What better way to kick off October than to brew some beer. I brewed my second home brew, an oatmeal stout from American Brewmasters in Raleigh.
As I said in my 1st brew day post, there were several things that I need to change. I got the 2 things that I had the most trouble with straightened out. The keg that I converted to a kettle, and a wort chiller that I made helped make brewing so much better!
This brew was done outside with an outdoor cooker. What an upgrade from using a pot on my electric stove top. It only took about 10 minutes to get to 155 degrees, for steeping the oats. After a 30 minute steep, I added the malt, turned up the heat and got to boiling!
During the boil, I prepped my new wort chiller, cleaned and sanitized the fermenter and airlock. The 45min seemed to be about 3 hours of waiting. Have I mentioned that I can be impatient? I tossed the chiller in and boiled for another 15 minutes.
The chiller worked like a charm! from boiling to about 100 degrees to just about 10 minutes (probably less, I forgot to time it). All of the water that was sent through the chiller is now stored in a rain barrel. I think I might get a pump and only use the water in the barrel. I may need to
build a pre-chiller 1st!
The chilled wort and super easy thanks to the ball valve on the kettle. I got all but a swig of wort out.
I was really stressed after the first home brewing went. This time was a million times better. Its amazing what a few changes to equipment can do. I the next morning and I have fermentation!
Check out the pics of my equipment upgrades!
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kettle with the lid (keeps the bugs out)
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SS bottom of the brew kettle
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My homemade brew kettle, standing proud
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Steeping grains and oats
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I need to install a thermometer in the kettle
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rain barrel this is where the chiller water is sent
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another kettle shot
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still steeping
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this Bayou burner worked awesome
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steeping grains
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homemade chiller in action
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I love these fittings, they are meant for dishwashers
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Invisible heat
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Ball valve, made transferring wort really easy
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during the boil
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steeping grains (obviously)
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only 1 hop for a stout
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Soon to be beer
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About Charles
I love craft beer, with a focus on local beer scenes. NC has such an exciting culture of craft beer, I am really happy to be apart of it. I also just started to brew my own beer.
As I said in my 1st brew day post, there were several things that I need to change. I got the 2 things that I had the most trouble with straightened out. The keg that I converted to a kettle, and a wort chiller that I made helped make brewing so much better!
During the boil, I prepped my new wort chiller, cleaned and sanitized the fermenter and airlock. The 45min seemed to be about 3 hours of waiting. Have I mentioned that I can be impatient? I tossed the chiller in and boiled for another 15 minutes.
build a pre-chiller 1st!
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Sounds like a much more positive experience this time around – good to hear! Some of my favorite early extract brews were stouts…heck, my favorite all-grain brew is a dry irish stout as well. That oatmeal stout will be a great seasonal choice – I hope we can get together so I can try some!
Yeah, it was fun this time. I will try to bring a couple to Casks for a Cure on 10/24!
I look forward to hearing how the oatmeal stout turned out my friend!
Yeah man – what’s the word? Let’s see, 14-20 days fermenting, you should either be carbonating it now or cracking one open pretty soon, right? I bet it’ll be good. Best extract recipes out there are stouts, and an oatmeal stout will have a great body from the flaked oats!
I bottled them last weekend (I think). I will put a few in the fridge tonight and give them a test taste tomorrow. It can’t taste worse than the last batch anyway.
Thanks for the support guys. Its awesome!