My First Brew, Help

[Braden]

Hey Guys,

Used the search feature and couldnt find exactly what i am looking for. Today I started my first brew but I fear I have ruined it already. After i poured in my sugar and malt from the kit I then added the 2 or so litres of hot water. The next step was to stir and this is my problem. Do you have to stir until the mixture is completly disolved? I fear I didnt stir enough. Will this ruin my whole brew?

[DJ]

It will be fine mate.. sometimes its impossible to disolve EVERYTHING.. Especially Dry Malt..

As everyone here says:

"Dont worry, have a homebrew"

[Cortez The Killer]

it's pretty hard to stuff up a kit + kilo - just chuck in everything stir and let the yeast do its thing

looking back at when i started brewing - i was a little anxious

my advice to those starting out would be to let the brew do its thing

and don't be tempted to bottle early or stuff around with the brew for at least two weeks (unless you are going to rack it - which i imagine won't be part of your first brew)

cheers

[Braden]

Thanks for that, Alot disolved but not all. Do you use boiling water or just hot? haha I cant believe how excited im getting over a homebrew.

[Cortez The Killer]

boiling water - or if you wanna be fancy you could disolve the sugar on the stove in a pot of boiling water and then add this to the fermenter with the can

have a read my early expirences brewing - it'll give you a few hints

http://hyperfox.info/beer01.htm

cheers

[Braden]

I used half boiling and half hot out of the tap, was worried about cracking the plastic or something. Will be fine im sure. thanks all

[morgs]

I always dissolve mine on the stove now as i had the same problem. The malt takes a while to dissolve. Plus this give opportunity to add some grain and hops etc. Your beer should be fine though.

[lethaldog]

I always dissolve mine on the stove now as i had the same problem. The malt takes a while to dissolve. Plus this give opportunity to add some grain and hops etc. Your beer should be fine though.

Im with you mate i used to dissolve in the fermenter and was never happy so i started boiling my malts and some kits for 15min or so and that deffinately dissolves everything, and like you say it gives you extra time to add other ingredients that need steeping/soaking, saying that stick to whatever works for you as we all experience things differently

Oh and "relax and have a homebrew "

[Boonie]

Hey Guys,

Used the search feature and couldnt find exactly what i am looking for. Today I started my first brew but I fear I have ruined it already. After i poured in my sugar and malt from the kit I then added the 2 or so litres of hot water. The next step was to stir and this is my problem. Do you have to stir until the mixture is completly disolved? I fear I didnt stir enough. Will this ruin my whole brew?

Will not ruin your brew at all. I boil mine (with some hops also) as it dissolves the malt as a few of the boys have said.

Don't be too concerned

I am still worried about the Belgium beer I have to brew as it cost me a fortune(In Homebrew terms that is)

Boonie

[rwh]

Yeah, it'll all dissolve itself over time as sugar crystals dissolve over time in any solution that is not saturated.

Hey Boonie, what's going to be so expensive about your Belgian beer?

[Boonie]

Yeah, it'll all dissolve itself over time as sugar crystals dissolve over time in any solution that is not saturated.

Hey Boonie, what's going to be so expensive about your Belgian beer?

It cost about 32.00 for the kit, sugars and Can not dear, but when it only makes 9 Litres compared to my normal 22-23 litres. Or 12 Longies against 30

Not expensive I know when a case of Belgium beauties will knock you back 100 bucks plus, but compared to $20-25 for 30 longies or 60+ stubbies it's alot dearer.......

Let's just say I will be extremely careful to fully sterilise and brew this baby (Nothing different, just a bit slower).

Thinking about tonight....but I have to bottle my Coopers Sparkling to get the Fermenter, the other 2 fermenters are still brewing and are not ready yet.

[lethaldog]

Hey boonie check out the recipe for chimay blue label i posted, it makes 15 litres and costs about $30 for the ingredients, considering you buy a 750 ml bottle for $20 i think thats pretty damn good.
Its herehttp://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... 1&start=20
Go to the bottom of the page

[Braden]

Ok, woke up and my brew is sitting at about 23 degrees. There is heaps of condensation on the inside of the lid but no bubbles coming out of the airlock. Im thinking there may be a leak so i put a film of water on the outside of the lid to look for bubbling, nothing. So the leak must be coming from the lid because i think the condensation is a sign that the brew is fermenting. Maybe my lid is too tight?

[DJ]

When you first get into brewing I know that its exciting because it looks like things are happening etc etc but...

I've learnt not to care about the airlock.. I cant get mine to work at all anymore (my threaded my lid somehow.. )

Usually leaks are that tiny that bacteria cant get in anyways..

[rwh]

Yeah, one of my beers is currently fermenting happily without anything coming out of the airlock. It'll be a leak for sure, as the condensation is a good sign of fermentation. It will be coming out from under the lid.

If you want to know if it's really ferementing, the only way is with a hydrometer.

As for risk of infection, it's still not really increased because of the reducing atmosphere (CO2) the beer creates for itself.

[Braden]

Call me stupid but i cannot work out this hydrometer. I read that you wait until around 1012 but i cant find these numbers on the hydrometer. Can someone post a pic or something that helps me understand how it works?

[lethaldog]

it will actually read 1.012 , just read your hydro and up towards the top there should be a 1.000 mark, then just add in the decimals as you read them

[Noodles]

haha I cant believe how excited im getting over a homebrew.

That's nothing Braden, the excitement hasn't started yet. Wait until you crack your first bottle after about 9 or 10 days and you can't work out how your cat managed to piss in your carboy.

[rwh]

Most hydros have a mark for 1.000 (you can check this by putting it in plain water at 20°C). Then the marks below this are marked 10 (1.010), 20 (1.020), 30 (1.030) etc etc. Mine has gradations of 0.002.

And let me reiterate, you don't wait until it reaches a particular reading. You wait until you get the SAME reading 24 hours apart.

[Noodles]

Of course then you'll do the sensible thing and open your second bottle after 3 weeks and fall in love with homerewing.