zodiak3000

Recipes 

so i went ahead and brewed my first batch tonight. everything seemed to go alright except this- i started with the 3 gallons to boil my brew and noticed when i dumped my wort into the fermenter i was left with 2 gallons. is this normal that i evaporated off this much water or what happened? i still added the water to the 5 gallon level. also, do you guys leave a lid on your brew kettle when cooling it down in the sink or ice bath? i kinda kept rotating between taking it off and putting it on cause i was unsure about the risk for contamination. i was able to cool it down though. everything else seemed ok, except i guess im just having first time brewer doubts. its all good though, my kitchen still reaks of aroma...

yusupov

Recipes 

Yeah I think that is normal.

I leave the lid off the kettle while cooling it down to speed up the cooling down process, also anyone that uses a wort chiller leaves the wort uncovered since the copper tubing sticks out the top of the kettle.

So I think leaving the lid off is fine.

Parker36

Recipes 

Sounds like a pretty calm, first time brew. Glad it went well. That is kind of a lot of boil off, but it depends on how long you boil and the weather when you brew. Nothing you can really account for your first time and won't really effect the product too much in the long run. It is just something to take note of in the future when you start having to worry about boil off when you move up to AG. As for the lid on or off: I generally left mine on, more just to keep me from dropping anything in it more than anything else (since I kept my pot in the sink and I'm a multitasking klutz - never a good combo in a brewer). If you can cool it down relatively quickly and then pitch your yeast quickly, you will be fine either way

zodiak3000

Recipes 

thanks for the responses guys, the airlock is bubbling nicely this morning so i guess i feel good about that, any feedback from some of the moderators?