Nice Rack!

So, last night we racked the first batch of beer. A few observations and things to remember for next time:

First, microwaving vinyl tubing to sterilize it is a great idea. Leaving it in the microwave unattended while you do something else is a horrible idea. It was a smoking, charred puddle of ooze in the microwave. The vapor given off was so horrible it stung my eyes, irritated my throat, and make me cough instantly. JP, M & J had to vacate Headquarters. So, don't do that again.

After JP and M got back from the store for more tubing, we did the transfer to the glass carboy. It went well. First, the sample we took for specific gravity came out at 1.014. With the initial at 1.060, that gives % Alcohol = (1.060-1.014)/1.060 = 4.3%. Not bad for the first week of fermenting. I expect the specific gravity will continue dropping a bit over the next two weeks, so we'll probably end up at around 5% alcohol.

We were really worried, as the bubbler hadn't moved in the whole week. I looked in about day 3, and it was tan frothy stuff that smelled like beer, not festering goo, so I figured it must be OK. When we finally took the top off the bucket I could see what had happened. The original bucket lid we had was broken. We were really lucky and J & R had brought another with them. It was a really nice one, with an o-ring seal and everything. It appeared to fit really well. The problem is appearances can be deceiving. It was a touch too small, so it looked great, snapped on fine, but in four spots around the lid away from the tabs it clearly did not seal. Luckily it looks like it was tight enough to keep stuff out, but confused us all week with the non-functioning bubbler.

The auto-siphon worked fine, but the 8 feet of replacement tubing JP got, cut in half, really was not enough. Next time we go 6 feet for the transfer. It worked pretty well at not transferring muck, as it sits up above the bottom by 3/8" or so. There was definitely some, but if I lifted it a bit, or kept it in one place, it didn't do so bad. We closed off the carboy with a stopper and the same bubbler (wiped with alcohol on the outside stem) and put it on the shelf. Clean-up of the bucket was easy, just natural soap and water.

This morning we visited, and the sediment we transferred had settled out nicely, and the bubbler had lots of pressure behind it, so it looks like everything is ok. In a couple weeks we'll bottle it and should have our first beer.