First brew day (well... in the developing world)

[Hanzo Razor]

Brewed for the first time in about 4 months yesterday. Despite siting over a propane stove in 100+ degree kitchen (thanks rolling power outage), it felt great.

My method:
Partial boil.

I shipped 15 lbs of pils DME, 2 oz saaz(pacific), 2 oz sterling (all pellets) and the biggest container of starsan I could find (I figured if I run out of things to sanitize, I'm not looking hard enough).


Anyways, back to my brew day.
Partial boil the sterling with some of the DME, dumped the rest of the DME and sugar into my primary (which is a large steel bucket that most women would think to carry on their head before thinking to brew in), then dumped the partial (after 90 minutes in said kithen- even the house boys thought I was crazy). I havent used DME before and wasnt expecting the clumps that I got. I did my best to get the clumps down to a few tiny pieces before I moved it inside and added the aeirated botted water. After letting it sit for a while, it seemed cool enough to pitch the re-hydrated yeast. and....
A day later, the krausen is on the top.
I'm a little worried that theres going to be a heavy alcohol taste, so I've decided to squirt the metal vessel down with water and keep the fan room and AC on when I can.
Before I forget, it was a little difficult to find an airlock, but I did find another steel plate that fits very nicely over the top.
Its shaped like a giant brandy glass.


The one question I do have is- will the DME that formed hard multiple hard pieces as I added the wort to pre-boiled DME break down and ferment over time?

Cheers, goodnight, and be thankful for the brewing tools you have. You never know when you'll end up someplace without em.

Love the work you guys do. I dont even mind admiring it from across the world.

Before I forget:
Recipe
Modified from ..whel... you know the book.
Belgian Strong Ale
8 lbs DME
~150g sugar
sterling (90 min)
t-53 (or 58) yeast (~18g)

Cheers!

[brewjester]

Sounds like an adventure! Try to keep the primary at or around 68 F and raise to 80 F like the book says. You won't get the fusel alcohol if you properly maintain the yeast and control the temp. Good job so far. Keep us updated on the progress of the beer!
Cheers!
Jeremy

[nahthan]

Brewed for the first time in about 4 months yesterday. Despite siting over a propane stove in 100+ degree kitchen (thanks rolling power outage), it felt great.

My method:
Partial boil.

I shipped 15 lbs of pils DME, 2 oz saaz(pacific), 2 oz sterling (all pellets) and the biggest container of starsan I could find (I figured if I run out of things to sanitize, I'm not looking hard enough).


Anyways, back to my brew day.
Partial boil the sterling with some of the DME, dumped the rest of the DME and sugar into my primary (which is a large steel bucket that most women would think to carry on their head before thinking to brew in), then dumped the partial (after 90 minutes in said kithen- even the house boys thought I was crazy). I havent used DME before and wasnt expecting the clumps that I got. I did my best to get the clumps down to a few tiny pieces before I moved it inside and added the aeirated botted water. After letting it sit for a while, it seemed cool enough to pitch the re-hydrated yeast. and....
A day later, the krausen is on the top.
I'm a little worried that theres going to be a heavy alcohol taste, so I've decided to squirt the metal vessel down with water and keep the fan room and AC on when I can.
Before I forget, it was a little difficult to find an airlock, but I did find another steel plate that fits very nicely over the top.
Its shaped like a giant brandy glass.


The one question I do have is- will the DME that formed hard multiple hard pieces as I added the wort to pre-boiled DME break down and ferment over time?

Cheers, goodnight, and be thankful for the brewing tools you have. You never know when you'll end up someplace without em.

Love the work you guys do. I dont even mind admiring it from across the world.

Before I forget:
Recipe
Modified from ..whel... you know the book.
Belgian Strong Ale
8 lbs DME
~150g sugar
sterling (90 min)
t-53 (or 58) yeast (~18g)

Cheers!

Good stuff.. Where are you currently located?

[Hanzo Razor]

india

I checked the progress today and I think its going to be pretty good. Its going to have a strong phenolic character, which is much better than the fusel alcohols I was worrying about.

I changed my mind about the new site design. Its a little too painful to see all the good beer going on. I'll check back in, but only in moderation.

[Hanzo Razor]

Never got back to you guys on this one.
First of all, I forgot how much of a pain in the ass bottling was.

I made beer- but it wasnt worth sending back for any competitions. I'm down to my last two (over a year later) which is probably a better statement of how it turned out.

Lets see, there was also the mead batch the houseboys decided to help me out with by screwing the top on the fermentation vessel. They successfully sealed it, and I later successfully cleaned must from every square inch and crack of the kitchen.

The variables here are nearly impossible to control- so F it. I'm going to Oktoberfest in Munchen next weekend, followed by a trip to belgium.

Miss the show- I dont tune in much since its painful to hear about good beer.

Cheers!
HR