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Annnnnd we're off!

Northern Brewer General
#1

What a brew day on Sat !! Our 1st ever brewday, and with the guidance of a fellow member and all we have read here and viewed on the the U-toobs it was a great success … so far ( A BIG Thank YOU goes out to Fightdman !!!)

1st up a Rye Stout NB extract kit and a rack of Ribs with good friends and some great HB supplied by Fightdman !!! He leaves us very graciously with some Lefthand imperial stout circa 08 and other vaious goodies to go to a local brewery opening and sets us free !!! With his guidance and wort chiller we Finished up and racked to primary with no issues :slight_smile:

Heck, lets brew some more … Why not ??? This is FUN !!!

Next up a Oktoberfest with ale yeast true brew kit supplied by my brother … No issues racked and active… word… this is easy !!!

Ehhh its only 8pm … lets brew another batch … screw it, lets do it !!

Wheaten Beatdown gets steeped and comes to a boil …all goes well and shes racked as well now

You say; Your first brew day we brewed 3 batches ?!?!
We say; Sure heck why not whats the worst that could happen ??

We learned a lot, we had many laughs, a couple tense moments,some excellent beers and now some GREAT memories between my Brother and our friends. Not to mention making a new one along the way !!! Thanks again Rick !!!

#2

It’s really really addictive. Glad you enjoyed you first brew day. Hope they all turn out good.

#3

I’m sure you’re going to enjoy them. They’re gonna taste even better when
you’re drinking them while brewing another.

#4

Durn tootin it is !!!

Im gonna let em do the work in the primaries for 3-4 weeks and then bottle, The kits say 2 weeks primary for the stout to the bottle for 2 and done but ill let it tell me and id rather it clean itself up another week or so in there.
the wheaten beatdown is a 4 gal batch … says 1-1-2 but ill def let that one chill out in the primary till its clean and done then bottle. No telling how its gonna come out, im sure it’ll be fine either way, heck it’ll be beer right ??
The Oktoberfest ( wild card, i know) got one heck of a brew session due to some hang ups but nothing that would ruin it. im sure it may take a bit longer to do its thing but we will have others to drink beforehand. However even though this is my first batch, I plan on letting it just do its thing man … they will let me know when to bottle.

#5

Impressive first day! I would have killed for a chiller on my first brew day, not to mention some experienced help. I had no idea how long it would take to chill the wort, had no chiller and really wasn’t set up to do any kind of ice bath either, not sure what I was thinking looking back on it. Sounds like your first day was much more efficient and probably equally addicting, good luck with the first brews.

#6

We were still at it for like 12hrs hahaha but we def know how to get it done more efficient now.

On our day you have to acct for,
running out of propane during second batch steep ( no biggie lost 2deg cause we wrapped it in a blanket and went to the store then realized we forgot to remove the valve so back to the store … then the chiller killed the boil so bad it took forever to get it back (finally we removed it and added it again after we reached the boil while it sat in starsan) then it was so cold the pipes froze and we had to improvise the chill for the final batch at like 1 in the morning it was brutal but fun.

I could walk out now and fire up the burner and have it done in two hours now … well that is if i had a chiller Rick was kind enough to bless us with that lovely contraption, and it being a extract kit !!!

#7

So glad you guys had a great day. Enjoyed meeting you and your family.

Keep an eye on your fermentation temps!

Don’t forget that you can add some boiled and cooled water to the fermented beer at bottling to get to 5 gal for the beer(s) you went a little short on to get them into the 5 gal carboys. Also, make sure you measure your priming sugar accurately and when you add it to the bottling bucket, stir well to mix thoroughly (no splashing though). Use the big stainless spoon that you had. Make sure you wash and sanitize completely. Save me a bottle!

#8

Yeah I just checked and looks like the yeast activity has raised the temps a bit all across the board…68-70

The kraeusen is nuts in the stout which i pitched liquid wyeast into, made it to the air lock and has backed down just below it

Trying to figure out how i can cool them down a bit without really moving them … still well in “Ale Range” though

My wife whom wasnt all that excited in the beginning and is a fellow beer snob, was CHARMED by the carboys full and working last night!! She is planning out our future batches and telling me we should let the stout sit for a bit longer than the recipe calls for and have it bottled for St.Pattys day and so on and so forth hahaha. Shes right on though, not rushing it and wanting to churn out some killer brews. Just that our kids 7-1.3yrs old have to be tended to whilst brewing so she held that part down for us :slight_smile:

So i made a deal, ill do the “grunt” work and she helps me tweak the future recipes Win/Win if you ask me :slight_smile:

Hmmmmm I got an empty car boy …

Dont worry we plan on saving you a few from each :slight_smile:

#9

Search for “Swamp Cooler” . Basicaly a pan or tub of cold water for the carboy to sit in, maybe a towel &a fan. Towel & fan might be overkill in your closet. Cold water tub would help.

Keeping the fermenting beer cool helps control the blow-off.

#10

Good Lord man! Looks like you had a hell of a brewday! :cheers:
Fun as hell isn’t it?

#11

Yes sir it is :slight_smile:

sucks waitin though hahahaha … thats why we did a few to begin with … well that and because it was fun and we’d been drinkin some high octane all day long :slight_smile:

#12

Lil update

Fermentation temps have been well managed to styles and after 11days there is still a good bit of action going on in all carboys/airlocks…

looking like at least 3 weeks for all in the primaries then bottle condition may let certain styles sit longer IDK yet

Per NB instructions im supposed to be bottling this weekend … im not seeing that happen hahaha

let em eat…

#13

WOW. Three batches on your first brewday?

Simply fantastic.

#14

HAHA yeah i guess we went nutz now im fixing to bottle and im thinking jeeeeze man … at least I have a lot of beer drinking neighbors :slight_smile:

#15

Do you need bottles?

#16

I just went out and counted and im 2 cases short, so yeah, you still got those ones ?

I have got 2 cases worth de-labeled…2 more cases worth with labels :confused:

its roughly 2 cases per 5 gal batch right ?

dang we aint drank enough beer the past few weeks i suppose LOL

#17

I usually get 50-52 bottles if filling just 12oz bottles. I try and mix in at least (6) half liters or 22 oz bottles to keep from having to bottle so many.

#18

I have 3-4 bombers … I wouldnt be against throwing the rye stout in em.

How did your Wheaten Beatdown turn out mvsawyer?

#19

Well, the kegged wheaton went all over the garage floor. I had the pressure set too high and the serving line installed so it slowly dripped out. I’ve got maybe 5-6 pours before it’s empty. It’s a got a very bitter after taste. Not hop bitterness, think chewed up aspirin. Only at the very end. I popped a bottle open yesterday expecting the same flavor but it’s not there. The keg would’ve been a dumper but the bottles seemed to have come out fine. I will avoid adding powdered sugar to boost ABV from here on out.

#20

AWWW man that stinks

I wasn’t very thrilled with the sample I took last night compared to the rye stout. I def know what you mean about the weird bitterness … i could tell something was there …I was also betting it would age out with some time in the bottles. Then again Im no expert with tasting pre-carbed/conditioned beer.

Its not bad though they all came out to be beer …

Woke this Am to find that he bung/airlock shot outta the top sometime last night due to it being wet from sanitizer when i placed it back in and i have no idea how long it was open … DOH !! But being in a closet and not much air flow if any to speak of im not sweating it, if it sucks,it sucks, and I know at least the rye stout is gonna be a hit :slight_smile:

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