# My first Beer



## AAASTINKIE

OK I never intended to make any beer, but here I am all cranked up and
ready to go!! 7 cases of empty bottles, 2 new cappers, and a kit. I
actually have some beer in the primary but it is goofed cause the brew
guy sold me a kit Iron master American light and a can of unhopped
light malt extract and then said to put in 2 lbs of sugar, it started
with a SG of 1.062 and now after 10 days os still 1.020 SG I'm going to
let it sit a few more days and be sure the SG is done moving before
bottling.

Anyway on to my new kit (I'll just follow the kit directions this time).


















Why do I have 2 cappers, (besides the fact that I'm nuts?) well I
bought the small one yesterday and had more time to look around today
(I bought 3 cases of bottles yesterday for 8.99 a case for 12oz
and went back today for 4 more before they run out) beside you always
need a spare.


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## AAASTINKIE

OK I made the beer kit last night, boiled it for 20 minutes, very easy,
the house smelled like beer big time, but when I got up today I don't
smell anything (unless I'm aclimated to it?) boiled it at 10:30 and
pitched the yeast at 6am this morning at 84 degrees, I'll put it on the
floor now to cool off. I think I'm going back to the "Health food
store" today and get a cream ale kit as recomended by some folks on
another board. Maybe I should get more bottles too? I didn't know beer
has to age also.


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## AAASTINKIE

First, I should change this name to my 3rd beer...lol Just got back
from the "HEALTH FOOD STORE" with another health food kit..lol This one
is to easy!! 15ltr kit add 8ltr water and pitch yeast!!










Spagnol's kit 23ltr with 15ltr bag of wort, yeast, PH adjuster, and
priming sugar, I think this might be the perfect beginners kit, I only
wound up with it cause it was the only cream ale they had. I had to buy
a new 7.5 gal primary to dedicate to beer (9.99) now masta says a wort
chiller, it really doesn't end.


*Edited by: AAASTINKIE *


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## masta

You might not need a wort chiller if you are boiling 2-3 gallons of wort with the other kits as putting the brewpot into a sink full of ice water and topping off with very cold water will work.


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## AAASTINKIE

I bottled beer today, it took 3 hours start to finish, 63 bottles out of the 1st batch, I used priming caps, I didn't feel like messing with the corn sugar. The other kits have the suger pre-measured. I can see you need to rack to a secondary cause some of the crud on the bottom of the primary went into the bottling bucket, if this beer is drinkable it will be a miracle!! It was very cloudy. I also started the 3rd kit, it was really easy, just add water, mix in the PH adjustment powder (pre measured) and add the wort and mix, pitch yeast and close up. Then I rinsed off the bottles, put them back in the cases, and put the boxes in a trash bag so if I blow them up they will be contained. I can't imagine working with all these bottles without a bottle tree,  [url]http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?GC_Category=Equipm ent&amp;SubCategory=Cleaning&amp;PartNumber=4810 [/url],it's really not much money (13.99), with beer bottles you could do without the vinator (fill an empty primary or sink)if money was tight, but a bottle tree is a must have, mine only holds 45 bottles and I started with 60 so I washed some and put them in a sanitized plastic milk crate and they fell over, so after when I had room I put them back on the tree to drain better. *Edited by: AAASTINKIE *


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## masta

Using Irish Moss or Whirlfloc tablets in the last 20 mins of the boil and getting a good cold break will help greatly with the clarity of the beer. Also doing a two stage fermentation will also improve the quality of your beer by racking off the main trub to prevent off flavors and allowing more of the fines to settle before bottling


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## txclifton

First beer batch newbie here too... (new batch of wine too!)



I started my first batch of Oktoberfest that I got from George about a
week ago. I happen to be local enough to be able to swing by his
store. 



I just moved my beer to a 6 gallon carboy for 2nd stage last night.
It looks pretty good already but we'll see in two weeks. 



I see that George carries a deluxe wort chiller but does anyone have a
link to instructions on how to make your own. I boiled 2
gallons in a 3 qt pot and it took way too long to chill. I
need a chiller before I attempt that again. btw, I did the ice
water in the sink trick plus added gallons of cold water.



Anyhow, thanks for all the good info here. I'll list the few things I've learned in the last 3 weeks the hard way!



1. Make sure you don't overtighten the spigot on the fermentor
and test with water. Water is just not noticeable enough...



2. Don't push down on the bung that comes with the co2 whip. 



3. When you remove the bung from the c02 whip cuz you are
shredding the dickens out of it and fashion your hand as a bung, make
sure you don't loosen the keyless chuck and drop the whip into the 6
gal carboy (luckily I was done)



4. Make good wine, and drink the beer while you wait! 



Regards,



Doug


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## Hippie

Hi Clifton. Welcome to the forum! I enjoyed the above post very much. It is fun to hear newbie experiences. I sill make alot of mistakes and fumbles.


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## AAASTINKIE

This bag de-capper is a must have it worked like a million bucks!!


 [url]http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?GC_Category=Equipm ent&amp;SubCategory=Other&amp;PartNumber=9989 [/url]


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## RAMROD

AAASTINKIE said:


> I bottled beer today, it took 3 hours start to finish, 63 bottles out of the 1st batch, I used priming caps, I didn't feel like messing with the corn sugar. The other kits have the suger pre-measured.




Dose this mean you didn't use the corn sugar or it took so long cause you really didn't feel like messing with it?



You defiantly need it.


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## AAASTINKIE

When I said priming caps I meant those little sugar pills you drop one in each bottle and they are pre measured for one 12oz bottle, kinda expensive $4. a bag about 75 in a bag.


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## Hippie

That don't sound expensive if it will do over 6 gallons of beer. I will probably drink more than 6 gallons of beer this weekend. I just don't see the feasibility in me making beer. Hot weather = 1 case of beer per day per grown male adult per household per day off.


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## AAASTINKIE

Well, 3 cans of beer for me and it bed time...lol..I just thought I would make some beer to go with barbeque!! and if I make it myself it's "health food" ..it's like my wine and maple syrupI'll give most of it away and hopefully people will like it. I don't eat many pancakes but I like syrup on my cherrios!! and it's aufull good in a cup of coffee.


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## RAMROD

Don't think I would like that I think it would be easier to add priming sugar to the whole batch then bottle.


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## PolishWineP

AAASTINKIE said:


> Well, 3 cans of beer for me and it bed time...lol..I just thought I would make some beer to go with barbeque!! and if I make it myself it's "health food" ..it's like my wine and maple syrupI'll give most of it away and hopefully people will like it. I don't eat many pancakes but I like syrup on my cherrios!! and it's aufull good in a cup of coffee.




Maple syrup in coffee. Oh dear. Now I'm going to have to try THAT! Stinkie, I think you're a bad influence on me.


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## masta

Maple syrup in coffee.....yuk!






Maple syrup in beer...now we are talkin!


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## masta

Country Wine said:


> That don't sound expensive if it will do over 6 gallons of beer. I will probably drink more than 6 gallons of beer this weekend. I just don't see the feasibility in me making beer. Hot weather = 1 case of beer per day per grown male adult per household per day off.




A case a beer a day...you must be drinking that flavored water that they try to pass off as beer....






If you drank a case of my beer in one day you would be out cold!


Don't eat yellow snow and don't drink yellow beer!


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## TxRedhead

masta said:


> Don't eat yellow snow and don't drink yellow beer!




Ah someone after my own heart! The only light colored beers I've found that I actually liked were the hefeweizens I enjoyed in Germany last year.


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## AAASTINKIE

My second beer went into the secondary glass carboy today, I forgot to
take a SG reading. Hopefully it will be clearer than my 1st batch.
Masta was correct in that the beer stink will trash your plastic pails
for wine use...


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## Hippie

I normally only drink Heineken or St. Pauli Girl. You would have to be quite a snob to turn your nose up at either of them. I don't get drunk on beer unless I am inside and idle. Beer drinking is for when I am outside, sweaty, and doing stuff. Yesterday was different. I mixed in a bottle of some very good Riesling Ice Wine, made from a kit. It must be way high powered and the luciousness of it masked the alcohol. I kinda got a little drunk sitting in the shade running my mouth. I will be doing at least one of those kits. SOLD!


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## AAASTINKIE

I racked my #3 batch of beer today, the Spagnols kit 15ltr must for a
total 23ltr kit, The directions said 3 to 5 days once the foam is gone
rack, well it boiled for a day and a half and went dead, checked today,
day 3 and there was no foam, so I racked it at a SG of 1.017,
directions said rack if below 1.020.


















STINK, you can't imagine the stink of the lee's or whatever you call the crud on the bottom of beer!!


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## AAASTINKIE

I just opened one bottle from batch #1 to check for carbonation, it was
perfect!!! nice and clear carbonated just right and actually tastes
like beer!! I am going perch fishing so I had a sip and dumped it down
the sink....spaz attack!! after I thought maybe I should have waited
till tonight and drank it but I thought it wouldn't be good yet and
then I thought how nice a picture would be ...DUH

Maybe I'll try one more tonight after all there are 62 bottles left.


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## AAASTINKIE

OK I tried another beer (I had to it's a test) and it's just fine, funny how it tastes so good when it's your own brewsky...lol


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## Hippie

It looks good too!


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## MedPretzel

Okay, I have read NO posts about this, but it dang looks like a hefeweizen - cloudy and so dark!!! But the wrong glass... That's a pilsner glass... 





Sorry, my 9 years in Germany taint me. Beer is, believe it or not, like wine there. It even depends on the glass/krug you use. That's definitely a pilsner glass.






A hefeweizen glass is more of the "women's shape" kind of glass. Small at the ankles HUGE at the hips, kinda small on top.


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## Hippie

I drink all beer in big mugs at home that I keep in the freezer. I make sure they are wet when I put them in so they will get very frosty. They hold about 22 ounces each. I also have some very tall Pilsner glasses from here and there that I collect. I also keep them in the freezer and I don't care what kind of beer is drank in them. They only hold about 20 ounces. I like the handle on the mug for when my grip gets relaxed later in the evening. Know what I mean?


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## Quigs

Greetings and Salutations.I just starting brewing my first batch last night. I purchased the Brewers Best kit with the Traditional European Bock indgrediant kit. It was an adventure to say the least. Everything was going well until i was done with the malt grains and I had to bring it to a boil and it wouldn't boil. It sat there forever but it wouldn't get hotter then 192 degrees. I deduced the problem to be the pot. I purchased a 20 quart pot from george and it was to large for my stove, to much heat displacment im guessing. So I transfered it into two smaller pots then almost instantly they both started boiling. I divided up my ingredients and boiled for an hour, which went well no boil over. Then I transfered the two pots back into the big one and cooled it down in a sink of ice. What kind of scared me was i looked at the bottom of one of my pots, it was an enamal one, and some of the the bottom was missing in a small spot. I siphoned the wort from the big pot to the fermenting bucket but im still worried that little pieces of the the pot are in there and is that going to hurt someone or affect the taste of the beer. Anywho it has already started to bubble in the airlock now im just waiting for it to stop bubbling so i can put it into the carboy for the second stage. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i am a new to this. Thanks


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## Hippie

Welcome to the forum, Quigs!


Porcelain is just what, stone? Clay? I wouldn't worry about little pieces of that, you can leave it behind in the bucket when you rack.


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## Quigs

Thanks Country wine. You are probably right, im just worrying to much.


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## AAASTINKIE

Welcome Quigs, I thought this first batch was going to be trashed, but
it turned out to be good tasting beer, hang in there, keep everything
sanitized and you will be fine.


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## AAASTINKIE

I bottled my other two batches of beer today, was stuck at the house playing with my possibly defective cookshack.










I have 3 from my first batch in the fridge for tonight!! And tonight starts NOW!!


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## AAASTINKIE

Have a bottle of my continental light and one cream ale in the fridge
for tonight (test) just did the math, they are around 3 1/2% alcohol,
no wonder my first batch kicks my butt, it's 5.5% !!


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## AAASTINKIE

Beer tasting...I'm not sure but it's possible I don't like HOPS!! (that'll put me on mastas favorites list)

My continental light is bitter, I think that's what hops does.

My cream ale is a little better but neither compare to the American
light I made with no hops, too bad for the extra sugar I put in (what
if I make another batch without the sugar and it's not as good??
wouldn't that be a hoot??) these beers need to age though, I just
tested them to see if the carbonation was OK.

Continental light:










Cream ale:


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## geocorn

That beer looks might good!


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## Hippie

Yes it does look very good, specially since I am starting my weekend off! On the alcohol topic, commercial beer here is 6% abv., so you need to step that up some!


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## masta

You don't make my list for not liking hops.....it isn't beer with some hops! I love a good IPA with 6 or 7 hop additions!






What commercial beer are you drinking Country that is 6% abv?


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## greenbean

The amount of hops depends on what type of food you have with the beer. Remember to pair beer with food like wine. It just add to the over all experience of trying new kinds.





Chris


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## Hippie

masta said:


> You don't make my list for not liking hops.....it isn't beer with some hops! I love a good IPA with 6 or 7 hop additions!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What commercial beer are you drinking Country that is 6% abv?




The guy at the keg distribution place said all beer in Arkansas is 6%. I reckon we deserve it after driving 70 miles round trip to stock up. Is he lying? I just drank my last Heineken after many this weekend.


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## AAASTINKIE

NOW here is a kick in the pants...I was doing erands today ( I rented a
carpet cleaner yesterday and cleaned all the carpets in the house)
anyway, I was down town (22 miles away) and was thinking a beer with
some HOPS sure would go down good tonight!! felt that need for a good
throat scratching!!! well, my ribs on the cookshack (thanks country
this thing is AWSOME!!) won't be done for 45 more minutes and my one
HOPPY beer that was in the fridge is gone bybye!! Ya it's only 5:15
here, I'm gonna need a nap after I hit the ribs..lol

She's a smokin' (it's hard to see the smoke but it's coming out the
top) I can't get the picture to load, just take my word for it..lol

HEY, I just opened a cream ale, what a difference a week makes totally different flavor!! tastes like....uummm....CREAM?


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## Hippie

Yum. All that beer and rib talk has my mouth watering.


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## AAASTINKIE

I'm not sure if aging is making a big difference or I'm starting to
like HOPS....but I find more and more of the continental light going in
the fridge and the cream ale and american light staying in the
cases..lol


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