First Batch (YAY!) One Question

I started my first batch of home brew last night. The brew went well, I guess, except that I had a bit of trouble getting the temperature of the wort down below 78 degrees to pitch the yeast. I tossed in some extra cool water (about a quarter gallon and some ice cubes, so the wort was standing for about 20 - 30 minutes cooling (with a sanitized lid over it).

I forgot to toss in my irish moss at the end of the boil though. The batch is very happily bubbling away in the fermenter now. Should I just not worry about the finings and keep it for the next batch? What effect will this have (if any)?

Thanks.... Prost!

Keep the Irish Moss for another batch. Depending on the ale style, you'll have a slightly cloudy ale (IPA, Kolsh) or a slightly cloudy ale you couldn't see through anyway (stout, porters). If you want to clear it up before bottling, you can add isinglass or some other finings, chill it to near freezing and let it sit for two weeks, filter it, etc. For most ale styles, the flavor will not be impacted at all.

Great! Cloudy is no problem with me, as long as taste is not impacted. If I were to add finings after the primary ferment, would my bottling bucket be a reasonable place to do this?

All said and done.... I'll probably will just go ahead and bottle... I'm more interested in consuming and trying to brew another (varied) batch