My Second Beer!

Yesterday (July 9, 2011) I brewed my second home-made beer. This was an American India Pale Ale. The IPA variety of beer is definitely my favorite, so I had to try making it. I don't have many pictures to post here, but the process was definitely smoother this time around, particularly in the area of cleaning and sanitization. I am really paranoid about the whole cleaning/sanitization process because it is REALLY important, and if done improperly, can result in a ruined batch. I used bleach to sanitize everything for my first beer, but this is not really recommended because a rinse is necessary and bleach can leave a noticeable chlorine taste. This time, I used Iodophor which is an iodine based sanitizer. You do not need to rinse anything when using Iodophor which minimizes the chances of re-contamination.

Also, this time around I wanted absolute control over the fermenting temperature. So, I purchased a 5 cubic foot Kenmore chest freezer and an analog temperature controller.

Basically, you plug the freezer into the temperature controller, and the temp controller is plugged into the wall. The probe from the controller is placed into the freezer chest and the desired temperature is set on the controller. In this way, the thermostat in the actual freezer is bypassed. When the temperature in the chest freezer rises above the desired temperature, the controller causes the freezer to turn on. When the desired temperature is reached, the freezer is turned off automatically.

So, I can now ferment at a constant 62 degrees F without having to worry about temperature swings and the generation of off-flavors in the beer. It should turn out perfectly!

As of this morning, the fermentation was proceeding vigorously based on all the bubbling occurring in the air lock. The initial hydrometer reading was 1.058. We'll have to see what the final alcohol content turns out to be, but I am predicting 5-6% alcohol.

The only thing I have to worry about now is Buster chewing on the temperature controller coils!