Brew Time : pt. 1
Feb 9 2010
Thanks to my lovely wife, I’m the proud owner of a home brewing system. Having worked at a brewpub for a few years in college and being a massive beer lover, I had often kicked around the idea of trying my hand and making my own. However, I’d never followed through on it. Until now, that is. The kit originally started out as a Christmas present that she’d bought through Northern Brewer. It was the Better Basic kit, and it looked like it would do the job wonderfully. Yet me being me, after immediately jumping online and trying to digest as much info as possible I realized that to truly “brew it up” to the fullest potential (short of turning the garage into a stainless steel beer Mecca), I’d want to add a few more items to my arsenal. Luckily, with the help of my recent birthday the kit was expanded to basically mirror the Deluxe Kit that Northern Brewer offers. It now consists of:
- All the parts offered the Deluxe Kit
- 36 qt. stainless steel boiling kettle
- Bayou Classic SP10 propane burner
- immersion chiller
- a ton of 22 oz. bottles (probably make the jump to kegging by the summer)
- digital thermometer
So this past Saturday, my first batch went underway….an American Amber Ale. Needless to say, this first batch took me a total of about 6 hours from start to finish. Mainly because I was pretty anal about cleaning and sanitizing all the equipment. However, it was also due to the fact that I went straight for a full-boil (doing all 5 gallons of water at once) on our gas stove-top. Thankfully, from what I’ve read in the reviews on the new burner I bought, my future boil times will be dramatically reduced. All-in-all it went pretty well. I definitely learned a great deal of things that will instantly help me out on my next batch (a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone) starting in two weeks. That will be when this first back moves over to the secondary carboy, freeing up the primary for more brewing goodness.
I had a few minor bumps in the road, though. For instance, I misunderstood the hops calculations for doing a full boil. They say to use roughly 75% of the amount if you’re doing a full-boil, to which I understood as 75% to start, and the rest to be added later in the boiling window. So I’m sure it’ll be a bit more hoppy than normal, but I can live with that. I also forgot to take my original gravity reading prior to moving the product to the primary fermenter. However, I’ve got my fingers crossed that it was close to what the stated OG was, at 1.047. Seeing as how when I did take a gravity reading, about 20 hours later, it was just a touch over 1.040. Probably Greek to a lot of people reading this, but those of you out there who’ve brewed will understand.
Aside from that, there were really no other big concerns. So I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that a great batch materializes. Obviously, I did taste test the amount I pulled when I finally measured the gravity, and my to my surprise….it was damn good. Definitely sweet, but as the yeast continues to do it’s work, I expect that sweetness to subside. The rest of the flavors really reminded me of a Fat Tire Ale with a little more caramel flavor and less bite. Basically, something I’m really licking my chops to drink.
As for how the batch is doing here on day 4 of fermentation, it’s definitely bubbling away vigorously. About 3 per second. So the yeast seems to be working it’s ass off. Meanwhile, I’m desperately fighting the urge to take another reading….mainly because I get to sample the testing amount after the reading is done. However, for the sake of keeping oxygen (and any potentially harmful bacteria) out of the batch, I keep resisting my impulses.
In the end, this first batch has been a great time so far. Should be ready to drink on March 20, and you can definitely expect a full review…good or bad. I’m also planning on making regular updates each step of the way from start to finish. As well as detailing how my Sierra clone goes, based on putting to work everything I’ve learned from this first preparation. Also, in my plans to keep a steady supply of beer in the pipeline, I’ve already more or less decided on my next few batches beyond these two. One being a clone of Moose Drool Brown Ale, and the other being an Fat Tire clone (named Phat Tyre, oddly enough). Eventually a Chocolate Cherry Stout will be in order, but first I want to find a good “staple” for my beer inventory. One thing is for sure, you can count on getting quite a few updates about how this new hobby is coming along. Hopefully I’ll even learn a thing or two that might be useful to pass on.
Oh, and to my lovely wife….don’t worry, the back room won’t be continuing to be strewn with equipment much longer. Once this batch goes to secondary, I’m reorganizing.
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