After doing a bit of research into home brewing beer, I finally decided to order some equipment and give it a try. I ordered a brewing kit (a Beer Machine Model 2000) from http://www.beermachine.ca/, and it arrived a week or so ago. I didn't really have time to do anything with it at the time, as I was heading home for a few days over reading week. When I got back, I got started.
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009:
Having already completed the pressure test, I read over all the provided documentation again and proceeded to sterilize the beer machine. As I was rinsing it out afterwards though, the feed tube fell out of the spigot. Oops. I guess I was sterilizing a little too vigorously. So I had to take the whole thing apart again, re-insert the feed tube, and put the machine back together again. And then sterilize it... again. I tried to pressurize the machine slightly so that I could open the tap to sterilize the feed tube and tap itself, only to realize that when I reassembled the machine, it hadn't sealed properly. I was starting to get a little frustrated by now. Tried taking it apart and reassembilng it again but couldn't for the lift of me get the main seal to fit in properly. I left it alone and went to bed.
Monday, February 23rd, 2009:
Back to classes again. After I got home, I tried fitting in that pesky main seal again, but to no avail. About half the seal would go in properly, but the rest refused. Is home brewing supposed to be this frustrating? I went to go play some Starcraft. Maybe the seal will work next time.
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009:
Success! I finally got the seal to go in properly again. I sterilized the machine, and found that it was pressurizing just fine. Excellent. Now to start brewing! The machine came with an American Lager beer mix, and I had also ordered a special 3-pack Piggy Back Special (1 each of Czech pilsner, normal pilsner, and a porter), as well as a 3-pack of Irish stout. The 2-pack of Scotch Ale that I ordered is temporarily out of stock, so they're going to ship me that along with the bottling attachment for the beer machine as soon as they become available, estimated to be mid-March. Anyways, I decided to go for the American Lager first. That mix seemed to have split slightly in transit. When I called customer support they said that it should still be ok, but even so, if it's split, I'd rather make it up sooner than later. Besides, it'll give me a chance to figure out what I'm doing without risking screwing up on one of the (likely) tastier flavours, such as the stout!
Anyways, I followed the instructions, partially filling the sterilized beer machine with water, then opened the beer mix and poured in the contents (malt powder & hops). Some of the powder escaped from the slit in the bag as well as from a smaller, previously unseen slit and made a bit of a mess, but I hope that shouldn't affect things too much. After emptying the bag, I cleaned up the spilled powder, topped up the beer machine to the fill line with water, and put on the cap (the defoamer cup, pressure control unit, and the cap itself). I cleared out a spot in the bottom of the pantry/hall closet, and put the machine down there out of the way, sitting on a little waterproof tray I made. Now we wait.
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