My First Brew Day

My First Brew Day

Brew-Day-20.jpg

Getting ready with some last minute info on the iPad A few days ago I officially took my obsession with beer to a new level. I decided that if I liked beer so much why not brew my own.So here is the article on my first homebrew day. The beer is an Irish stout, one of my favorite types, I am calling it "Schemer's Stout".

Steeping Specialty Grains

My kit came with some specialty crushed dark grains. I steeped them for 30 minutes in a few liters of water before straining it over to the primary boil pot to really get started.

Brew Day Steeping Grain

Preparing for the Boil

Spent a lot of time writing out instructions and time schedules, and preparing everything, that is one thing just about all the brewing guides agreed on. Started my yeast up in a jar to make sure it was still alive after all the shipping. After topping my primary boil kettle off with 8 more liters of water and added 3 kilos of pale malt extract. Brought the whole thing to a boil and added the majority of the hops, reserving a small amount for the last five minutes of boiling.

Brew Day the Boil

Chilling the Wort and Pitching the Yeast

We bought an apartment recently. I agreed on this one primarily because it had a bathtub I could use as a wort chiller! (oh and because it is a nice apartment) So I submerged the boil pot in cold water and brought it down to about 30 degrees C. After pouring the beer through a sieve into the primary fermenter bucket I pitched the yeast, sealed it up, and waited for the magic to happen.

Brew Day Chilling the wort and pitching the yeast

Schemer's Stout Primary Fermentation

Schemers Stout in Primary Fermentor

Fuller's London Porter

Fuller's London Porter

Tandem Double IPA

Tandem Double IPA