Beer Making Diary

09/04/2010

Brew day has arrived. This afternoon I got all the equipment out I thought I would need to brew the True Brew Porter - fermenting bucket, fermenting lid, ferment lock, large stainless steel spoon, thermometer, 5 gallon pot and lid, and a pair of scissors. Then I opened the Porter kit and verified all the ingredients were there. They were. After reading the instructions, it quickly came to my attention that I needed to get three gallons of water cooled rather quickly. Thus, I filled three gallon containers and stuck them in the freezer.

Soon afterwards, it dawned on me that I had run out of sanitizer. So another 45 minutes was spent running to the local home brew store and back. At least, Peedy enjoyed the trip. This was the first trip in the truck he had been allowed to go on since it had been so hot. Not to mention, most trips last a lot longer than this one was going to be.

Making the Porter was more complicated than making the Northern Brewer American Wheat, and a heck of a lot harder than the Mr. Beer Octoberfest. Well. Let’s rephrase that - it took a lot more steps, i.e. having to steep the grains in the brewer pot for a half hour - boiling, then cooling the wort until it reached a stage where foam would not appear at boiling temps, etc.

In doing a gravity test - the reading came out 1.0045. According to the instructions that came with the kit - this is a perfect reading. So for now - everything is cleaned up and put away. And, we just have to wait to see if fermentation is going to start within the next 24 - 48 hours.

Until then - Happy Brewing.

Greetings all. Unfortunately, an old problem has returned. I am not seeing any bubbles in the ferment lock. This same problem occurred with the last two batches I made. Since the lid of the ferment bucket has been recently replaced, I tend to believe there is a microscopic hole in the bucket itself. History has shown that despite not seeing bubbles in the ferment bucket, the wort most likely is still good and fermenting as it should. I believe that holds true this time since when I lightly press the lid of the ferment bucket, a bubble will pass through the ferment lock. Next time, if I feel energetic and want to address this problem, I will sanitize some Vaseline and place in around the edge of my fermenting bucket after I had poured in the freshly brewed wort. However, from what I understand, sanitizing Vaseline is a lot of work.

On Saturday - September 3rd, I am planning on transferring the wort to my secondary bucket. In talking with my son, he believes this will improve the flavor of the porter. I personally don’t know since I never have drank a porter. Needless to say, I still will not see any bubbles in the ferment lock after I transfer the wort to the secondary bucket since the majority of fermentation takes place within the first three days after brewing.

September 4, 2010

The beer is fermenting. Despite not seeing any bubbles, I got solid proof today that the Porter is fermenting. Just before transferring the wort from the primary fermenting bucket to a secondary bucket — I did a gravity test. If you recall, the original reading when I started this batch was 1.045. It is now 1.024. Hopefully, within the next couple of week it will drop to between 1.012 - 1.014. I plan to bottle the wort on the 18th.