First ever home brew today

My first ever home brew batch is in the primary! Having said that, I know I made some mistakes. Biggest mistake? Not pre-filling and marking the 6 gal carboy at the 5 gallon level. I don't know how much liquid was lost to boiling. I added water to bring level in the primary up to where I thought it should be. The SP was 6 points higher than target, but the volume looks right, so I left it and pitched the yeast.

Any advice or comments anyone?

Primary: Pre-prohibition Lager

Congrats!
I would not worry about the SG, you will just have a little stronger beer.

What about extra hops/bitterness? The recipe calls for about 18 IBU. I mistakenly added too much hops to early, according to calculations it should turn out to be about 24 IBU.

Sounds like you made a very good beer. Now it's time to sit back, relax, wait and and enjoy the yeast storm.

i always enjoy watching them ferment in the carboys. too bad i hate handling them and pulling off gravity readings from them

okiedog said:

My first ever home brew batch is in the primary! Having said that, I know I made some mistakes. Biggest mistake? Not pre-filling and marking the 6 gal carboy at the 5 gallon level. I don't know how much liquid was lost to boiling. I added water to bring level in the primary up to where I thought it should be. The SP was 6 points higher than target, but the volume looks right, so I left it and pitched the yeast.

Any advice or comments anyone?

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Congrats on the first batch. It seems like you did a great job, it's important to keep good notes and analysis your process so that you can make adjustments and improve your brewing process. Regarding the OG, I'm not sure how much water you added to reach your final volume, but adding water can skew the gravity readings as the water and wort may not have been mixed thoroughly enough; it takes a lot of mixing to get an even sample.

Marking the carboy at the 5 gallon mark is a good idea, you may also want to make marks at 5.5, or 5.25 gallons. If you get exactly 5 gallons into the fermenter, you'll probably not have 5 gallons at bottling time due to absorption and transfer loss. Many home brewers aim to get 5.25-5.5 gallons into the fermenter in order to get a full five gallons at bottling/kegging time. That's something that took me a few batches to get right. Good luck, enjoy your first beer and enjoy the process to making even better batches in the future.

Thank you for your advise. I intend to take the total weight minus weight of empty carboy after transfer to get the liquid weight. Then take FG X 8 and divide into liquid weight to get volume. I did vigorously shake an slosh the wort and added water in the fermenter. Also, the temps of the 2 liquids were equal or very close, which should facilitate better mixing.

It turns out that I was about a quart low on my guessed volume in the primary. After gravity samples were taken, the volume transferred to the secondary is 4.75 gal. That probably explains why the OG was 6 points higher than expected. That I'm not worried about. It's just a gentle reminder to get it right next time! After 2 weeks in primary with D-rest (now in secondary), it tastes good. That I do care about! Now, with filled and marked carboys I won't have to guess at the volume. Same goes for the brew pot, with marked up stir spoon.

Thanks for all the hel[p and encouragement.

okiedog said:

My first ever home brew batch is in the primary!

Any advice or comments anyone?

Primary: Pre-prohibition Lager

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Congrats! Stepping out with a lager on the first brew too. Continued success.

"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, waste a lifetime." Congrats.

Thanks. Yep, I went with lager to take advantage of the cool weather. I don't have a temp controller yet, but I do have a temp monitor and remote temp sensor and sensor bulb. I'm fermenting in the coolest room. It is on the NE corner of the house, away from afternoon sun, with shaded window. Frozen half liter water bottles against the carboy, all covered with a heavy blanket keep it cool. I'm brewing a classic pilsner today and then an ale when the primary is available again. Any special tips for making pilsner?

fluidmechanics said:

"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, waste a lifetime." Congrats.

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Brilliant!!

okiedog said:

Thanks. Yep, I went with lager to take advantage of the cool weather. I don't have a temp controller yet, but I do have a temp monitor and remote temp sensor and sensor bulb. I'm fermenting in the coolest room. It is on the NE corner of the house, away from afternoon sun, with shaded window. Frozen half liter water bottles against the carboy, all covered with a heavy blanket keep it cool. I'm brewing a classic pilsner today and then an ale when the primary is available again. Any special tips for making pilsner?

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Special tip: patience. I'm known for going grain to glass in as little as 14-18 days with ale; however, lager beer just takes more time- 2 to 3 week primary (around 50F) then I keg and lager (cold condition) at 34F for another 4 weeks before drinking.

You made a very good beer. Now feel relax and then, enjoy the yeast storm.

Just a quick update on my 1st home brew, - Mash / extract (mini-mash) Pre-Prohibition Lager. We opened a bottle and tasted it last week. My son-in-law loves it! Everyone who tried it liked. It was a hit on St. Patty's Day and it's going fast. I'm stoked! My first homebrew and it's a success! Thanks to everyone here at HBT and the wealth of good info and advice I got reading all the posts. Sure makes me want to keep brewing.

Thanks everyone!