Saturday, August 14, 2010 – a day that will live in infamy…
Ok, well, that may be sort of blasphemous, but it certainly will live in infamy to me.
.
On Saturday, August 14, 2010, I brewed my first beer.
.
It was fun and exciting and hard and frustrating and hilarious and super and I’m in love…
Armed with the knowledge I’d gained from reading The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian, the equipment I’d purchased, and the support of my home brewing Twitfriends, I set out to brew a Belgian Black IPA. Here is the story of my journey…
Great way to start of the Brew Day- the carboy melded into the plastic bucket. How did I solve it? Heat them both in a hot water bath.
Good ol' fashioned Brooklyn water
16oz of Special B, 16 oz of Crystal 20L
The malts steeped for 30 minutes at 155°F, and yes- that is 10lbs of Liquid Dark Malt extract loosening up next to it
The magical recipe
3 oz Warrior Hop Pellets, 4 oz Cascade Hop Pellets, WLP 530 Abbey Ale Yeast
Can you tell that I'm excited?
This was my brewer's world...
Hops!
Wort
Pay no attention to the Muppet feet...
Introducing... Pain in the BIPA
So this is love...
August 15, 2010
Stevie Caldarola
Basicallyred - To Be Read, Basically 
7 responses to “Homebrew Adventure Day #37 – Brew Day!”
Gareth
August 16th, 2010 at 09:50
Black Belgian IPA sounds like an awesome first home brew! Looks like it went pretty smoothly too. Word of caution: it doesn’t look like you have very much headspace on that carboy to be using an airlock. Not sure how that yeast is, hopefully it doesn’t go too crazy, but I would consider using a blow-off tube for the first couple days just to be on the safe side 🙂
BasicallyRed
August 16th, 2010 at 12:17
Ha- yeah- I ended up putting a blow off tube on the carboy- this puppy is pretty gassy!
Billy Broas
August 16th, 2010 at 10:40
Wohoo! Your first homebrewed baby. Such a beautiful one too. Mine was a nut brown ale and it’s still one of the best beers I ever made. Mainly because it was such a special one. Congrats!
BasicallyRed
August 16th, 2010 at 12:17
Thanks, Billy!
100beers30days
August 16th, 2010 at 12:55
It looks amazing! You inspire me to want to brew!! Congrats and Cheers!
Brandon Jacobs
August 16th, 2010 at 14:29
Great post and looks like a great beer! Glad to hear that you switched to a blow off tube. The Muppet feet made the experience for this one.
craige
August 20th, 2010 at 15:06
Are you just trying to show off your Westvleteren case? Because 2 can play that game! Although we chose one that is all old and crusty. Congrats on the beer making, by the way. We got the supplies a few months back, but haven’t done it yet. I think the fall will be the time to get started on that for sure.
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