Last night was a disaster. I feel like everything that could've went wrong, did.
Brewed a black IIPA- recipe is here: http://hopville.com/recipe/591764/imperial-ipa-recipes/yodas-darkside-ipa
For starters, I noticed what looked like little white chunkies in my wort- it looked like curdled milk. I'd never seen anything like it in my first two brews.
Then I forgot to add my irish moss and yeast nutrient, so I tossed those in for only about 5 minutes (my LHBS suggested 15 for each)
Next, it took me ages to chill the wort. This was my first full boil, and I didn't have a wort chiller. I used a bathtub full of ice, and when I realized how long it was going to take, I filled ziploc bags with salt and ice, sanitized them, and dunked them in the wort. Even then, it took probably about an hour to chill to pitching temp.
When I finally was able to funnel it into my carboy, I discovered that the entire bottom of the kettle was scorched pitch black. Stupid electric stovetop.
Also, it turned out an ugly brown, rather than black. I'm sure it will darken as it clears, but it's much lighter than my stout was post boil.
I'm convinced this batch is gonna turn out like crap. How much of this is beginners paranoia? Or does this really sound like the disaster I think it is.
Brewed a black IIPA- recipe is here: http://hopville.com/recipe/591764/imperial-ipa-recipes/yodas-darkside-ipa
For starters, I noticed what looked like little white chunkies in my wort- it looked like curdled milk. I'd never seen anything like it in my first two brews.
Then I forgot to add my irish moss and yeast nutrient, so I tossed those in for only about 5 minutes (my LHBS suggested 15 for each)
Next, it took me ages to chill the wort. This was my first full boil, and I didn't have a wort chiller. I used a bathtub full of ice, and when I realized how long it was going to take, I filled ziploc bags with salt and ice, sanitized them, and dunked them in the wort. Even then, it took probably about an hour to chill to pitching temp.
When I finally was able to funnel it into my carboy, I discovered that the entire bottom of the kettle was scorched pitch black. Stupid electric stovetop.
Also, it turned out an ugly brown, rather than black. I'm sure it will darken as it clears, but it's much lighter than my stout was post boil.
I'm convinced this batch is gonna turn out like crap. How much of this is beginners paranoia? Or does this really sound like the disaster I think it is.