BrewBrain Sports Investing

I put the lid on Batch #2 of Grain School today.  This time I added half a pound of Munich (10) malt to the 1.5 pounds of US Pale 2-row and the same rationing of hops.  I’m using 0.2 ounces of Cascade first wort hopping and another 0.2 ounces with 5 minutes left in the boil.

I figured out a couple more things with this batch, and I think I’m on my way to actually having a smooth brew day for the rest of these suckers.  After well over an hour of boiling on the stovetop at a very low boil, I decided to move the operation out to the gas burner outside.  That really got things hopping and I was able to boil off a lot of the wort in much better time.  I’ll need to use the outside burner from now on.  I’m not so sure, however, that using my IC chiller was a good idea.  Since it does not submerge fully, I’m somewhat concerned about infection from that thing.  It’s probably fine.

Since I hadn’t nailed my volume measurements in the small kettle yet, I overshot my boil a bit this time and wound up with a bit less than a gallon in the fermenter.  I was prepared for this - sort of - and had previously boiled water on stand-by.  However, that water was still very hot.  As luck would have it, I managed to try to dribble my thermometer on the cement patio out back.  I failed and broke it.  I knew the wort was too hot to pitch yeast, so I put the little fermenter in the freezer for a bit.  When it was cool to the touch, I pitched the yeast and locked it up.  Now, about five hours later I’m getting airlock activity, so it couldn’t have been too far off.

So, for next time, I’ll be going back to my big kettle.  It is way too big, but I did actually almost have a boilover in the 5 gallon kettle when I wasn’t at all ready for it.  Plus, it is notched for volume, so I’ll know when I’m at my necessary volume of wort.

I also need a new thermometr.  I should just start buying those and hydrometers in 6-packs.