I made beer!!
 

Woohoo!!

My first batch is an australian dark ale.

Ok... the pics!!

http://www.mrpheer.com/pics/beer/1.jpg

Ok, the stuff in the pot is called wort. Its pronounced like wurt. Pretty much a special mixture of roasted malt, hops, 2.2 pounds of sugar, and 2 liters of water. It's taste is kind of hard to describe... kind of a dark, thick flavor thats a little sweet and quite a bit bitter. Its the kind of taste that fills up your whole mouth, kinda of like a cabernet wine... but doesnt taste like wine.

http://www.mrpheer.com/pics/beer/2.jpg


Ok, now the wort has been poured into the fermenter tank, and the additional purified water (I used my reverse osmosis & de-ionizer filter that use to mix up saltwater for my marine aquarium) has been added, and I used some ice to cool it down to the proper temperature. Then I added the brewer's yeast, which is what starts the fermentation process.


http://www.mrpheer.com/pics/beer/3.jpg

Checking the specific gravity. Its right at 1040 which tells me that this brew has a potential alcohol content of about 5.5 percent. Its actually reading 1.040, but brewers dont use the decimal point, they just call it 1040.


http://www.mrpheer.com/pics/beer/4.jpg

Temperature is reading right about 27C which should be perfect for the yeast to start fermenting the sugar into alcohol. Should take from 4 to 7 days to finish.


http://www.mrpheer.com/pics/beer/5.jpg

So there it is... 6 gallons of wort, just starting the fermentation process to become beer. The little clear plastic tube thing at the top is an air lock. When it starts to bubble, it will be releasing carbon dioxide from the tank which tells me that fermentation is taking place. It lets the carbon dioxide out, but doesnt let any air in. Otherwise, the wort would become 'infected' and you'd have ruined, sour beer.

After its finished fermenting, I'll pour it into the bottles with the tap and add some more sugar and cap the bottles. The added sugar will start the secondary fermentation process, which is what carbonates the beer in the bottle. Takes about 14 days, then its ready to refridgerate and drink. But I've read that if you let it age in the bottles for 3 months, it really tastes its best.

I guess you don't go on too many beer runs !!!

^^

You kidding me? I dont even drink. But that doesnt mean I cant make beer :)

hahahaha thats very cool. i wish i had the patience.... ; )

Took about 30 minutes. Unless you mean the patience of waiting for the fermenting to take place, yeah nothing can be done to speed that up.

Always wanted to try and brew my own,maybe one day

Why not today? Shit is pretty cheap.

http://www.makebeer.net

looking forward to catch it in the market

nice been a while since I made that

love the smell of wort :) so you use a containter, Ive used bottles, big glass ones. Also I had a hose with a little manual pump in it to get the beer into bottles.

smart cause you have a container with a valve. Hey are you sure bout the 2 weeks? thats really really short.

Then what are you going to do with the beer? :1orglaugh

Wow, that's really niceee! Home made beer!!

I have lots of bikers friends that are all excited that I have some brewing, I dont expect to have any problems with what to do with it :drinkup

This one has a tap with a fill valve to fill the bottles. As for the 2 weeks, no i'm not sure but thats what the directions said :1orglaugh

that airlock was just starting to bubble like once every three minutes today at noon.

Now its bubbling every 2 seconds. My house kinda smells likes beer and baked bread.

Plastic sucks

make sure everything get sterilized on the next batch or else the next batch will not fully ferment. they call it Dimethyl sulfate

I used to live next to an old guy who gave me awesome free home brew on a weekly basis, goodluck with yours Mr Pheer :thumbs:

congrats

Looks like you're off to a decent start for a first batch... malt extract, I assume?

My greatest concern is "the additional purified water" you added to the fermenter.

Are you saying you took it straight from the R.O. filter and put it into the fermenter without boiling it?

How did you use the ice? Did you just drop it in the wort before pitching, or did you sit the whole fermenter in a larger vat of ice water? Maybe invest in an inexpensive counter-flow chiller before your next batch... they're really worth the investment as (assuming the rest of your technique is on target) most problems with beer come in the chilling process, and counter-flow systems are the cheapest way to drop your temp down to pitching temp efficiently.

As a heads up: adding unboiled water to wort infects it.... and frankly, you shouldn't be adding water after the boil starts (or after the sparge if all-grain)at all.

Whatever the case - nothing that can grow in beer can kill you, so drink up, and enjoy when the fermenting's done... but if you note some obvious off-flavors when the time comes, adjust your procedure to make things more sanitary. :2 cents:

2 weeks is pretty standard for primary fermentation provided it's not an ultra high-gravity beer.

Honestly, it usually doesn't even take that long. I've brewed production beers that have been done with primary inside 72 hours after pitching.

Better beers, however, typically have an additional conditioning (in the case of lagers, lagering) period which can go anywhere from 3 days to several months (depending on style and adjuncts)... maybe even a year+ in the case of some styles like barley wines. Conditioning can take place in any air-restricted vessel... for instance: a second fermenter, bright beer tank, beer bottle... or any combination of containers. :2 cents:

my ex in laws used to make them...pretty tedious but fun to gulp once it's all done!!!

Ahhhh, good old moonshine

Be careful after bottling it because I just had some home brew beer explode about two weeks ago. Sounded like a bomb went off. It blew the bottom off of a recapped heineken bottle.

I want some!

put a balloon over the co2 release
when you wake up itll be big :D

Awesome! Sounds a tedious work!


congrats! :winkwink:

waiting for the result!