Brew #2: Belgian Ale (Part 1)

With my first brew settling out in my fermenter and a strong desire to brew up a second beer, I took a couple trips to my local homebrew store (LHBS) Doc's Cellar to pick up some supplies. I ended up with:

• 6.5gal Glass Carboy
• Carboy Plug
• 3-Piece Airlock
• Racking Cane
• Siphoning Tubing
• Star San Sanitizer
• Bottle Capper
• Bottle Caps
• SS Spoon (for the boil)
• Thief (for taking samples from the carboy)
• Belgian Ale Kit
  

The Belgian Ale Kit contains:

• Liquid Malt Extract (LME)
• Flaked Wheat Grains (for steeping)
  
• Caravienne Grains (for steeping)
• Liberty Hops
• Dark Beet Sugar
• White Labs Trappist Ale Yeast

 Here's a shot of part of my recent purchases:

The day before brewing, I made a "starter," which is basically a small beer with the intention of doubling the yeast count. This allows the fermentation to begin quickly and healthily when added to the full 5 gallon batch, reducing the chance of infection and off flavors. I took a few spoonfuls of the LME from my kit and boiled it in about 1/4 gallon of water for 5 minutes, cooled the solution, and added the yeast in a 1/2 gallon sanitized growler:

Before brewing, all equipment had to be be cleaned and sanitized. I first sanitized the carboy by filling it full of Star San solution, and after poured the solution into a old bucket which was used to sanitize anything else necessary during the boil.

It was handy to have this around while brewing since it's easy to set something down on an unsanitary surface without thinking. Next task was to steep the specialty grains - the flaked wheat and caravienne. The grains were placed into a steeping bag and thrown into a gallon of water at 160 F for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, the grain tea is ready to go into the brew kettle.