and sanitizing solutions, bottles etc (I know, a great friend indeed!).
So, knowing it's coming, I go ahead and order some Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer. Unfortunately, I order on a Friday evening, so it won't arrive until the following Thursday (I ordered extra ice packs, but it wasn't even cool by the time it got here; no more ordering the ingredient kit on a Friday! Well, Monday arrives and so do six boxes of equipment. I do an inventory and find that the Kettle Ball Valve isn't there...kind of hard to boil with a hole 2 inches from the bottom of the kettle. So, I call the vendor and they say, "No problem. We'll get one out to you. Should arrive on Friday." Okay, well, the ingredients don't get here until Thursday, so I'm cool.
Friday gets here and I call the vendor. He says "It shows 'out for delivery'." Great! I can brew this weekend! So, I'm jumping up and running to the door every time I hear a noise...like a kid on Christmas Eve LOL.
But, the valve never arrived...sad face...
Called the vendor the next day and they said, "Oops, we sent it to your friend (in Virginia...I live in Florida). We'll send you another. It should be there next Thursday." Christmas was just delayed a week...GAHHHHH!!!
I finally received the valve last week and decided to see how long my 20 year old electric stove would take to bring 5 gallons to a boil...it never did. Patience, Grasshopper.
Yesterday, I tried my gas grill; flat top, 3 burners. It seemed to do the job, until I took the top off the kettle. The temp dropped to below boiling and wouldn't come back up. And there was no way I was going to attempt a covered wort boil. So, I borrowed my friend's turkey fryer base.
Oh yeah, along with timing getting water up to a boil, I also timed how long it took to bring it down to 70 degrees. Tap water, no. After an hour running water I pay for through the chiller, it was only at 98 degrees...too hot. I have a well for the sprinkler system, so maybe that's cooler. It was. Got the wort down to almost the perfect temp.
So, this morning the dog gets me up to go out. I'm looking around and wonder why the driveway is all wet? OH CRAP!!! I had turned the water off to the sprinklers to get it to come out the hose. When I was done experimenting yesterday, I turned off the hose also. Too bad I didn't turn off the sprinkler timer. It came on last night, and with nowhere to go, the water pressure popped a line at the pump...IN THE GARAGE!!
I spent the next hour drying out the garage.
Then, about 1030, I realize I haven't smacked my smack packs and we have to be somewhere at 3:00. GAHHHH!!!
But patience is definitely a virtue. I smacked my smack packs and proceeded to boiled my wort. Now I'm sitting here, waiting on my wort to hit the cooling temp. I still have a couple hours and the smack packs are plumping right up. I should be golden
What a way to start my home brewing career.
Anyway... Happy Father's Day!
Cheers!
So, knowing it's coming, I go ahead and order some Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer. Unfortunately, I order on a Friday evening, so it won't arrive until the following Thursday (I ordered extra ice packs, but it wasn't even cool by the time it got here; no more ordering the ingredient kit on a Friday! Well, Monday arrives and so do six boxes of equipment. I do an inventory and find that the Kettle Ball Valve isn't there...kind of hard to boil with a hole 2 inches from the bottom of the kettle. So, I call the vendor and they say, "No problem. We'll get one out to you. Should arrive on Friday." Okay, well, the ingredients don't get here until Thursday, so I'm cool.
Friday gets here and I call the vendor. He says "It shows 'out for delivery'." Great! I can brew this weekend! So, I'm jumping up and running to the door every time I hear a noise...like a kid on Christmas Eve LOL.
But, the valve never arrived...sad face...
Called the vendor the next day and they said, "Oops, we sent it to your friend (in Virginia...I live in Florida). We'll send you another. It should be there next Thursday." Christmas was just delayed a week...GAHHHHH!!!
I finally received the valve last week and decided to see how long my 20 year old electric stove would take to bring 5 gallons to a boil...it never did. Patience, Grasshopper.
Yesterday, I tried my gas grill; flat top, 3 burners. It seemed to do the job, until I took the top off the kettle. The temp dropped to below boiling and wouldn't come back up. And there was no way I was going to attempt a covered wort boil. So, I borrowed my friend's turkey fryer base.
Oh yeah, along with timing getting water up to a boil, I also timed how long it took to bring it down to 70 degrees. Tap water, no. After an hour running water I pay for through the chiller, it was only at 98 degrees...too hot. I have a well for the sprinkler system, so maybe that's cooler. It was. Got the wort down to almost the perfect temp.
So, this morning the dog gets me up to go out. I'm looking around and wonder why the driveway is all wet? OH CRAP!!! I had turned the water off to the sprinklers to get it to come out the hose. When I was done experimenting yesterday, I turned off the hose also. Too bad I didn't turn off the sprinkler timer. It came on last night, and with nowhere to go, the water pressure popped a line at the pump...IN THE GARAGE!!
I spent the next hour drying out the garage.
Then, about 1030, I realize I haven't smacked my smack packs and we have to be somewhere at 3:00. GAHHHH!!!
But patience is definitely a virtue. I smacked my smack packs and proceeded to boiled my wort. Now I'm sitting here, waiting on my wort to hit the cooling temp. I still have a couple hours and the smack packs are plumping right up. I should be golden
What a way to start my home brewing career.
Anyway... Happy Father's Day!
Cheers!
