First Ever Brew

[McKraken]

So Monday was my first ever brew day, an IPA kit from hopdawgs.ca.

I started out with my grain "teabag" for an hour at 155*-160*. Once that was complete, I turned up the temperature and slowly added my DME, mixing with my (sanitized) spatula as I went. I started to feel something grainy on the bottom of my pot. I thought "wow, this malt extract really sticks to the bottom". That's about the time my floating thermometer jumped up in temperature very quickly, and became positively buoyant. I tried to keep it upright, but it just floated horizontally again. I pulled it out to take a look, and the bottom was missing off of it. I realized the grainy feeling on the bottom of the pot was the ballast from the bottom of the thermometer.

So I naturally begin to panic.

First I grabbed my spare 5 gal paint strainer bag and put it over the top of my kettle. I didn't envision that going well.

I took a step back (with the burner off) to see what gadget I could whip together to fix it. I don't know what's in the thermometer, and I definitely didn't want to boil it into my wort.

It was probably an obvious choice, but I felt pretty smart when I was racking my wort into my fermenter. I cleaned out my kettle, and poured my wort back in. Crisis averted. Good thing I bought that back up thermometer at Canadian Tire.

After that, the rest of the brew day went pretty well, aside from the fact I obviously don't have a system yet. I kept jumping back and forth between different parts of my kitchen, trying to stay one step ahead, stopping at the Star San bin every chance I got.

I actually built a CFC to chill with as well, and I was surprised at how well it worked, with my tap barely flowing. I just like to build things. (That's why I think I'll be brewing for a long time. There are so many DIY's.)

To be honest, with the information I gathered from sites like this one and  Home Brew Talk, I was never too worried.  

Pre boil gravity: 1.059
Post boil gravity: 1.069 (*I took this before I topped up with mineral water in my fermenter...oops)
That's after adjustments; my hydrometer read 0.989 in room temp water

Safale S-04

I'm leaving it in my primary bucket for 4 weeks at around 20*C,then I'll be bottling.

Thanks!

[Richard]

We've all had brew-days from hell... just be damn sure you're not going to end up drinking glass or anything else small that might have come from the thermometer

[Chris Craig]

LOL.  Last night, I dropped my digital thermometer right in my keggle  It took me a couple of minutes to find it with a pair of tongs in the dark.  I was pretty surprised to find it still worked!  No harm done.

[Jake]

Wow. And I thought I've had bad brew days. Never experienced mercury as an off flavour

[pliny]

An expression I read somewhere once - maybe from Charlie Papazian: "Even when you're brewing by yourself you're not alone, there's always a guy named Murphy around."

[Kyle]

Congrats on the first brewday and welcome to the club.

I reccomend dumping the beer though, the ballast in the thermometers is not something you want to drink. Sometimes they use lead used to keep it upright and mercury as the expanding liquid that gives the reading (V. toxic x 2)

As for brew-day mishaps, they happen to all of us from time to time. Two brewdays ago, the stainless steel probe fell off the wire to my digital thermometer and into the boil. I just grabbed a bit of soft copper and made a new probe on the fly, the old one was there at the end of the boil.

[Richard]

+1 what Dean/Kyle said - don't risk it mate; the club will give you a leg up on another batch.


(Join up and you'll find we're a bloody helpful bunch in a pinch )

[McKraken]

I think I may let it ferment for a bit, Just to kind of have a visual on the whole process.  I looked up the thermometer too, and it's made by Alla France, and they use only Mercury free thermometers, and on their site it says that they "don't use lead or similar alloys for ballast".  I filtered the wort and cleaned the pot after racking to get rid of all the ballast, and the little glass tip.  

I really appreciate the offers for a mulligan, but this is my first, so you understand why I may be leaning toward trying it anyway.

I think I would feel a little out of my league in the club right now, but it is the best way to learn...

[Richard]

If you're sure whatever got into the pot was food-safe and is now removed, you're probably fine.

And joining is the best way to learn; leaning on other members for support in-person and otherwise can be invaluable.

[McKraken]

I could always fill a few bottles to store them, and call it "Heavy Metal IPA" with an appropraite warning.

[Kyle]

Don't worry about feeling out of your league. There are all sorts of skill sets here, and many of the guys were extract or kit brewers when they joined. Whatever brewing questions you might have, just feel free to ask away

[McKraken]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn some tricks!  I know one thing for sure, I think I'm going to be sticking with brewing for a while.  

I just paid through Paypal.

[Kyle]

good stuff!

[pliny]

Good for you man! Welcome.
I hear that the only way to fail in homebrewing is to quit. Although I've managed to fail on certain brew days anyway.

[youtube:1m4mg8ts]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwy6XMN30CA[/youtube:1m4mg8ts]

[McKraken]

Just an update, the acetaldehyde has mellowed out considerably since the last meeting.  It's quite drinkable right now, I could stomach the whole bottle .   It should be completely gone by the next meeting, so 'll bring a few bottles if being in Halifax for the next two weeks doesn't  break me.