Food and Drink Home brew - Page 7

I know there are some other home brewers on here; Bwana and TJ for starters.

I'm brewing my first batch ever today. It's a German wheat. Looking forward to tasting this bad boy in about a month! :-) :-) :-)
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Originally Posted by Radar Chief:
Good, getting a nice layer of foam on top? See yeast particles swirling furiously turning sugars into alcohol? This is my favorite part, next to drinking it. :-)

I have it in a plastic bucket, so I can't see the swirling (I'll have to get a 6.5 gallon carboy for my primary), but I can tell there is a foam layer on top. Probably at least 2-3" thick.
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Originally Posted by Dartgod:
I have it in a plastic bucket, so I can't see the swirling (I'll have to get a 6.5 gallon carboy for my primary), but I can tell there is a foam layer on top. Probably at least 2-3" thick.

:-) Good, that's what ya want.
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Originally Posted by Dartgod:
Exactly what I hope to get out of it.

BTW, when I left the house, the airlock was bubbling furiously! :-)

I counted the bubbles last night and was getting around 180 a minute. This morning they were coming too quickly to even count.

The bubbles have slowed quite a bit now. I counted 36 in a minute. Is this normal?
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Originally Posted by Dartgod:
I know there are some other home brewers on here; Bwana and TJ for starters.

I'm brewing my first batch ever today. It's a German wheat. Looking forward to tasting this bad boy in about a month! :-) :-) :-)

MMMMMMM.... German Wheat....

YUM!
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Originally Posted by Taco John:
MMMMMMM.... German Wheat....

YUM!

You want me to send you some? I've got some "special" packaging for you.

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Originally Posted by Dartgod:
The bubbles have slowed quite a bit now. I counted 36 in a minute. Is this normal?

Yes... Perfectly normal... It'll bubble and bubble and bubble... and get slower and slower as the sugars get eaten and digested into alcohol... Or yeast urine, however you like to look at it :-)
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Originally Posted by Dartgod:
You want me to send you some? I've got some "special" packaging for you.

Is it you or is it Bwana that owes me... No wait... You're the one who sent me the spider! :-)

That fugger was scary!
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You had to love that when you found out that a spider snuck in there...
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Originally Posted by Taco John:
Is it you or is it Bwana that owes me... No wait... You're the one who sent me the spider! :-)

That fugger was scary!

Yeah, check my post again. I added something for you...
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Originally Posted by Taco John:
You had to love that when you found out that a spider snuck in there...

Yep, sweet justice. :-)
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I leave for a day and we have fermentation! Congrats DG on your first beer and welcome to a very rewarding hobby!
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Originally Posted by JimNasium:
I leave for a day and we have fermentation! Congrats DG on your first beer and welcome to a very rewarding hobby!

Thanks. Should the bubbles have slowed down that much in one day?

Oh, and it has a faint banana aroma coming out of the airlock. :-)
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Originally Posted by Dartgod:
Thanks. Should the bubbles have slowed down that much in one day?

Oh, and it has a faint banana aroma coming out of the airlock. :-)

Yes, but it depends on the strain of yeast. Usually wheat yeasts have a very violent initial fermentation and then the airlock will go dead. That doesn't mean that your yeast isn't still working though. In general I always leave my beers in primary for two weeks and then in secondary for at least two weeks. That being said I know you want some beer to drink so you will probably want to transfer after one week. I have the luxury of having LOTS of beer ready to drink and so I can be more patient. If you become really obsessed like me you'll end up with 15 gallons in seconday and 5 in primary like I do right now.
:-)
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DG - Are you going to transfer to secondary this weekend? I have the unpleasant task of bottling 15 gallons this saturday. Bottling is the closest thing to work in this hobby. I'll be happy when I have my kegging system up and running.
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Originally Posted by JimNasium:
DG - Are you going to transfer to secondary this weekend? I have the unpleasant task of bottling 15 gallons this saturday. Bottling is the closest thing to work in this hobby. I'll be happy when I have my kegging system up and running.

Most likely. This morning I counted 9 bubbles in a two minute period. I'll probably measure the gravity tomorrow to get a beter idea.

Have you considered going to a keg system?
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