First ever brew.

[Adam]

Making a weizenbier (Brewer's Best kit).

Did the boil. Had a small boilover. Got my adds in on time and other than the boilover, it went well. Got it sitting outside in the snow to cool down to 70 so I can top off, transfer, and pitch the yeast. I'll put up some pics I took when I'm done with that. I've got to get some 22oz bottles for bottling in about a week. Then I'm going to save up for kegging. I'm not looking forward to bottling.

[Elbone]

Congrats! Nothing tastes better than a beer you made! My best advice is to brew a second batch before your first one is ready to drink. If I hadn't done that, I'd have never brewed again!

[Adam]

Added water and transferred to the fermenter. Water is too warm at 85 degrees. Waiting until it cools to add the yeast. Or should I just add it? Weizenbier using Danstar Munich dry yeast fermenting at room temperature (70 ambient).

[Adam]

About an hour later and it's down to 80 degrees. This is so disappointing. Fuck.

[jm]

About an hour later and it's down to 80 degrees. This is so disappointing. Fuck.

Don't fret. Just pitch the yeast later. As long as your fermentor was clean you shouldn't notice the difference between pitching immediately and pitching 8 or so hours later. In the meantime start dreaming up that next batch.

...or just go ahead and pitch. 80ºF isn't going to kill the yeast and by the time they get active you'll be damn near ambient anyway.

[Adam]

Fermentor was sanitized just prior to wort transfer from boiling pot. I'll pitch and call it a night. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I appreciate it.

[Adam]

Yeast is pitched. Here's a few pics I took tonight.







Finger points to level after boil. Started with 2.5 gallons.




Fermentor in "safety bucket". Any overflow is caught in the big bucket and saves the floor (and a messy cleanup).

[manwithbeers]

Nice job. Good idea on the barrel liner idea. You may need it. This yeast might have a big krausen (blow-off).

I'm interested in hearing about your ferment. I some of that yeast in the fridge for an upcoming brew. I plan to try to keep my fermentor in the low 70's to develop an estery aroma and flavor which this yeast is famous for. When I've used liquid versions of the yeast in the past I got huge foamy krausens that last for days. Great smells too!

Good luck and have fun working on the next brew!