Ruined My IPA?
 

So my second brew got underway lastnight in brewing this American IPA kit. American IPA | Keystone Homebrew Supply

Being that you're supposed to drink and brew, I decided a Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA would be fitting, which it was. However, a few beers in, I look at the recipe and see that I need to add my second bag of DME to the mix after 40 minutes. But I only realized AFTER mixing in the DME that I put it in when my timer, which was counting down from 60, said 40, a full 20 minutes too early.

How is that going to affect the outcome of the beer? My initial thought was that it would end up being darker being that the malt had more time to heat and boil, but then again, it's only my second brew and from a kit none the less.

Any ideas?

It'll be fine. RDWHAHB

If everything else is on target, I imagine it will taste just fine. I hope you added the hops at the right times though or it may cook out the flavors.

In for answers.:fro:

You're right: your beer will be slightly darker, and some people complain that adding DME too early in the process leaves a tinny or tangy flavor called extract tang. Other people don't notice a difference at all.

This certainly did not "ruin" your IPA, but it would be good if you try to observe how it makes your finished beer different; then you can make educated decisions about how to brew in the future.

Yeah, what they said, you should be fine. Just out of curiosity, was this a full-boil or partial-boil?

One of the biggest reasons for late extract additions (aside from color considerations) is hop utilization. The higher the gravity of the boiling wort the lower the hop utilization factor. so you might get slightly (very slightly) less bitterness than the recipe intended and slightly darker color. 'extract twang' comes from using old stale extract.

p.s. this is exactly why a friend (and very successful award-winning home brewer) doesn't drink during brewing!
:)

His, very honest, reasoning is that he's heard numerous examples of just plain goofs ranging to, you know, 'issues' with those BOILING and hot metal parts of the process not to mention broken carboys, dropped fermenters, etc.

"let's be careful out there"

'

It was a partial-boil. The final gravity ended up on the nose. My concern was more for the outcome of the entire batch more than anything.

But after going through that process lastnight, I went ahead and got another kit of the same IPA and brewed again. I'm easily hooked to new hobbies I enjoy. I followed the recipe to a T tonight yet the OG ended up being around 1.08 instead of the recommended 1.066.

I'm still learning as I go and started a notebook to track everything I did in the brewing process. Best way to learn!