First homebrew Zombie Dust Clone too ambitious?

If you are using S-04, I highly recommend fermenting and pitching very cool. I would recommend pitching at ~60F and fermenting no higher than 63F. That doesn't mean 63F ambient temp. If you can't do this I highly recommend switching to S-05.

Edit: Also allow the temp to raise into the high 60s after fermentation settles down.

 

You will only be able to get your wort as cold as the water going into your chiller. You could put the fermenter in a fridge or cold area and wait to pitch if you can't get it cool enough with the chiller. I still recommend that if you can't keep the fermentation temperature low enough for the first couple days of fermentation that you don't use S-04. If the ambient temp is in the lower 60s you still will most likely will be fermenting in the upper 60s or lower 70s which in my opinion doen't work well with this yeast especially in a pale ale. S-05 is much more forgiving of higher temperatures.

Edit: Here is a link to one of many threads you will find about the issues of fermenting too warm with S-04. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/safale-s-04-wtf-134759/

 

As for aluminum and stainless, cash is king and both work well. Just don't let pbw sit in aluminum overnight.
Aeration, if you're dumping the kettle into the carboy, you can use a strainer with the funnel which also doubles as an aerator.

 

The wort chiller can't get your wort any colder than your water temperature you're feeding it. If you want to get to 60F to pitch, and your water is exactly 60F, it will take a long time to get there.

The initial chilling goes fast, even with warm tap water like I have. Once you start getting close to the temperature of your tap water, it goes really slow. Since my tap water is usually about 75F or even higher, I have a pre-chiller which is in-line (it's essentially another smaller coil of copper tubing). When I get down to about 120, I put the pre-chiller in a cooler and dump ice on it. This is the only way I can reach pitching temperature is by using ice in some way.

At home I do small 2 gallon batches with no wort chiller. This usually takes about 15 pounds of ice (cleans out the ice maker), plus I have three gatorade bottles (2x20oz, 1x32oz) that I keep full of water and frozen. When the wort gets to about 120, I dunk the bottles in starsan, then put them in the wort. It works.

 

again, you're not chilling the entire volume of water, so have the rest of it ice cold. a couple store-bought gallons at 33F will really help you when that 3.5 in your kettle is taking a long time to chill and only down to 85F...

you've got enough yeast, but as others have said this beer/yeast combo really needs to stay cool for ZD-like results. if you're prepared to do some work after fermentation has started you should be able to do it. Otherwise 05 is not a bad option. Also, put me in the column of people who believe if you're prepared to rehydrate that yeast correctly you should do so, but if not you can do some harm so you might as well sprinkle.

 

When I lived in Phx, our tap water could be 80F+ in the summer, I'd just chill as low as I could go and then toss it in my fermentation fridge to go the rest of the way down. Brew early AM, pitch yeast at bedtime, worked like a charm

 

How many cells did it say you needed? Generally one pack of rehydrated dry yeast is fine for 5 gallons of normal strength wort. If you're off by a little bit, you're fine.If it's calling for 211 billion and your yeast is fresh and you rehydrate properly, one pack should do it. If your yeast is six months old and it's calling for 330 billion, use two packs. I usually use one pack of fresh dry yeast for my normal strength beers, seems to be working just fine so far. What you are trying to avoid is a massive over or under pitch.

 

Troof be told, for 219, I'd just rehydrate one pack of fresh yeast (assuming 200 for dry)

 

I just saw this thread for the first time. You are good to go. Don't forget to have a good time brewing! A few guys here mentioned not drinking while you brew, not sure I agree with that. But.... moderation would be important.
One last thing, make sure you have a good timer.
Looking forward to hearing about the results.

 

I got trashed on a brew day. I wasn't aiming for that, but a growler lead to a bomber led to a 750. The end result was tasty beer, but I got lazy and left all my equipment to be cleaned the next day. What a mess. I will never brew drunk or at night again.

 

Brew the beer you want to drink (like another poster said).
Understand that you're not going to magically be a professional brewer in the first or second batch. Read, study, and prepare. An IPA/PA should be a great first brew. Even if you wanted to do a far more complex brew, you'd just have to study more and be patient with taking a few tries to real nail it down.

Other than that, just like anything else in life, it's a LEARNING process. So aim big, try it out, and learn from your mistakes to make your next batch better.