First Brew day...

[21st-Amendment]

Had the day off so i decided to use all my gear and finally start! im looking for any general critique you guys could give me and hopefully reassurre me it will turn out ok.

I started off by soaking all my equipment including the kettle and primary fermenter in a bleach/water solution for atleast half an hour, the fermenter got around 45 minutes. Afterwords i thoroughly rinsed everything. I then crushed up my crystal malts in the mesh bag (i can't remember the term for this, muslin?) with a rolling pin, added the other grain (which i was instructed to not crush) and steeped it in the kettle (5 gallon enamel, thanks martha stewert it was cheap $$) for around 45 minutes with some fuggles hops, stirring occassionally with my non wooden and sanitized spoon. I set the extract cans in another pot and set to simmer, it really helped getting it into the kettle and i only lost out on the gunk on the bottom. Before that tho, 30 minutes with irish moss and a little warmer, slight boil. Then 15 minutes with kent golding hops (i think) and the 2 cans of pale extract, making sure to stir as to not scorch the bottom (i was happy that i didnt when i went to clean it).

Heres where my nervousness kicks in. I was pressed for time and had a 4 hour shift to go attend to (why i get these tiny shifts i do not know...) so i covered the kettle for the last 2 minutes to try and heat-sanitize the lid (also bleach cleaned) i then left it covered in a basin of cold water for the 4 hours i was gone. I came back, and set up my funnel w/ strainer and fermenter on the floor beneath the kettle, using a beforehand bleached measuring cup to transfer between them. I figured it would aerate it pretty well this way, but the strainer clogged really fast and needed rinsing constantly. after i managed to get it all in, i topped it to the 5 gallon with cold water, then spinned/rotated the fermenter to the point before it would spill to mix/aerate. I then threw in the white labs yeast and gave the fermenter a spin again. Filled my clean airlock, secured the top of the fermenter (i pushed really friggin hard after reading someone else having a problem with this) and inserted airlock. Its now happily sitting in my closet, away from light at approximately 67-68 degrees fahrenheit.

So, did i do well? After sanitizing the cup i used to move the wort 4 hours ago i didnt give it a real thorough cleaning before immediatly using it. I also think i got a hand contact once while scooping it out :eek: . I'm just hoping it comes out tasting like it should, i've got some anxious tasters waiting for me to finish!

Thanks

[S.F.B.]

Sounds fine to me. Remember, don't worry. It is actually pretty hard to screw up beer.

What kind of brew is it?

[HarkJohnny]

RDWHAH....

"Relax. Don't Worry. Have A Homebrew!"

If you can handle the first two, you'll be enjoying the third in short order. Sounds like you did fine for your first time.

[21st-Amendment]

its supposed to be a red ale, ingredients as follows:

6.6 lbs light malt extract (muntons)
1/4 lb roasted barly (uncrushed)
1/2 lb crystal malt (crushed)
1 oz fuggles hops
1/2 oz kent goldings hops
irish ale yeast (whitelabs)

sg was like 1046 or so, i dont have the aau from the hops offhand tho. I got a plastic fermenter and a carboy so as soon as this one finishes the 3-4 day fermentation its off to the carboy and time for batch #2 $$$

[21st-Amendment]

omg omg its bubbling! (so excited :D)

im glad i checked, my airlock wasnt in tight enough with the rubber o ring attached to the lid, so i toyed around with it and reinserted and it immediatly started to bubble! Its bubbling slowly, but atleast some sign of movement only 4 hours post pitching. I had to take the lid off for a minute tho *does anti wild-yeast dance*

[BrewDog]

Great feeling, isn't it?

Start planning your next brew, so that you keep yourself occupied while waiting for this one.

Welcome to the obses.... er, hobby!

[21st-Amendment]

Im almost ready for my next one, i just need to get some more roasted barly (doing a stout!) and probably some more hops.

[axis714]

First off Congrats on your first bubbling brew,well done!

As the others said, your beer will be great,no worries.

Your kettle doesnt really need to be sanitary, just clean(since youre going to boil it anyway) and if I read your procedure correctly you boiled the irish moss for 45 mins and it can go in for 15 mins at the end of boil. But these are just anal retentive nit picking observations....You did great- Enjoy your brew and your new hobby.

[Trogger]

Welcome, from another relatively new brewer...

I've never heard of using an uncrushed grain... I'm relatively inexperienced myself, but my kits always come with all crushed grains and everything I've read says crush all grains "lightly," whether you steep or mash...
Also, I find I have better results with a full vigorous boil, after I'm done steeping. Don't worry about scorching, I haven't had that problem yet. I stir ever 7-8 minutes while boiling. The lid should be off partly or all the way, to boil off the undesired flavors that can come out while it's boiling, so I've read.
Pretty much anything that's going to touch the boiling wort doesn’t have to be sanitized, just clean.

Sounds like you'll have a successful first brew in a few weeks!
Have fun and good luck.

[21st-Amendment]

At 18 hours post pitch, not getting a whole lot of bubbling. :( It started a little bit last night, but kind of died down. I managed to check the container for leaks by applying some pressure to the lid, which forced a little air up through the airlock and it bubbled from that. Im going to assume its not a leak issue then, i guess ill let it for another day or so before i try a repitch.

[P-Train]

I wouldn't worry about not seeing it bubble any longer. It will do what it will do.

Sometimes they bubble for a few days, sometimes one or two. All depends on the type of beer and the way it's made.