405 replies to this topic

[mig50]

i just got a birthday check in the mail.

i have some extra money on top of that.

i have the day off.

what does all of this mean? i'm driving to lee's summit in a few minutes to buy a homebrewing kit.

[Colin]

Nice.

While I'm in here, I might as well give an update. Sherv, Nick, and I all brewed together on Saturday. I busted out my new kit. It came with a nylon bag for steeping, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, the heat from the kettle (not the water) was too much for it and it melted. I went back to the brew store to get new grains and tried again, only I was having great difficulting in maintaining a relatively constant temperature. It ended up getting up to 190 degrees at one point. I'm not sure how bad that is but I'm still hoping it'll work out. Also, one of the muslin bags stuck to the (now burnt) bottom of my kettle and ripped open. We strained it out and the rest of the brew continued without incident until it was time to add the 1 oz of "lemon zest". I grated that freakin lemon peel for 15 minutes and the scale never even registered 0.1 oz. So I said fuck it, just threw what I had in there, relaxed, and had a homebrew. Actually I cursed a lot, but I did have the homebrew. Oh yeah, it was a Sam Adams Summer Ale recipe. It's intended to be for a big housewarming party on 9/17.

I believe Nick brewed a Pete's Wicked and Sherv brewed an English Porter. I leave it to them to elaborate.

[mig50]

i just spent $230.

i'll be making doppelbock soon. hopefully tonite.

[mig50]

$230, and i didn't even get a fucking thermometer.

dammit.

[mig50]

so potential problem already:

the kit came with dry yeast, but they guy at the shoppe recommended liquid yeast (i also thought this was a better idea).

on the ride home the yeast was shaken, and it also warmed up.

now its back in the fridge, but i'm worried its going to be dead by the time i pitch it.

[mig50]

ah, son of a bitch!

i just looked through the box with all the beer ingredients, and found that the priming sugar that's listed on the outside is not in the box. fucking great.

[mig50]

the doppelbock is now all sealed up in its buket and sitting a couple feet away from me.

let the fermentation begin!!!

[Colin]

so potential problem already:

the kit came with dry yeast, but they guy at the shoppe recommended liquid yeast (i also thought this was a better idea).

on the ride home the yeast was shaken, and it also warmed up.

now its back in the fridge, but i'm worried its going to be dead by the time i pitch it.

I believe it's supposed to be room temperature and shaken up when you pitch it. I wouldn't worry about it.

[DoctorShumway]

Yes I did brew a Pete's Wicked Ale. Consider yourselves elaborated.

[mig50]

hmm...no bubbling in the airlock yet.

since i put it on, though, the water in the lock has been shifting back and forth between the two big chambers. hmm...

[mig50]

as soon as i got home from work i sat down at my desk and heard my beer fart!

its working!!!

[mig50]

i will be racking to secondary tomorrow. yippee!

[mig50]

my beer is now in the carboy and sitting in my closet, hiding from the light.

the only problem i had while racking is that the beer decided to get really foamy and actually foamed over a couple times. my roomate and i just waited for a minute then went back to filling the carboy.

also, something odd about my brew is that its supposed to be a doppelbock, but bocks are lagers, and what i've made is obviously an ale. hmm...

[mig50]

well...i'm glad to see i'm the only one posting in this thread now...

anywho, on friday i'm planning on going back to the homebrew shop to pick up the necessary priming sugar. i'm planning to bottle on monday.

also, while i'm at the shop, i'll probably pick up the ingredients for my next batch. i think i'm going to make an oktoberfest. i'm looking around for a good recipe.

[mig50]

shit. i guess oktoberfests are typically lagers, so i can't find a recipe.

however, i will be making this sometime. hopefully soon.