Missed a step, will this brew "miss"?

So halfway into my first home brew I think I screwed up.

After steeping the grains for 40minutes, I immediately added the first round of bittering hops (1oz Horizon) and the liquid malt extract. Then I turned on the heat and brought to a boil. I now realize I should've brought the mixture to a boil then added the LME and hops. FWIW, it took about 45min to get it to begin boiling the way I did it. This, in turn, causes all sorts of problems in determining how long to boil and when to add additional hops. Woops.

Anyone had experience here or have an idea of how the brew will turn out? I went through with anything just incase it turns out OK, but at this point expectations are low.

Thanks for the help.

Did you then proceed to boil for the full time you were scheduled for with those hops? I know you don't really get full utilization(?) unless it's boiling, so I'd think you'd probably just have slightly higher ibus overall-but a ruined beer, I think not. If I were you at that point in time I would've maybe added some more malt to balance the bitterness out...but that's ok. What style were you brewing?

Also, it doesn't matter when you add the malt pre-boil. I usually add mine before the boil starts when I'm dealing with DME, because it's a ***** to add as the water gets warmer.

I brewed the full time with those hops, yes.

It's a west coast-style IPA.

I guess a better question at this point is: can I take a draw of the liquid and tell if it's going to be alright? This just happened but an hour ago, so I imagine it's not too deep into the process.

Then yeah...you'll just have a more bitter IPA (nowhere near as bitter as if those extra 40 minutes WERE boiling), which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. The beer will be far from "ruined" though- you may end up enjoying it more in the end, who knows. It's all in the learning experience, some of the mistakes you make may turn out to be some of the best brews you've ever done.

haighter said:

I guess a better question at this point is: can I take a draw of the liquid and tell if it's going to be alright? This just happened but an hour ago, so I imagine it's not too deep into the process.

Click to expand...

The beer is going to be fine. It's not like it'll be infected or "bad" or anything like that. Extra heating on the hops just means better utilization which relates to higher IBUs...but since that extra time wasn't even at a full boil, I don't know how much it'll even add to the IBU. The balance between malt and hops may be a bit off, sure, but you'll be fine.

As far as sampling the wort goes...You can taste it, but I've sure as hell never tasted a wort that blew my socks off. Most of the time...it tastes...well, I never judge my brews by the taste of the wort, that's for sure. It's good to be familiar with the taste of your beer throughout the process, but I wouldn't let it be indicative of anything to come. Plus, if it DOES end up being too bitter, that's nothing a little time won't help as well. :cross:

It will be fine, and you most likely will not even notice an increase in the bitterness. Now try to keep the fermentation temperature in range, sanitize everything and your have some good beer.
Welcome to homebrewing.

some people (they shall remain nameless ) do that on purpose

Dont sweat it Make sure to use the boil time, not the time leading up to the boil. The extra time on the hops will only help an IPA in my opinion. As long as you stirred the LME good before you flamed your pot it will rock.

Tell yourself it wasn't a mistake. You did this on purpose. Many people do this same technique, it's called FWH or first wort hopping.
The only difference is when most do it, they add hops both before and during the boil.

It should be just fine.

Richabt has the right idea. Technically an all-grain thing, there's no reason you can't do it with an extract batch.

Alright, thanks everybody. Not worried anymore, this is the fun part.
I did take a sip of it before putting it in the primary and it actually tasted pretty good, surprisingly. Wasn't overly bitter, just tasted like an (almost) beer.


I'll update. Until then, thanks.