Fermenting On the Cold, but Active Side

I just checked the status of the brewing beer: It is at 66 F, and I saw a bubble come up through the air lock. I take this to mean that fermentation is active. All is good.

Beer is fermenting

After I drove over to 7-11 to pick up the ice, my truck decided that it would be a good time to not start...so I wrapped the ice in a blanket from my truck and walked home (thank goodness for corner stores that are only a couple blocks away).  I made back it just in time to set the pot in the sink with the ice and cool it to 80-85 F.  We poured in the 2 gal of cooling water right away, and after about 10 minutes, the pot cooled to about 85 F.  We then started the difficult process of pouring the pot of wort into the carboy.

One issue with this setup was that with 5 gallons, the pot was too unwieldly to pick up and pour--I accidently tipped it and lost a bit of wort wh

ile trying this.  I washed my hands, sanitized them in the bucket o' iodine-water, and then 

used a sanitized 2 C measuring cup to start scooping and pouring the wort into the carboy.  When we finally got it to a managable volume, we poured the wort into t

he funnel with a filter.  The filter th

at came with the kit was nearly useless in this case, because it fully clogged almost in

stantly (the picture of the sink might tell you why).  We removed this filter, and instead used a hand-held strainer.  It wasn't as fine, so we'll have more solids in the container, but at least we were able to get the wort through it.  Unfortunately, we got so distracted by the problem of getting the wort in the container that we forgot to leave enough in the pot for a specific gravity measurement.  I guess we'll have to taste-test the alcohol content later :-D

By the time everything was poured, 

the wort had chill

ed to just about 78F, so we pitched the yeast (why say pitched, when 'poured' works just as well???), capped and airlocked the carboy, and set it in our Harry Potter closet to ferment for the next couple weeks.

As I write, which is only about an hour and a half after completing the brew process, I hear the airlock bubbling away.  

The brew kittens hear it too.

Bittering Hops Added, 60 minutes to go

The wort is now boiling heavily, and the bittering hops are in.  It smells like warm beer in here now.  In 45 minutes we'll start to add more ingredients.  Updates to come

And remember, cleanliness is key: Nimrod is keeping clean.

Approaching the 60 Minute Boil

The grains simmered for 25 minutes; we resumed heating and removed the grains at 170F.  Once the mixture reached a boil, we removed from heat and added the malt extract, malto-dextrin, and liquid malt (Darren is scooping the molasses-like malt in one of the pictures).  Once dissolved, we placed the pot back on the burner, and now we are waiting for it to return to a full boil.  At that point, we will add the bittering hops and let it boil for 60 minutes.  In the mean time, one of us will run to 7-11 for some ice for the cooling process at the end of 60 minutes.

The brew cats are currently going insane, running everywhere, after having been cooped up at the beginning of the brewing process.  Little do they know, we'll lock them in again at the end of the 60 minute boil--for their safety and ours.

Starting the Brew Process Today

So Darren and I have started the brewing process for the Sierra Foothills Pale Ale.  On Thursday night, we stuck two gallons of Safeway brand spring water in the fridge to be used as cooling water once the boil is finished.

We have already sanitized all the equipment with Iodophor, and we are currently letting 3.5 Gal of water with the Specialty Grains sit in 155 F water.  In about 20 minutes we'll resume the heating process.  Currently, the glass carboy is sitting full outside with iodophor/water.

Our brew kittens have been locked in the laundry room for a large part of the process, since they have a bad habit of getting tangled in our feet when we're in the kitchen...I'd hate to accidently dump 5 gallons of nearly boiling water on the brew kittens.  But for now, they are entertaining themselves while things simmer.