Concocting the Wort

02/26/2014

Here are the steps that I performed to create the wort for my first batch of beer: DARK AMERICAN WHEAT ALE, aka BEER #1.

(15:55)

Add 6 lbs. of malt extract and 1.5 gallons of water to the large pot. Boil mixture for at least 65 minutes.

• The malt extract that I bought came in 3.3 pound cans. In order to only add 6 pounds, I needed to remove 0.6 pounds from the second can. This ended up leaving around 1/2 cup of malt extract that needed to be removed.

Ideally, at this point the dry malt extract would be added to the boiling wort. However, I neglected to do this at the appropriate time. The dry malt extract was added to the wort at approx. 16:25

(16:10)

While the wort is boiling, if the carboy has already been cleansed and sanitized, fill it with 3 gallons of COLD water and place the rubber stopper in it.

It is important that the water be cold in order that the thermal shock that the hot wort will introduce does not cause the glass carboy to crack. 

(16:15)

Added approx. 1/8 cup of clover honey to the wort. It is important to add honey before the wort is done boiling in order to help pasteurize any contaminants within it.

(16:25)

Added 1 1/8 cup of dry malt extract to the wort.       

This addition caused the wort mixture to bubble up and nearly boil over. I reduced the heat and mixed the wort with a spoon until the wort settled a bit, slowly returning it to a boil. (Right)






(17:00)

Added 1 cup of WARM water and the package of ale yeast to the glass mason jar, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to sit for 20 minutes. This process will help the yeast to rehydrate and more quickly begin the process of fermentation once introduced to the wort. 

(17:40 - 17:50)

Removed wort from heat and poured it into the carboy using the plastic funnel. Next, I vigorously mixed the contents together so that the water and wort combined. I then filled most of the remaining space in the carboy with water, leaving room for the yeast/water mixture. Again, I vigorously mixed the wort in the carboy.







(17:50)

After 20 minutes of rehydration, I added the yeast mixture to the carboy. They immediately began sinking to the bottom of the solution.

(18:00)

The carboy was relocated to the location that it will spend the largest portion of its time fermenting the wort into beer. This location happened to be my bedroom closet, mostly due to its warm dark environment. I installed a simple wall thermometer to track the temperature of the fermenting beer.

My final step in this process was connecting the fermentation hose to the carboy and placing the opposite end in a plastic 5 gallon bucket. 

This process of blowing off is practiced in order to remove the initial, sometimes bitter tasting, foam of the first few and most active days of fermentation. This practice is not a necessity for brewing/fermenting and if one does not desire to include it, simply add the fermentation lock and rubber stopper instead of the fermentation hose and bucket. 




From here the beer will ferment around 8-14 days. Each day I will add an update so that its progress can be noted.