Hi All,
First off, thanks to those running and participating in this forum; what a fantastic place filled with friendly like minded people. I'm very happy to have stumbled upon this site during my many googles over the last two weeks.
So, I'm another lock-down noob. I've wanted to brew forever but was always a bit short on cash to 'spring' for a beginners kit (I have probably looked at the Mangrove Jack kit a hundred times over the last two years.) - Anyway, long story short, interest rate cuts meant I had extra spending money so I finally went online to buy myself a kit. The timing was perfect given that we're in prohibition times. BUT, every brew supply site was sold out of beginner kits. So, I decided to see what's included in the kit and buy each part separately. (I had to buy from three different brew shops given the stock issues). Which I did. EXCEPT - Extract kits too were sold out, so I quickly put a nice looking all grain kit in my basket and clicked 'Checkout'.
More Googling... "What is All-Grain Brewing"... eish, I don't have half the equipment I need. I ended up reading John Palmer's How To Brew cover to cover; bought the supplies to make a mash/lauter tun, and yesterday, got brave enough to start my fist brew.
Boy oh boy did I love it! What an amazing way to spend an afternoon. If you're still reading, you may be interested to know how it went:
I brewed the American Pale Ale Recipe designed by BeerLab. I will post it here if anyone asks.
Observations:
Well that's all for now. If you are interested, I've attached my brew day photos. comments and constructive criticism are invited.
IMG_2944.jpg
IMG_2946.jpgIMG_2949.jpgIMG_2950.jpgIMG_2955.jpgIMG_2959.jpg
First off, thanks to those running and participating in this forum; what a fantastic place filled with friendly like minded people. I'm very happy to have stumbled upon this site during my many googles over the last two weeks.
So, I'm another lock-down noob. I've wanted to brew forever but was always a bit short on cash to 'spring' for a beginners kit (I have probably looked at the Mangrove Jack kit a hundred times over the last two years.) - Anyway, long story short, interest rate cuts meant I had extra spending money so I finally went online to buy myself a kit. The timing was perfect given that we're in prohibition times. BUT, every brew supply site was sold out of beginner kits. So, I decided to see what's included in the kit and buy each part separately. (I had to buy from three different brew shops given the stock issues). Which I did. EXCEPT - Extract kits too were sold out, so I quickly put a nice looking all grain kit in my basket and clicked 'Checkout'.
More Googling... "What is All-Grain Brewing"... eish, I don't have half the equipment I need. I ended up reading John Palmer's How To Brew cover to cover; bought the supplies to make a mash/lauter tun, and yesterday, got brave enough to start my fist brew.
Boy oh boy did I love it! What an amazing way to spend an afternoon. If you're still reading, you may be interested to know how it went:
I brewed the American Pale Ale Recipe designed by BeerLab. I will post it here if anyone asks.
Observations:
- Water takes a long time to get to temperature. - My strike water needed to get to 74 and sparge to 78. Each took an hour on two gas hobs. I think this was because of the cold front currently in process and my hobs being outside.
- Water and Grain are HEAVY! - My poor back. I will certainly need to streamline the process and start thinking about pumps gravity set-ups etc.
- Irish Moss. The kit doesn't come with it. Research has revealed that unflavoured gelatine (a couple of days before bottling) will act similarly in clarifying the beer. I will let you know how that goes.
- Why do I have so much? - The recipe is a 20l recipe. I filled my 20l fermenter and still had some left over. (I put the leftover in a separate bucket with a homemade airlock and some baking yeast - it was either that, or pouring it down the drain which I couldn't bring myself to do.)
- Don't overfill the Fermenter - Woke up this morning with gunk in the airlock and on the lid. This stems from the fact that I had so much wort post boil. (OG was on target so not sure what happened). - anyway, I will watch it carefully but may need to consider switching the airlock for a blow off.
Well that's all for now. If you are interested, I've attached my brew day photos. comments and constructive criticism are invited.
IMG_2944.jpg
IMG_2946.jpgIMG_2949.jpgIMG_2950.jpgIMG_2955.jpgIMG_2959.jpg
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