I’m diving in. This is my frst brew. I’ve got no to coach me, except all of you. Doing an amber ale kit.
Cleaned and sanitized everything.
Yeast starter looks good.
Going to start heating water to steep the grains.
Hope someone will be at the ready to throw me a life preserver.
Plenty of people here to help, just ask if you get stuck. Good luck and go for it. :cheers:
I will be at work till 4pm, so I can help you until then.
Yes, I know, I am slacking today. I would work, but there is nothing to be done today; So I must suffer and surf the internot all day. :lol:
BTW, i did mean internot. My work blocks the good half of the internet, leaving me with the lame half. My only slvation is this forum, that for some reason is not blocked. I fear the day they notice, I may have to find a new job if they block this site.
[quote=“AL_Richard”]I’m diving in. This is my frst brew. I’ve got no to coach me, except all of you. Doing an amber ale kit.
Cleaned and sanitized everything.
Yeast starter looks good.
Going to start heating water to steep the grains.
Hope someone will be at the ready to throw me a life preserver.[/quote]
You a Roll Tide guy or a War Eagle? Makes a difference on what advice we give you.
You have a starter going so you have that important part of the equation. The other big one is fermentation temp, get that wort cooled to the proper temp before pitching. A swamp cooler is ideal.
And water is important but that can wait for a batch or two. Get yourself some calcium chloride and use RO water plus a teaspoon of the salt.
Help! Didn’t have a strainer so I used a skinny dish cloth. Seems to be a bit of sludge left over.
Is that good or bad?
If you’re talking after the boil and moving your wort to the fermenter, just try to keep as much trub (junk) out of the fermenter as possible. The amount that gets in there won’t hurt anything, if fact some folks just let it all go in. I think it helps to keep it to a minmum, especially if you are going to save your yeast after fermentation is done.
Need more help! First, thanks buzzbeer. Appreciate the info. Alright then, the kit I am using
I borrowed from a friend who was given the stuff. The problem is I don’t have the top to a 3 piece
airlock. What can I do!
[quote=“AL_Richard”]The problem is I don’t have the top to a 3 piece airlock. What can I do![/quote]Either don’t worry about it or else cover loosely with aluminum foil (the cap is just to keep bugs out).
I wouldn’t even worry about it and run it dry, just cover the tube up with the thimble thingy.
Being your first beer though I’d hate to see you miss the glory of an active air lock so you should do the foil thing.
:cheers:
Thanks guys! Guess I’ll throw a little foil on watch what happens.
Day 1, tick-tock tick-tock…
ahh… no one forgets their first time 
+1 to ferm temp control. Have fun!
You are off to a great start - asking lots of questions. The folks here will definitely be ready to “coach” you.
Why put a piece of foil over a 3 piece air lock? Just put the thimble part in with some vodka in the well and let it bubble away. Wrap it with foil and you need to punch holes in it, like the lid does.
It keeps the thimble from rising too high or going off-center. As I understand them, without something on the top, the thimble will rise until the bottom of its rim is above the liquid level. That’s probably fine, since it will just sink again, but if it tilts one of those times, then the airlock is now just an open valve for gasses in or out. Not a big deal during vigorous fermentation, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.
Gotcha.
I can see that if the well is over filled.
Checked the magic elixir this morning and didn’t seem like anything was happening! (6:00am)
The airlock looked the same as when I left it last nite. Pulled the airlock and looked in.
There was foam but it didn’t seem to be that active. I know, how the hey would I know.
Put some plastic wrap and the airlock stopper in the hole and shook. A little elixir came
out of the rim of the lid. Maybe that’s where the gas was escaping. Shook again till
lid blew off. Seemed like a good thing to me but then what the hey do I know?
Replaced the airlock and it seems to be working. Better go check it again.
Thanks guys, and keep help coming.
