Monday, April 21st, 2008

Batch #1: Pale Ale Bottled

Finally got around to bottling my first batch of Pale Ale. 
I soaked my bottles in OxyClean to remove them and clean them Friday night thinking I would get to bottle on Saturday night.  One thing led to another and I wasn’t able to get to it until Monday.
I can see why people Keg.  Not only [...]

Friday, April 4th, 2008

Racked to secondary

So I racked to secondary.  The kid in me won out (sorry John!).  
  
 I prepped all my gear and got to siphoning.  The whole process went pretty smoothly.  I did notice a Star San Snake appear out of the top of the carboy, but as I have read numerous times, “Don’t fear the foam!”

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

Followup: Rack to secondary?

I’m still pondering the same question from a few days ago: should I rack to secondary?
Being the newbie that I am, I e-mailed the Brew Dudes mainly asking what my Final Gravity should be and if when I should rack to secondary.
Brew Dude John was kind enough to respond:
“Now, for the secondary.  For this brew, I would leave it alone [...]

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Rack to secondary?

Fermentation has slowed significantly. I’m getting about 3-7 bubbles per minute. I’m wondering if I should rack to secondary. I’ve actually been reading up on that. You have those for it, those against it, follow the 1-2-3 rule, or not.My recipe didn’t come with a target Final gravity but did have the ABV listed so [...]

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Bubbles

Fermentation is well under way.  Bubbling like mad.  Pretty exciting stuff.  My wife is already tired of me talking homebrew.

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Has it started?

Woke up this morning eager to see if any signs of fermentation were happening.  The lid was bulging a bit, so I pressed it slightly.  A few bubbles, but nothing spectacular.
I was being a bit impatient.  Did I aerate enough?
The temp. was around 67.  I did something (potentially) dumb: I hooked up a heater next [...]

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

Brew day - first batch

The day (actually night) had arrived.
I had read around on some postings that secondary fermenters should be glass, not plastic due to the headroom and the permeability of plastic. So I decided to use the 7.5 gallon bucket I got at HomeBrew USA for my primary. I’ll pick up a carboy later. Plus [...]