Hello from a new brewer

Hello all!

I just recently got into homebrewing. I've been talking about it for a long time, but never got around to trying it. Recently at a family reunion my cousin mentioned how he was taking it back up, so he lent me his copy of "Joy of Homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian, and I read the first half of it before venturing out to my local homebrew store.

I picked up a Brewer's Best European Bock recipe, and made my first batch the following day. That batch is currently in it's fourth day of fermenting.

Some comments/questions on the process:
- All the directions say is to cool the wort 'rapidly,' but none of my references give a number to the rapidness. How quickly does it need to be cooled to 70°? I put my brew pot in a water/ice bath and got it down to 80° and started worrying that it was taking too long, so I put my yeast in at that temperature.

- I did my best to be sanitary, but we'll see how good I was once the beer is ready. I know nothing in there will kill me if I did it wrong, but what could possibly happen? Just a bad tasting beer?

- Man it's hot! My AC can't keep up and my brew has been fermenting at 77-79°. I'm hoping that's not too hot and the beer will turn out nice.


Anyway, I'm still doing a lot of learning, and I hope to continue to brew and get better at my recipes. I just wanted to pop in here and introduce myself!

Let me be the first to welcome you to a most excellent forum. As far as your questions, There are much more knowledgeable people on this forum than me but I'll offer up what I can.

- It normally takes me 30-35 minutes to cool my wort to 75-80 degrees in an ice bath.

- My first brew was pretty foul and most of it can be attributed to my lack of sanitation.

- I know some yeast like the higher temps but I don't know about your bock.

Good luck and welcome.

Welcome
Remember its BEER and if it tastes like crap feed it to your lawn or snails they love beer, and arnt nearly as picky as us.
cheers
JJ

Welcome.

The higher temps may result in fruitier tasting brew than expected.

If you've hopped it up it may compensate for the fruitiness/sweetness, but being a bock I'd doubt it unless you like them dry like a stout.

Thanks everyone for the responses!

I've been sniffing the airlock for the past few days just to see what it smells like. Since this is my first time, I don't know what beer should smell like at this stage, but it most definitely smells like beer!

My original plan was to ferment for one week and then bottle (what the directions say), but after reading in the Beginner's forum, I'll attempt to have patience and do the 1-2-3 method.

Anyway, thanks for the responses, and if I have any more questions I'll move them over to the Beginner's forum.