Water: I decided to use oxygenated/ozonated drinking water bought at store for first time. It said that it was designed for food preparation and I had read that it was good to have plenty of oxygen in your water for the little yeasties. In future, i will probably base my water choices on whether the recipe calls for hard water (spring water) or soft water (basically what I used this time). This time, being the first time, i didn't care so much or know what was recommended.
Day Prior: Broke yeast "smack pack" to get them going, left at room temp ~ 74 or so. (Note: in future I will start this earlier to be on the safe side. My yeast were 5 months old, and I learned later that the older they are, the longer they take to get ramped up (up to a couple of days before the bag will start puffing up). They bag was maybe a 1/2" puffed up by pitching time.
1 - Started heating 2 1/4 gallons of water.
2 - Filled sink with hot water and put bags of malt extract in to make it less syrupy and easier to pour out later.
3 - Went upstairs and made sanitization solution (1 tsp bleach per gallon hot water) in a tub and put all fermentation equipment plus some stirring spoons and scissors in.
4 - Once water in brew pot got where I could just barely touch it ~140F or so, put the crushed specialty grains in the grain bag and steeped them in the heating water (on medium heat) for 30 minutes. The water got significantly browner/darker as it steeped. Removed grain bag and let drip into pot to get last bit out
5 - REMOVED FROM HEAT. (Important prior to adding malt extracts so as not to scorch them). Snipped malt extract bags and squeezed out the syrup while stirring to keep it from sticking to the bottom.
6 - Once it was all added, brought it slowly up to boil on medium heat. Note: This took forever, I was being cautious. Next time I will turn the heat up and then turn it down to medium once it gets closer to boiling. Once it was at a settled boil, heat set on 5 on the burner.
7 - Added bittering hops. Stirred well, kept boiling. @ 34 minutes added aroma hops. Took off burner, stirred, and put lid on @ 42 minutes.
8 - Placed in sink and then filled sink with lots of ice and water to quickly cool the wort. Once ice melted. I drained the sink and again filled it will lots of ice and water.
9 - Rinsed and assembled fermentor bucket/lid and drum tap and then attached drum tap. Put lid loosely on fermentor.
10 - Poured in 3 gallons of the cold drinking water from a height (to help aerate it with more oxygen) into the fermentor. This water that I added was stored in the fridge overnight in order to help drop the overall temperature of the already somewhat cooled wort once it is added.
11 - After about 25-30 minutes in the sink. Wort was poured quickly and forcefully (again to help aerate) into the fermentor. Placed lid on fermentor. Opened drum tap to take the gravity readings with the hydrometer.
12 - I then placed the yeast packet into the santizing solution upstairs for 2 minutes, which was now much cooler (important not to overheat and kill your yeast).
13 - Shook off the yeast packet, cut it open with sanitized scissors, and pour contents into the fermentor. Stirred vigorously splashing slotted spoon into wort for (1-2) minutes to help aerate it.
14 - Tightly sealed fermentor lid (although it would prove to not be airtight....). Filled airlock with tsp or two of vodka.
Finished.
NOTES FOR NEXT TIME:
1) I will activate the "smack pack" sooner and maybe even consider making a yeast starter...
***Update: I will definately make a starter if I receive a packet that is more than a couple of months old***
2) I will heat the wort up at a higher temperature because it took like an hour to boil because I was being so cautious and using medium heat (5).
3) Maybe boil it a little harder (higher heat), so that I don't need to stir it much to mix the hops and shite that floated on top alot.
4) Check water recommendations for specific brew kit (less important)
5) Maybe buy a thermometer to help ensure that I'm not oversteeping specialty grains or murdering/bogging down yeast when their are pitched. Also would be handy given the variability of temperatures at my abode.
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