First brew EVER today

[celticdevildog]

I finally have everything I need (including the time) to brew my beer today. I'm oddly excited about it, to the point of dreaming about it last night. It's always good to dream about beer I think.

Anyways, I'll be brewing Northern Brewer's Irish Red Ale. I've got everything planned and ready to go but I have one question. Since I live in New Mexico and none of the houses here in Santa Fe (to include the one I'm living in) has AC. So for the most part my house is sitting at 86* during the day and can drop to 60* at night. I know that these swings in temperatures are not good for fermentation so I put some water in my fermenter and put it in my spare fridge at the warmest setting of the fridge. It's sitting right at 52*. Now looking at the fermentation temps for the Daystar Nottingham Ale yeast it says the fermentation range is 57*-70*. Will I be OK to leave it in the fridge since its the best place to keep a constant temp that's close to the fermentation range?

I'll keep everyone posted with how the brew day went. And in 5-6 weeks I'm looking forward to beer that I made (although I'll have to wait until October to drink it...

) However, I've got some great friends and family who are willing to be taste testers for me.

 

[kh54s10]

52 degrees is likely too cold. Try a "swamp cooler". Get a basin that is at least half as deep as your fermenter and will hold it with room for ice bottles. Put the fermenter in it and fill with cold water. If you are using a temperature strip on you fermenter do not submerge it. Add ice bottles and watch the temperature of the wort. Change out the bottles as necessary to control the temperature.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

if you keep it in the fridge @ 40f, your yeast will go dormant and the wort will never ferment. Make a swamp cooler, Go get one of those laundry type tubs from Wal-Mart, freeze up about a dozen water bottles. put your carboy in the tub, fill the tub up with cold water put in some frozen water bottles and keep you temp right around 66-68F

 

[unionrdr]

Red ale shouldn't take till October to be ready. & 52F is a little low for most ale yeasts. Even danstar. I notice several of the ale yeasts I've used get sluggish at the low end. Other's are more sensative to temp fluctuations & will drop out in a moments notice. Just use a swamp cooler & frozen water bottles to maintain a better temp.

 

[celticdevildog]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll look for something else to keep it within temperatures. I'm just worried about keeping it consistent with such a giant swing in temps between day time and night time around here. I have an actual swamp cooler. I wonder if my husband would notice if it went missing for a few weeks!!

unionrdr: You're right the Red Ale wont take until October to be ready. It should be ready by mid-end of July, however, I have to pop out a kid before I drink any...hense *I* have to wait until October to taste it.

 

[ncbrewer]

I use a laundry type tub, but for your extra warm room temperature you might be better off using a large cooler so the insulation will prevent it from warming up too fast. A wet towel or tee shirt over the top of the fermenter and hanging into the bath water helps, too. The towel will wick up water, and evaporation helps with the cooling.

 

[unionrdr]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll look for something else to keep it within temperatures. I'm just worried about keeping it consistent with such a giant swing in temps between day time and night time around here. I have an actual swamp cooler. I wonder if my husband would notice if it went missing for a few weeks!!

unionrdr: You're right the Red Ale wont take until October to be ready. It should be ready by mid-end of July, however, I have to pop out a kid before I drink any...hense *I* have to wait until October to taste it.

Ah,I see. Yep,that'll ddef put the breaks on sampling. After the beer has carbed & conditioned,in your case,find a cool basement spot or the like to store it till then. That'll slow down the aging process a little.

 

[celticdevildog]

Everything went smoothly. About 3.5 hours from when I started I have wort in the fermenter and everything is cleaned up. Not bad for a first run. I'll post some pics when I get everything put away. I have it sitting in a closet in a "cool" part of the house. I'm going to sneak my swamp cooler in there when my husband isn't looking.

That was fun. Now the waiting begins...come on happy yeast, do your thing.

 

[Yooper]

Everything went smoothly. About 3.5 hours from when I started I have wort in the fermenter and everything is cleaned up. Not bad for a first run. I'll post some pics when I get everything put away. I have it sitting in a closet in a "cool" part of the house. I'm going to sneak my swamp cooler in there when my husband isn't looking.

That was fun. Now the waiting begins...come on happy yeast, do your thing.

How fun! I'd love to see the photos.

Try your best to keep the fermentation temperature under 68 degrees, as nottingham gets "weird" at above 70 degrees. Frozen water bottles in a water bath in a cooler really helps, as does a towel draped over the fermenter dipped in water with a fan blowing on it. Good luck!

 

[celticdevildog]

As promised here are some pics from the day.

The beginning. Everything has been cleaned and ready for use.

The Ingredients

Steeping.

First hop add.

The aftermath.

The prize.

I'll know more tomorrow if my swamp cooler brought the temps of the fermenter down. It is by far now the coolest (in more ways than one) room in the house.

 

[Yooper]

Great pictures!!!!!!! Thanks. I love looking at pictures of brews and other people's kitchens. Yours is much, well, nicer, than mine.

 

[zima_182]

Awesome, congrats on the inaugural brew!

 

[celticdevildog]

Great pictures!!!!!!! Thanks. I love looking at pictures of brews and other people's kitchens. Yours is much, well, nicer, than mine.

Thanks to old New Mexico style this is a second kitchen in our house. Which as of right now only has brewing stuff in it. This is the casita kitchen. Think of it as an in law suite.

Needless to say my main kitchen doesn't get pictures taken of it very often (or ever).

 

[celticdevildog]

After 24 hours it's looking good. Temps are still high but I'm working on it. I've got a true blue swamp cooler in that closet now that is working to lower the temps in the room. I'll let it go for another 24 hours before I try the ice/water stuff with the swamp cooler.