My first homebrew, part 1: brewing (20 November 2011)

[AntoniustheGreat]

This is awesome you guys rule!

[jjrudy41]

cool video.

[TheLimon96]

Next time you try a homebrew do a all grain verzion and compare the difference

[weirdbeer]

You'll do fine. Don't let all the nay sayers get you down. You'll still have beer.

[weirdbeer]

Nice!

[tfs2006]

great vid but never bring your grains to a boil it can release unwanted tannins in the brew. always good to see another home brewer though!! cheers!!

[Chad9976]

@tfs2006 The directions say to leave the grains in there until you reach 100 degree centigrade - then pull them out and put in the LME

[TheBeebopper]

@tfs2006 Tannins are good in aiding clarity and crispness of flavour at the end of fermentation, only an excess of tannin is bad for taste. As this only a part grain brew, I assume the boil is required to get sufficient tanin in this recipe else the beer may suffer with a flat taste. Tannins are not essential but are a useful component of the flavour profile.

[TheBeeraholic]

Great video Chad. I've been wanting to do a home brew for some time as well. How long did this initial process take the two of you?

[Chad9976]

@TheBeeraholic well, from the time we left the house to go to the beer store and the time I put the bucket in the basement was probably 5 hours, but the brew time is only about 2 -3 hours tops.

[epicbeerdude]

nice work chad! REMEMBER when using LME, STIR STIR STIR the bottom of the pot, LME goes straight to the bottom so to avoid scortching & caramelization that creates off flavors from burning the LME, stir stir stir! good work!

[Chad9976]

@epicbeerdude lol yeah, it actually did burn ot the bottom of the pot in the exact image of the electric burners. So if this batch doesn't turn out good we'll know why.

[epicbeerdude]

@Chad9976 also i'm not sure if you did before you poured the extract in .. but when using LME (liquid malt extract) you should ALWAYS flame-out .. this way when it does hit the bottom it doesn't immediately burn .. you have a couple of seconds to stir it out .. if the flame is on, it's almost impossible to avoid this. when using DME (dry malt) you won't have this problem and don't need to flameout because the dry malt extract stays afloat. but again, great job on your first brew day!

[PeiHomeBrewer]

Weird how the the instruction said to boil the Maris Otter malt. Normally that would have to be mashed at a constant 150f. The Windsor yeast is going to have some fruity esters, but since you are fermenting in what looks like a cool place, it shouldn't be too bad. I also find that yeast sort of bready.

[epicbeerdude]

@PeiHomeBrewer ya, i've never seen steeping grains brought up anywhere above 150-160 degrees .. i can't imagine bringing them to a boil .. well, chad will tell us how it turns out very very soon, we may learn a new trick!

[matta153]

@Chad9976 Also I found out a cool method of chilling your wort. instead of cooling it in an ice bath simply add the two boiling gallons, plus 1 gallon and 1 pint of room temp water to a large bag of ice and you get the full 5 gallons chilled in less then 2 min.

[matta153]

@Chad9976 Nice to see you brewing for yourself. I am really envious, because I am currently stationed in the middle east where I am unable to brew my own beer. I am from the capital district as well. Hammer smith is a great place to buy, however the Homebrew emporium in East Greenbush is also a great place, they also have cheaper prices. The old guy in there is kind of a grump, but he knows what he's talking about.

[Chad9976]

@matta153 cool. How are you watching this, though? I thought the DOD banned youtube, facebook and all social networking sites from all DOD computers?

[matta153]

@Chad9976 I am in a country that does not allow many sites but a VPN fixes that...and nmci allows youtube yahoo facebook now...

[infringinator]

Chad just brewed it, you just viewed it. Its time for Chads beer reviews!

[jay2507]

My first homebrew should be ready to drink this week. I'm surprised u hadn't brewed before. The waiting game sucks haha

[DenisLD]

Sweet! Good luck with your first homebrew! I'll check back to see how it goes!

[StumpyJoeJr]

Did you season that pot before brewing?

Sounds like you brewed up an English IPA. Did you actually do anything?

Time to start posting Homebrew Wednesday videos.

[Chad9976]

@StumpyJoeJr season the pot?

[StumpyJoeJr]

@Chad9976 First thing I do when I get a new pot is fill it up with water and let it boil for 10-15 minutes. A must do if you have an aluminum pot.

[Chad9976]

@StumpyJoeJr i'm not sure what effect that would have. Boiling water is already going to kill the germs. I did wash it before we used it, though.

[HomeBrewBeerRecipes]

Great, join the ranks of the homebrewers!

[Imasofat]

Good vid Chadz. I hope your stove recovered. I use a propane burner and its great.

[Chad9976]

@Imasofat it did, actually. I scrubbed out all the stains and put brand new drip plates in. it looks brand new!

[sjporr]

Welcome to homebrewing!!! As time goes on and you will figure out your techniques. As for your stove I did the same thing with mine. Turns out with a electric stove and a stainless steel pot you never turn the burner up the whole way. The stainless doesn't need as much heat.

[skankmuffin]

Good Luck!

[BeerGeekNation]

Get a $15 propane Turkey Fryer burner. Up until I got my electric setup I used one of them for the last 6 years. And congrats on getting into homebrewing. One technical thing I saw that might be an issue is that when you steep your grains get the water to 168ish and turns down the heat, put the grains in and steep them at around 168 for 30 mins. When you bring grains over 170 like you did you might start to get big time off flavors.

[Chad9976]

@BeerGeekNation ah, thanks for the tip. We were following the directions as written. Shaun has homebrewed a few times and I guess that's how he's done it. I'll try that next time.

[TheBeebopper]

If that's a cold concrete floor, you'll likely stall the fermentation. Lift it up and get the temp of the ferment to the recomended level. Once the primary ferment has finished (less than 1/4 O.G.) , rack into your other continer leaving the lees behind. Transfer a little of the lees (1/2 cup) if the racked beer already looks exceptionally clear. Leave at normal temp until ferment has finished (check S.G) then put on cold floor to clear before casking or bottling with priming sugar.

[Chad9976]

@TheBeebopper So I should put it on the table?

[TheBeebopper]

@Chad9976 At least until it's going well, probably for the entire initial ferment as the pitching rate of dried yeasts tends to be so small. Most people using a capped fermentation are also using a stick-on thermometer so they can ensure the temperature remains suitable for yeast activity without uncapping to make a test. By checking the bubble trap, you can assess the yeast activity. It should have started by 12 hours post pitching and could be rattling after 48hrs.

[Chad9976]

@TheBeebopper good idea. I moved the bucket on top of the table. I saw the check valve bubbling already.

[SnobbyBeer]

ISO: Chad'z Homebrewed IPA

Looks like a nice little batch of brew! Question - will you be dry-hopping? If not, you don't really HAVE to transfer the beer to secondary. I would recommend for your first batch to just leave the beer in primary for 3-4 weeks, then move it to the bottling bucket. Secondary isn't really needed unless you plan on aging it for awhile (or if you are adding hops, fruit, etc).

[Chad9976]

@SnobbyBeer I hadn't thought about dry hopping, but there's a few things I need to get from the homebrew store so next time I go back I'll get some hops for dry hopping.

I'm thinking of calling it "Chad'z Unsupervised IPA"

[SnobbyBeer]

@Chad9976 If you don't end up dry-hopping, I'd skip the secondary this first time. Get a normal fermentation under your belt. Just my 2 cents!

[HopZine]

Well done Chad for starting to homebrew. A nice starters set up you've got there.

My beer that is currently in secondary fermentation uses Northern Brewer hops, first time I've used them too.

I'm glad you went for a partial mash opposed to one of those crappy kits that use powder. Sam Caligonie's

You didn't aerate your wort before you tipped in your yeast.

My number one tip is to buy some Starsan no-rinse sanitizer.

[Ch0coDK]

This is such a cool series. I cannot wait to see how it turns out.

[dstorm258]

Looks like a good first batch! Enjoy it.

I suggest you brew another now.

[conduct623]

Good luck Chad, Happy brewing. Cheers.

[grillmeasteak]

Awesome!

[TheMasterOfHoppets]

You should have saved some Galena for dry hopping, its a super nice hop variety, it tends to give tastes of pineapple and lime. But is nice to see you getting in to homebrewing, I'm looking forward to be hearing how this turned out. Btw when you move it to the secondary, I suggest you dunk in some hop pellets for dry hopping, it really does alot in a homebrewed IPA. Our first batch of American Wheat Ale was so boring, until we dry hopped it with a shit load of Chinook xP Cheers Chad!

[Chad9976]

@TheMasterOfHoppets It's funny how only a total of 3 1/2oz of hops is enough hops to make a 5 gallon IPA brew.