I read over the instructions a few times and watched the video a few more. The included parts and stopper look different from the video, and the printed instructions don't provide the best visual for assembling the parts. I think I have it figured out. The parts are sanitized in the sink. The sanitizer is the C-brite pack, which should be rinsed off with water after soaking. I did this in advance, and let them air dry over the next couple of hours. I opened up the first Ranger, and took a sip ; ) Electric range is probably not the best for this, although I think it could be difficult to hold the temperature to the 144-152 degree Fahrenheit range on gas as well. Mashing was easy enough, athough I stepped out of range with the temp a few times. Time for a Ranger.
This part was a little crazy. My advice: save yourself a headache, and pick up another pot large enough to hold a gallon and a half of liquid. Two isn't enough at the point where you're holding mash at 170 degrees, heating water (4 quarts of it!) up to the same temp, and need a third pot to make your lauter tun. Larger pots would help after adding the additional water passed through the grain mash; I had to pick up the strainer to stop it from overflowing! Time for another Ranger.
This part went pretty smoothly. I was cautious about letting it turn into anything above a low boil, as I was worried about my pot overflowing, or burning off the sugars that with the help of the yeast later become alcohol. That's my worst fear in all this; what if my beer is less than 6.8% : ( The hops smell delicious, especially the Columbus hops! The oven timer is a must to time the adding of hops 6 times over the course of the hour long low boil. Time for another Ranger, and almost time to cool down and start fermentation.
Fermentation
The ice bath begins. I'm not sure if I should be sanitizing the thermometer after using it for the grain mash and water earlier? I just rinsed it in the sink. The brew pot needs to drop to 70 degrees. I used a cooler of slush snow from outside (great idea Christian!) and cold water. It took about 10-15 minutes. At this point the instructions recommend that you strain the wort one more time to add oxygen to the yeast, and to remove any remaining grain/hop crud that might be in there. I strained it into a clean pot. Then I made an error. I placed the funnel in the top of the glass fermenter, and tried to pour directly from the pot. I failed! and spilled probably half a pint on my shoes before it occurs to me that the large plastic pitcher in the cupboard would pour much easier ; )
It still seems like a lot of hop crud made it through the strainer. I add half the pack of yeast to the wort, attach the screw topper and tubing to the fermenter, and fill a dish with water/sanitizer solution for the blow-off. I used a small clamp to hold the tubing in the plastic blow-off dish. It says to keep the beer in a dark place; I wonder if the basement is dark enough? I might place a large cardboard box over everything to be on the safe side. By the time I get it down there it doesn't look so good : ( It's starting to separate like a black and tan. Hopefully the sediment that made it through the strainer doesn't ruin my first batch of IPA.
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