The First Batch is in the Fermenter!
Since it feels nice outside, I decided it was the day.
I’m not going to go into specifics, just the things I learned:
- My wife does not like the smell of wort.
- I love the smell of cascade hops.
- I need to prepare several bags of ice for cooling. I used up the ice maker tray, but wished I had more.
- Alternating sinks of cool water worked well; just next time I should have more ice (a la above) ready and not drain my sanitizer for it.
- I need a better thermometer – one with a long stem.
- I probably need to buy a turkey fryer and boil outside. If I do that, I should probably consider an immersion chiller.
- The Mason jar worked well for a yeast starter, but I should use a bigger one next time.
- Make sure to fill the test tube enough when getting an IG reading. “less than 1.050” is not an accurate reading.
- Obviously I took a sip of the wort from the test tube. Not bad, maybe a tad bitter. Of course it isn’t fermented yet. I’m okay with bitter beer.
I probably should have taken more pics. Anyway, the Ale Pail is in the basement fermenting, and since I am typing this and looking things up it sounds like I need to switch the airlock with the other as there is a little bit of krausen in the airlock.
I am really looking forward to bottling and drinking this!
/A