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Author Topic: Just finished my first batch  (Read 1598 times)

Offline uintafly

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Just finished my first batch
« on: September 05, 2010, 05:27:05 pm »
Earlier today I bottled my first batch of homwbrew and things seemed to go good. The real hard part was yesterday when I had to clean out and get rid of the labels of 50 bottles. Doing 6-10 bottles at a time wouldn't be an issue but doing so many at once took a little while. Now I just need to stay patient for a few weeks and hopefully I will have some good beer. After all is said and done I think I will be happy with it, and I really had a good time doing it so I am happy.

A couple of thoughts on things I will do different next time. First is make sure to make sure I fully mix the wort as it goes into the fermenter to make sure it gets enough oxygen. I also need to pay more attention to my OG reading as on this batch I didn't pay much attention to it. Also as I bring the wort down to fermentation temp. I need to mix it so I can get more accurate readings. I think I will do one more kit and then start working from recipes.

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Just finished my first batch
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2010, 05:28:43 pm »
So what kind of beer did you make?
Tom Schmidlin

Offline uintafly

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Re: Just finished my first batch
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2010, 05:38:22 pm »
So what kind of beer did you make?

It is a bohemian pilsner where I used an ale yeast and fermented at between 66-68 degrees.

Offline smitty

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Re: Just finished my first batch
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2010, 06:19:25 pm »
Dont stress it too much.  You'll get a system down, and stremline everything.  Besides, worst case scenario, your beer isn't world class.  But it is YOUR beer.  It'll be awesome, don't worry.

Offline kiko

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Re: Just finished my first batch
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2010, 10:10:13 am »
Earlier today I bottled my first batch of homwbrew and things seemed to go good. The real hard part was yesterday when I had to clean out and get rid of the labels of 50 bottles. Doing 6-10 bottles at a time wouldn't be an issue but doing so many at once took a little while. Now I just need to stay patient for a few weeks and hopefully I will have some good beer. After all is said and done I think I will be happy with it, and I really had a good time doing it so I am happy.

A couple of thoughts on things I will do different next time. First is make sure to make sure I fully mix the wort as it goes into the fermenter to make sure it gets enough oxygen. I also need to pay more attention to my OG reading as on this batch I didn't pay much attention to it. Also as I bring the wort down to fermentation temp. I need to mix it so I can get more accurate readings. I think I will do one more kit and then start working from recipes.

Wow removing 50 lables @ once would be a no-go for me too much of a waste of time. I purchased bottles from my brew store. I am saving and cleaning my remaining store bought sixers tho. I did the same thing on my 1st batch - not mixing and aerating the wort enough. Finished brewing my second batch Saturday and made sure I thoroughly mixed and shook the bucket. nice air lock action this time.

Tasted my 1st batch yesterday (lager kit - saflager) which i will call aleger (10 days in bottle) and was surprised that it looked/tasted as good as it did - drank the whole bottle!. Clarity and carbonation looked better than some commercial brews i have had. nice foaming head w/ good retention. beer had a slight sulfer aroma probalbly due to low wort aeration and higher than suggested initial pitching & ferm temp. nice malty/hop flavor. i am sure the beer will improve even more with longer bottle aging.

Offline Malticulous

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Re: Just finished my first batch
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2010, 10:33:32 am »
Remember to rinse out those bottles soon after emptying them so you don't have to spend much time cleaning them out next time. Get that second batch going.