Today I did my first brew!

After months of reading and days of preparation, I brewed my first batch of beer (irish stout). Even thought everything went well, I'm still worried that the beer will not turn out well. For starters, I left the specialty grain soaking for a little too long. The water got to 170 F and I believe I took it out at around 173 F. Second, while cooling the wort, I left the thermometer in there and when I moved the pot, the thermometer floated in it and I picked it out with my sanitized spoon. However I'm worried that the top part of the thermometer was not complete sanitized Anyways, I hope it turns out well, it would suck if my first batch is ruined because of all those small missteps.

Those small things won't ruin your beer, don't worry! Beer is more resilient than most of us think. It'll be fine.

The first lesson I learned in making beer is "Patience" and not to worry about the small things...oh and home brew does make you fart more.

YooperBrew said:

Those small things won't ruin your beer, don't worry! Beer is more resilient than most of us think. It'll be fine.

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+1
now the hardest thing you have to do is wait.

toadyus said:

oh and home brew does make you fart more.

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Not me!!!!!!

Now, you'll need to start another batch as soon as possible so you don't think about the first one. Then, you'll need another carboy. And a bigger pot, and more ingredients, and before you know it, your basement is filled with brewing gear and bottles and you swear you only need "one more thing!".

Or, maybe that's just me. Anyway, welcome to the obsession!

ovejon said:

I left the thermometer in there and when I moved the pot, the thermometer floated in it and I picked it out with my sanitized spoon. However I'm worried that the top part of the thermometer was not complete sanitized

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Don't sweat it...the fact that you worried about such a minor flub tells me that your overall sanitization efforts were probably quite good. The massive population of yeast that you pitched will crowd out whatever bad guys might have been lurking on the tip of your thermometer! Like Yooper says, it's a lot harder than that to screw up beer.

Good choice with the stout as a first brew, a dark robust beer pretty much masks the effects of small mistakes. Welcome to the obsession!

YooperBrew said:

Now, you'll need to start another batch as soon as possible so you don't think about the first one.

Anyway, welcome to the obsession!

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My advice exactly, otherwise you will obsess about this one. Start thinking about your next brew and stop thinking about this one for at least a week.

And welcome.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I'm starting to feel a lot more confident about the batch. As for the suggestion from GaryA, I already thought of my next brew even before I started my first batch! I'm thinking of brewing a London Porter or perhaps a pale ale.

Again, Thanks for the encouragement and tips. I'll make sure to post my results when they're ready.