Such disappointment....
Well, this is something I certainly aim to improve upon in the future! So sorry if I out of the blue throw out a barrage of postings.
Anyway, I decided I really wanted to start brewing my own alcohols, beginning with beer! Thanks to the generosity and love from my parents, my Christmas present was a beginners brewing kit!
Oh the joy and jubilee this brought me! It may have not been a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass and sundial in the stock, but the sheer bliss of that brewing kit brought me comparable excitation to Ralphie's that crisp Christmas morn' (For reference, please see "A Christmas Story" and make yourself happy).
I must say first of all, I first wanted to begin brewing on my own after seeing a 5 gallon pickle bucket at work being thrown out. I looked at it and instantly thought what a perfect acquisition to begin my very own fermenting felicities! I could simply collect these barrels before they get thrown out and be able to brew to my pleasure's delight! The possibilities appeared endless at the flicker of my imagination's content. Little to my knowledge, it so happens that removing any sort of lingering pickle smell is a major pain in the ol' keister! I am only now, after several months, feeling that it is usable for brewing..... and I've only gotten one of these barrels to that point.......
Many of you may be rightly wondering, why not just ditch the dumb thing and buy a proper barrel? Well the answer to that is simple! I'm stubborn! And lacking any funds to do so! So free is better! Here is a picture of the stupid thing!
So as we move on, I think you can grasp a clearer picture as to my elation of receiving a proper brewing kit.
It was packed with it all! The fermenter, the sanitizer, the hopped malt extract, the bottles and caps, and tissues to wipe away any amateur's tears of joy! I was ready to start. For the first time since leaving Minnesota, I couldn't wait to get back to our apartment!
This particular kit came with a Classic American Light malt extract to make the beer. So in other words, a pretty wimpy beer (ABV a laughable 3.7%) but probably a good one to start with. And at least its patriotic! If you really care to take a look here she be: http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/1008/nm/Classic_American_Light_Standard_Refill1
Here are pictures I took for documentation of my first beer brewing experience. |
| This is the fermentor |
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| This is me preparing the HME before starting the wort |
Everything went extremely well except for the carbonation process. I believe I put the beer in the refrigerator just a couple days before I was supposed to. They gave me a general time frame in the instructions for when it would be acceptable to do so, which I waited for, but I should have been wiser and noticed that the bottles weren't quite pressurized enough. And I should have been wiser by only putting one bottle in the fridge instead of 5!
That being said, I did leave out 3 bottles and I discovered that those lucky few survived my accidental murder of carbonation. So I am at least able to properly enjoy a small portion of my batch.
Well needless to say, I cannot wait to begin my next batch (once that pickle smell is vanquished)! This next time around I'll be able to produce more (5 gallons instead of 2) and I'll be able to bottle and cap the beer for real. The whole plastic bottle and screw of cap just seemed like I was cheating!
Again, hopefully I'll be posting again here very soon. In fact I'm sure of it, so sorry.....
Also, if you are interested, be on the look out for +Josh Dégallier's upcoming video blog! I'm sure it'll be a bunch of junk, but I'm looking forward to it anyway!
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| I sure wish all my beer turned out this well! |
