Author's note: At this time, I had no idea whatsoever how to read the Hydrometer. When I took a butcher's at it that first time, I thought it said 1.75. I can assure you that it definitely did NOT say 1.075 (which would have been one heavy-ass brew), so in all probability, it read somewhere between 1.007 and 1.008. Goddamn, I'm an idiot.
Hydrometer reading: 1.75
Five days on and the brew is looking good and smelling beery. So far, so good!
---/---/---
01/01/14
Hydrometer reading: 1.5 (Author's note: BULLSHIT!!)
Still not fermented yet. Boo-urns!!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
First Brew - Batch #1 (Munich Ale)
Author's Note: I've decided to start of by going way back and transcribing everything from the little notebook I started when I first begun brewing. Occasionally I may throw in a little commentary here and there but as they say, hindsight is always 20/20.
Purchased extra cleaning supplies to be used exclusively with brew kit. Played a little fast and loose with times and water levels. Hopefully this won't come back to bite me in the arse!
Spoiler alert: It did! Basically what I did at the time - following the rather crudely photocopied and spelling error-riddled instructions provided to me by the proprieter of the brewshop - was bung everything straight into the fermenter, add water and hope like buggery that beer would come out. The store clerk told me no boiling would be required and I foolishly took him at his word.
After mixing malt with sugars and topping up water, there was a lot of froth. Not knowing the 'rules,' I sprinkled yeast evenly over the froth and sealed up the fermenter. What I should have done is...
* Moved the fermenter to its storage location.
* Taken a Hydrometer reading BEFORE fermentation. Next time!
Spoiler alert: I forgot to take a Hydrometer Reading the next time. And the time after that. And the time after that. But I took one the time after that. And then my Hydrometer broke, so I had to purchase a new one today.
A day later, the barrel sits in my room (Author's note: Although I didn't become aware until a little later in the game, I was eventually to find out why having a barrel that spews CO2 in the room in which you sleep was a bad idea, but more on that later) , bubbling away happily at 21C.
Put a blanket around the barrel to keep it warm when the temperature dropped. The airlock was momentarily dislodged... hope nothing got in! Topped up the water in the airlock and beer is bubbling away like before. Also purchased more sterilizer and detergent. Never know when you might need it!
Purchased extra cleaning supplies to be used exclusively with brew kit. Played a little fast and loose with times and water levels. Hopefully this won't come back to bite me in the arse!
Spoiler alert: It did! Basically what I did at the time - following the rather crudely photocopied and spelling error-riddled instructions provided to me by the proprieter of the brewshop - was bung everything straight into the fermenter, add water and hope like buggery that beer would come out. The store clerk told me no boiling would be required and I foolishly took him at his word.
After mixing malt with sugars and topping up water, there was a lot of froth. Not knowing the 'rules,' I sprinkled yeast evenly over the froth and sealed up the fermenter. What I should have done is...
* Moved the fermenter to its storage location.
* Taken a Hydrometer reading BEFORE fermentation. Next time!
Spoiler alert: I forgot to take a Hydrometer Reading the next time. And the time after that. And the time after that. But I took one the time after that. And then my Hydrometer broke, so I had to purchase a new one today.
A day later, the barrel sits in my room (Author's note: Although I didn't become aware until a little later in the game, I was eventually to find out why having a barrel that spews CO2 in the room in which you sleep was a bad idea, but more on that later) , bubbling away happily at 21C.
Put a blanket around the barrel to keep it warm when the temperature dropped. The airlock was momentarily dislodged... hope nothing got in! Topped up the water in the airlock and beer is bubbling away like before. Also purchased more sterilizer and detergent. Never know when you might need it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)