Well, today was my first brew day… Got all the gear, got it all set up and got a nice fire going out in “the barn”. Partial mash kit for an APA. Some grain, some dry, lotsa hops and a yeast bag that zipped to life to the point where I thought it would blow…
Note the cornies and CO2 on the side bench testing… holding pressure for 49+ hours now… 8)
Your’s truly checking on the wort cooler…
What’s better than a guy brewing? TWO guys brewing. My buddy Dave is a long time brewer who said it had been too long. Plus the wife doesn’t like him messing up the kitchen… Well, bring your bucket and come play at my house. I happened to have a second burner…
Well, they said aeration is to introduce O2 into the wort for the yeast… You want O2? I got O2… This baby be aerated with pure O2 for about 40 seconds… 8)
Bucket is sitting in my office which is about 65-68ºF… and now we wait…
Under $100 on eBay…It’s an apple butter pot, nice thick copper, probably close to 100 years old. A few hours to get the gunk out of it. Someone had used it as a planter… :o But in the and a half a jar of POR did the trick. I REALLY like it.
Well, two hours later…( I know, patience Grashopper) …no bubbles, the little “hat” still sitting down on the tube… so I tapped the airlock… thought it was going to hit the ceiling… we HAVE fermentation!!! I can see the water moving down, minutes away from the first beer fart… this is COOL! Meanwhile the barn still smells like a brewery… LOVE that smell.
after my very first brew, the folks at the LHBS asked me what I thought of the odor. I said it was wonderful. I think I passed a test The fragrances associated with brewing–from mashing through boiling to fermenting–are luscious, like breadbaking but more complex.
Well, it ain’t brew yet, but it’s happily bubbling away right next to me… 8) Even the cat is impressed… sniffing the fermenter with enthusiasm. Wonder if he would like… no, no, bad…bad. ;D
Now, the kit recipe doesn’t call for a secondary, but as I intend to become a “serious” brewer I am contemplating just that. Shall I rack to a carboy in a few days? I’m planning to keg, so logic says let it go 'till it’s done plus a day or so and then keg right away…
You’re at a very precarious point now…it’s going to be very difficult to stop starting at the bubbling airlock. You may find yourself sitting in front of it for hours watching it. I find it best to watch the airlock with a full beer in hand. An empty beer is the only thing that gets me away from starting at it.
No secondary is necessary and in fact it’s undesirable. Thinking on that has changed a lot in the last few years. If you’re an AHA member, you can read what John Palmer has to say about it in the Ask the Experts section. I almost always just leave mine in a bucket for 3-4 weeks, then keg.
The fragrances associated with brewing–from mashing through boiling to fermenting–are luscious, like breadbaking but more complex.