Elmer's first boil

[Elmer]

Today was my first boil a hoppy pale ale, 6% ABV (est) 44 IBU
This was an extract kit put together by my LHBS
I was nervous going into this as I have never attempts anything like this, but my LHBS guy in Rentler said it best when he informed me " it is just like making soup".
Steeping the grains was easy, the liquid malt was sticky.
The hops and pellets gave it a good smell.
The rest of the family hates the smell.
I boiled for an hour addin. Hops at 15 minute increments. The only issue I had was my box did not have peat moss, which the receipe called for. But I did not want to hold off my boil for lack of 1/4 tsp. the moss aids clarity not taste from what I could find out.

After an hour boil I placed in an ice bath in the sink and let it drop to 80degree F, than racked to bucket.
Added 3 gallon of water. I have been waiting for the wort to drop to 78 so I can add yeast.
Yeast will be added dry as per directions.
SG was 1.055 , so ABV will be adjusted.
Plan is 2-3 weeks in primary (once it hits Sg of 1.010)
2-3 weeks in bottle
Drink & repeat

 

[jamesjr]

Awesome let us kno how it turns out. Im about to take the plunge and make my first beer in a few weeks. Quick question how much original water did u start your boil with?

 

[Elmer]

I boiled with 2 gallons. Added 3 after the wort cooled and I transferred to primary

I should also add that I did not have Irish Moss, I originally said peat moss.

Also used salagal 05 ale yeast

For a pale ale the wort was much darker than I had anticipated.

Lastly after pulling my thermometer from the must I wiped with my fingered and took a taste. Unfermented beer tastes lousy!

 

[cmason1957]

Just a note and any more experienced beer makers can tell me I am wrong. I have always heard it is better to just pour the wort into the primary bucket rather than rack it. You want some extra added oxygen mixed in at that point. It's what I do anyway abs haven't had a problem in about 10 beers I have made. I do a five gallon boil, since my wife found a huge or at the local Goodwill.

 

[BernardSmith]

Looking good, Elmer.
I am not an experienced brewer but I strongly agree with cmason, Elmer. You have been boiling water for what? about 60 minutes so most of the oxygen in the water has been boiled off. You want to pour the wort from a height into the fermenter to help aerate it. Of course , if the volume is not large and you have the strength you can aerate the wort in the fermenter by rocking or shaking the vessel...
Three other points:
1. boiling extract darkens the sugars (think of bread when you add heat). It is called a Maillard reaction. The longer you boil an extract and the less water you boil it in the darker will be the result.
2. You say that you intend to rack the beer once the gravity hits 1.010. You realize that that is likely to be your final gravity? Grains unlike fruit have lots of unfermentable sugars and while I have no idea of the likely final gravity (FG) 1.010 does sound like that is not unreasonable. So, I guess my question is whether you have a good reason to rack the beer at that point or whether that was the target FG and so you aim to bottle the beer after it has been at 1.010 for a week or two.
Irish Moss: Personally , I have never used any. It is a clarifier. I think that if you ferment at cooler rather than higher temperatures (but I also rack after one week from my fermenter into a glass carboy) that my beers seem to clear OK without any fining agents. Whirlfloc (sp?) is another fining agent that is added to the boil (also never used)

 

[Elmer]

Looking good, Elmer.
I am not an experienced brewer but I strongly agree with cmason, Elmer. You have been boiling water for what? about 60 minutes so most of the oxygen in the water has been boiled off. You want to pour the wort from a height into the fermenter to help aerate it. Of course , if the volume is not large and you have the strength you can aerate the wort in the fermenter by rocking or shaking the vessel...
Three other points:
1. boiling extract darkens the sugars (think of bread when you add heat). It is called a Maillard reaction. The longer you boil an extract and the less water you boil it in the darker will be the result.
2. You say that you intend to rack the beer once the gravity hits 1.010. You realize that that is likely to be your final gravity? Grains unlike fruit have lots of unfermentable sugars and while I have no idea of the likely final gravity (FG) 1.010 does sound like that is not unreasonable. So, I guess my question is whether you have a good reason to rack the beer at that point or whether that was the target FG and so you aim to bottle the beer after it has been at 1.010 for a week or two.
Irish Moss: Personally , I have never used any. It is a clarifier. I think that if you ferment at cooler rather than higher temperatures (but I also rack after one week from my fermenter into a glass carboy) that my beers seem to clear OK without any fining agents. Whirlfloc (sp?) is another fining agent that is added to the boil (also never used)

Target FG is 1.010 or 1.012. I then intend to rack to a carboy and add priming sugar. to avoid too much CO2, I have adapted my AIO to hose to act as a bottling wand, so I can fill a bottle from the bottom up.

When I put the wort in the bucket I racked from the sink to the bucket with an auto siphon and large length of tube.
I splashed the wort into the bucket.

 

[BernardSmith]

Never tried to use a vacuum to bottle beer but Steve may know whether the CO2 already in the beer may cause a great deal of foam in each bottle which may slow down your bottling. I use a siphon and a bottling wand (when you press down on the wand at the bottom of the bottle the valve opens and allows the beer (or wine) to flow into the bottle. You raise the wand and the valve closes. The amount of liquid displaced by the wand inside the bottle is perfect for the amount of headroom you want between the beer and the cap).

 

[Elmer]

Never tried to use a vacuum to bottle beer but Steve may know whether the CO2 already in the beer may cause a great deal of foam in each bottle which may slow down your bottling. I use a siphon and a bottling wand (when you press down on the wand at the bottom of the bottle the valve opens and allows the beer (or wine) to flow into the bottle. You raise the wand and the valve closes. The amount of liquid displaced by the wand inside the bottle is perfect for the amount of headroom you want between the beer and the cap).

I used to use a bottling wand and bucket but both had fallen into disrepair since my purchase of the AIO.
However I did recently buy a new bottling wand for bottling day, just in case.

It is my understanding that there is 2 issues with the AIO when bottling beer.
1-vacuuming up the co2
2-splash racking when filling the bottles.

1-I guess the fix is as follows. The AIO has a hole in the vacuum tube which will cut down on the vacuum from sucking out too much co2 when bottling.
2- i Cut a length of 3/8 hose which attaches to the bottling adapter, this will help displace the same amount of liquid as a wand when bottling and enable me to bottle from the bottom up and not splash rack.

beer making is going to be a big learning experience for me, or a big failure. We will see how it goes!

 

[BernardSmith]

I don't think "failure" is on the horizon... Like wine, some beers are going to be more successful and some less... but an outright failure is unlikely... And even if you try to create your own recipes and even if what happens is that your beers are accidentally sour (lambic type bacteria rather than the more typical yeasts) and even if in the end you really would rather forget this or that batch, it's only a failure if you fail to understand what happened and so progress. The worst batch I have made to date was one that is called fraoch - it doesn't use hops but uses heather. Turns out I prefer my beers more bitter. Next time I make a fraoch I will simply add some bittering hops.

I think the secret to brewing is keep it simple - don't add ingredients for the sake of making it more complex. What you get is not complexity but a noise. There's a difference. IMO, truly limited experience, beer is really a base malt to which you add some additional flavor and aroma (grains and/or herbs).. Everything else is bells and whistles , too many bells and too many whistles all clanging and tweeting at the same time and you have noise and not a sound that delights. The other secrets are the same as in wine making - cleanliness and patience. If your brewing is simple, your process clean (good sanitization) and if you have the needed patience your experience will be really enjoyable... and successful.

 

[olusteebus]

I vacuum bottled a stout recently. I don't really know if it impacted the carbonation or not. I did not have significant bubbles at all.

 

[cooldood]

I usually brew 50- gallons of beer a year.
I would never rack into Primary. Dump it and try to make foam to add oxygen.
If yoiu dont do a full boil do same thing with the water you are adding. I will use a spray nozzle from my tap. (well water).
Extracts are always dark. They have already been boiled so really only need to be sanitized.
Try late additions method
only add 20% of extract at beginning of boil then add the rest at flame out. You will get a much lighter wort.

 

[Elmer]

My bucket airlock is bubbling away like crazy.
Fermentation is under way!

 

[BernardSmith]

Looks like the eagle has taken off...

 

[jswordy]

Great thread, Elmer! Good luck to you.

 

[petey_c]

Elmer, Good luck.
"Try late additions method"
Excellent point. It will reduce the tendency for darker beers.
Once the wort has cooled down, pouring from high is a good idea. The yeast will benefit from the added O2. I also top with water from about three feet. I've never vac bottled beer. I've only used the bottling wand. So, no input here.
"...beer is really a base malt to which you add some additional flavor and aroma (grains and/or herbs).. Everything else is bells and whistles , too many bells and too many whistles all clanging and tweeting at the same time and you have noise and not a sound that delights. The other secrets are the same as in wine making - cleanliness and patience. If your brewing is simple, your process clean (good sanitization) and if you have the needed patience your experience will be really enjoyable... and successful." Reinheitsgebot (Excellent points BS. Hmm that doesn't sound right...)
Once you're at the point of bottling, you want to keep exposure to O2 to a minimum. My bottling bucket (okay, all of my fermenters) has a spigot. I boil two cups of water and add about 5 oz. of priming sugar for 5 gallons. Let that cool and pour into the bottling bucket. Rack the beer onto that, using a length of food grade hose to minimize splashing and disperse the sugar. Then bottle.

 

[Elmer]

Thanks for info.
I have a feeling I am over thinking alot of this, especially since I have a week or 2 between boil, ferment and bottling.

However I continuously see people post that you cook up the priming sugar and rack the beer on top of it.
Is there any reason why I could not rack the beer add the priming sugar and then gently stir to mix.

Is there an added benefits to racking it ontop of the sugar as opposed to adding after.
Or am I over thinking once again?

 

[BernardSmith]

I think that you are asking a really good question, Elmer. Here's why - and I don't pretend to have the "right" answer - the density of the priming sugar is likely to be significantly more dense than the beer. That means if you add the sugar water for priming the liquid should slower or faster sink towards the bottom and that suggests (at least to me ) that simply by adding it you have already begun to mix it through the beer (at least from top to bottom). However, if you rack the beer onto the priming liquid then you have the opportunity (more or less) of keeping the tip of your racking hose under liquid and so you are exposing the beer to the least amount of air possible.
I tend to rack the beer onto the sugar BUT on one occasion I made the simple syrup I was to add, went back to the bottles I had sanitized and checked to make sure that there was nothing more dripping from those bottles and in the time it took for me to go through a dozen or so bottles I had forgotten (momentarily) that the liquid in the bottling bucket was syrup and I poured it out wondering how so much sanitizer had collected in the bucket! So, if you are not paying 100 percent attention to what you are doing it may be better to add the sugar to your beer rather than the beer to your sugar.. But others with far more knowledge and far more experience may have a very different take on this.

 

[cmason1957]

I always pour the sugar water into the bottom of the bucket I am going to rack into and make sure that the hose is down there as well. Don't want any extra water at this time. Once racked, I give it a very gentle, but through stir.

I haven't (yet) gotten confused about what was in the bottom of my bottling bucket, but I don't pour the sugar into there, until I am just about ready to start the siphon of the racking. It is just my way. I try to be a measure twice, cut once type of guy.

 

[Elmer]

Day 6 and my airlock has slowed down considerably.
I intend to wait until I hit the 2 week Mark than take an Sg reading.
If it is at the FG I will rack, prime and bottle.

However more experienced Brewers have advised to leave the must sitting for an extra week before bottling.
I guess there is a 2-2 schedule Brewers adhere to, while some go 3-3
(Primary-bottle)

 

[jswordy]

Sounds like all is well. Don't forget to take pix of your beer if you can!

Mine is very clear in the bottles. Waiting til 1/13 or so to crack one open and see how well it carbed.