Friday, August 03, 2007

Getting Started in Homebrewing - Setting Up

"Buy a man a beer and he'll waste an hour, teach a man to brew and he'll waste a lifetime."

Let's get this all setup and the party started. Brew Day is tomorrow. I've got my AHA membership card. The Homebrew Song (from The Brewing Network) is playing in the background. And, I've got my homebrew gear all laid out in front of me. Alright now, I realize that only the equipment and ingredients are necessary. Oh right, and a good quality beer to drink while making the homebrew. Before this first brew day of mine, I've re-watched the extract homebrewing DVD from Basic Brewing Radio. I've talked over the process with Adam, and he's gonna join me to give pointers along the way. And, I've read through the recipe and brewing notes again, just like I would do with a food recipe. Now I need to ask all of you homebrewers out there: "What is the one thing that I should be mindful of during my first homebrew experience?" "What is the most likely thing for a newbie to screw up?" In coming posts, I'll describe the various stages of my first homebrewing experience. Maybe throw in a few pictures too. First up, sanitation...oh, how important is this step? Oh, so very important!

4 comments:

Adam said...

I'd say you're ahead of the curve so far.

Your right. Sanitation is important.

Making a yeast starter tonight will make your fermentation get going a lot quicker tomorrow.

Don't expect too much from your first batch. Think of it as a practice run. If it turns out great, then all the better.

Enjoy yourself :-) Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew. (I can supply that if you like. An '05 barley wine might be in order.)

beerbits2.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

-boil-overs-

They can be such a "harsh buzz" on brew day.

I'm sure you'll have fun.

Happy brewing


Dell

Eli said...

Don't leave the lid on during the boil.

I thought that would help me maintain a good temperature. All it did was trap escaping off-flavors.

Bryan Kolesar said...

I'll have more detailed wrap-up of my brew day later. For now,,,,,

Adam - I think I got the whole sanitation thing done right. Nothing unsanitized, to my knowledge, touched the wort.

Dell - 4 drips made it to the cooktop; otherwise no boil over

Eli - After calling Adam on the phone, I decided to go with the lid off. figured it would control boilover, plus I was still able to maintain the boil. Didn't think about the off-flavors. great point!

Thanks, guys, for your input! It was a great time.