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1

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: First brew

« on: April 20, 2012, 07:20:05 PM »

Thanks for the kind words. Really appreciate it. I have drank several so far and they taste great....far better then I expected....I really am looking forward to my next batch, but I am moving to Houston in 10 days and will be without a house for the first month....once we get moved into our new place I will get my second batch going as long as I have a cool enough place to ferment......if I dont I might have to buy a refrigerator and get a temp control to do my fermenting. How do those of you who live in the hotter climates do your fermentation?

2

General Homebrew Discussion / First brew

« on: April 14, 2012, 05:09:55 PM »

So i started out doing lots of research and buying several books before I started. I picked up a starter kit and an American Pale Ale from my local brew shop. On brew day, I brought 3.5 gallons of water to 150 degrees and placed the grain bag in for 30 minutes.
   Turned off the heat and added the malt extract, then brought to a boil. I added the bittering hops and had a boil over...I will be better prepared next time for this. The rest of the boil went without a problem adding the aroma and finishing hops at the prescribed times.
   I used an ice bath to cool down the wort and when it showed 75 degrees I poured it into the fermenter along with 2 more gallons of water. The OG at this point was right on at 1.055 The temp at this point was around 70  degrees so i pitched the yeast. I added the stopper and placed it in the basement where it came down to 66 degrees and stayed there for the duration. The only issue I had during this time was the bubbles only lasted a few days then stopped. I kept it in the fermenter for 14 days then took a gravity reading. It was at 1.013. I let it sit another couple of days and checked the gravity again and it still was at 1.013.
  I then attempted to bottle at this point. My issues came when trying to siphon. For some reason I just had a hard time getting it started...I finally figured it out but I was worried I had allowed to much splashing. Not much I could do at this point so I finished bottling.

   Beer has been in about 10 days so I opened my first bottle and was pleasantly surprised at the flavor. I had tasted it when bottling and it was pretty bitter, but had mellowed out alot during the brief time in the bottles. The color was nice with a good head on it. I am looking forward to my next batch without the mistakes I had made the first time.

Any hints or tips you guys might have would be appreciated.