Partial boil - wort temperature after adding water

Boiled my first batch yesterday - amber ale. Kit instructions said to preboil 2.5 gallons, then set aside to cool, covered. I put that water in the fermenter bucket. I did my boil, then cooled the wort to 70 degrees, which took about 30 minutes. Added the wort to the fermenter bucket, then took sample for gravity testing. When I took the temp for the hydrometer adjustment, I found that it was 95 degrees! I never thought to test the temp of the preboiled water before combining, and there was no mention in the kit instructions. I had to cool the entire 5 gallons, which took another 45 minutes to get back down to 70 degrees. I finally pitched the yeast about 1.5 hours after it was ready. Will the delay cause any flavor problems? The airlock is bubbling this morning, 13 hours after yeast was added.

By the way, I used bottled Arrowhead spring water. Was there really any need to preboil, or could I have added straight from the bottle?

nah, you'll be fine. sound's like it only took about an hour to get the yeast pitched, that should be a problem at all. not that i'd recommend this, but many brewers use a 'no chill' method and let their wort come to room temp naturally, overnight before pitching. and they make great beer.

You should be fine. The risk of infection is small, and the delay, in and of itself, won't affect flavor at all.

Fermentation started, so you're well on your way to having beer! Congrats!

CareyOn said:

By the way, I used bottled Arrowhead spring water. Was there really any need to preboil, or could I have added straight from the bottle?

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just saw the edit, i never pre boil bottled spring water. i'm sure some people do, and i can't say if you really 'need' to or not, but i've never had issues when using bottled water w/o boiling. just make sure they're fresh, unopened bottles. don't use the leftovers for the next time you top off.

OK, good to know I probably don't need to boil at all. Would have saved me a lot of time yesterday!