First Homebrew

Just did my first batch also. On the subject of chilling the wort, I'm using a 44 qt SS pot, had around 3.5 gal of wort in it, stuck it in the bathtub with cold water (no ice), and it took less than ten minutes to get down to 85, which at that time I added in almost 2 gallons of ice cold distilled water, bringing the temp to 68. From what I've read, I expected it to take longer.

 

if you take the bath in ice bath literally then this makes sense. i made my ice baths in the sink, which took up to an hour to get down into the 80s. every time i went out to my LHBS i convinced myself that it wasn't worth the expense, and every time i brewed without a wort chiller i kicked myself for not springing for an immersion chiller.

 

Cooling 5 gals is not near as fast as cooling 3.5 gals...epecially when you can top up to 5 with ice cold bottled water.

with a 44 qt kettle I'd be doing full boils...longer cooling or not.

 

I strictly followed a recipe on the amounts I used, but I am curious what is the benefit to a full boil?

 

not sure how well this would work some where else, but here in edmonton water comes out of the tap pretty F&*%*ng cold and so i just feel my tub with water and putt the pot in there. usually is around 25 C within 40 min. it takes a little more to get below 20 so sometimes i change the water one time. never had problems as far i can tell. also i just to coll out side and it would take several hours. I don't you should stress too much about cooling fast. is ideal, but not critical for good beer. (IMO)

 

Set everything out on a table in the order you are going to use. Similarly, make a list of things you have to do and check them off one by one. You can figure the list out by reading www.howtobrew.com like Vikeman stated.

 

Better beer generally...not that you can't brew good beer with a partial boil http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/pdf-printouts/full_wort_boils.pdf

Not sure I totally agree with this canned link with kettle ads at the bottom, but some good info.

 

Your beers will come out better with a full boil. If you have sufficient heating available, you already have the kettle, so consider going to a full boil brew day asap. If you're doing this on a kitchen stove, this will be difficult, regardless of kettle size, so you're probably better off staying with partial boils for a while (like you already did).

Better hop utilization is one benefit of a full boil, there are several though.

 

Make the minority in that drinking while brewing gets the creative juices flowing.

If I don't have a beer in the hand while mashing or sparging, then the hell with it.

I have gotten shit faced when I have company over while brewing, and ended up burning my leg on the burners outside. The beer turned out fine despite me adding too much hops, which is funny. Because you can never had too many hops!

 

Gordon Strong did an excellent article in a recent issue of ??? in which he discussed oxidation, among other things. I was enthralled as he described many of the flaws that seem to creep into my beers as time passes - particularly the flaws that are noted on my score sheets. I spent countless hours over the years analyzing my sanitation procedures (they're impeccable!) only to learn that oxidation may be the culprit. I never considered that because I never detected wet cardboard in my beers. Needless to say, I'm paying a little closer attention to this aspect and my efforts appear to be bearing fruit. CO2 may be destroying the planet, but it's one of your best friends in the brew house!

 

I buy in completely. Once my beer is fermented I try to do things as close to anaerobic as possible. For example, when kegging, I fill kegs with water then purge with CO2. I rack to the kegs from fermenter to keg under CO2 presure through the "out" valve, and bleed CO2 from a tube connected to the gas-in valve as it fills. When I dry hop in the keg, I fluff the hops sock in a plastic bag filled with CO2. After adding the hops I repurge the keg's head-space using CO2. I'm convinced that techniques like this all pay off with long-lasting bright flavor and aroma.