Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:13 am
Did the brew last night, and I'd have to say I'm addicted. Stuck to the recipe down to the minute for all the additions. Did find out with my new burner that it has a 20 minute timer so the two or three times I was minding my watch but not the timer we lost fire, but we got it right back before we lost much boiling. We also had a long discussion about adding the irish moss included with the kit, my buddy that has homebrewed a lot didn't really want it, but I figured my wife would be more apt to try a clearer beer (which helps when you are selling her on the idea).
Everything went really smooth throughout the process, however I am wondering a bit about some of our steps after the boil. We started with 3 gal in the kettle and ended up with around 2.5 after 60 minutes. Once i turned off the heat at the end of the boil, my buddy just poured 2 gal of water in to cool it. Then we dropped it in a cooler and kept a water hose on it. We dropped below 80 in about 24 minutes. However, my buddy who has brewed quite a bit was stirring a bit while it was cooling down, so I told him I thought it was best to hold off until we were under 80 (Thanks John Palmer and BN). We dropped it in the carboy and pitched the dry yeast from the kit. We will see how it turns out.
I was happy with the turkey fryer too, really heated up fast and cooled quickly. I think the thin aluminum has something to do with that. All in all, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I'm already planning the next brew. Thanks again for all the help. Without this forum and the BN I wouldn't have known my ass from a hole in the ground last night. Thanks again.
So mote it be.
