Post 1st Brew - Closet Questions

Hi All,

Its great to hop into another forum, as if I need another obsession or hobby in my life to occupy my time.

I am one of those post-holiday brewers. I got a kit from Northern Brewer for the holiday season, thanks Hadley.

Let me start by saying that I am not worried that my 5 gallon batch is somehow tainted or ruined, I spend enough time reading and watching to assuage most of my questions before I started.

Stats:
Northern Brewer Premium Kit
Three Hearted Ale Mix

-1lb Breiss Caramel 30 Grain

-9.15 lbs Gold malt syrup

-4 oz. Centennial hops during wort boil

-1 oz. Centennial hops dry hop

-Dry Yeast Safale US-05 Ale Yeast

Notes: I did not have time to refrigerate the dry yeast. It was shipped and I started brewing. There was no "heat up time" to room temp.

I started brewing in a Bed Bath & Beyond graniteware 21 quart "pot".

- Grains steeped and tossed

-Boil - stirred in 9.15 lbs Gold malt syrup

-Boil - off heat - stirred in 1 oz. hops (60 min)

-1 oz. hops (20 min)

-2 oz. hops (5 min)

Here is where my questions lie. I scooped some snow from the yard into the sink with some cool water. I had already sanitized the utensils including the thermometer. The sink did not cool the wart quickly enough so I took it outside and put it in a snowbank. Then I put the thermometer in the remaining snow in the sink and it read over 200 degrees F; move to feel.

I took the wart inside after grabbing a 6-pack from the corner store.

It felt lower than 100 degrees to the feel so I poured it into the fermenter which had been filled with sanitized water and drained. It was then filled, from the sanitized funnel from the cold water sink "hose". My question; do you need to boil or otherwise guarantee "sanitization" for all water used in the final brew? I just filled from the sink through sanitized materials.

The fermenter was filled with 2 gallons of clean cool water, then I poured in the wort, which was cool to the touch. After that had been filled I topped it off with cool water from the sink spigot.

It got a good stir with the sanitized bung and then a measure of specific gravity. I got an OG of: 1.055; the recipe calls for an OG of 1.064. OK? Nothing I could do, much less the beer spinning around my noggin so its topped with the dry yeast, bung'd and set with the sanitized bung, and set with a lock.

I know that is more of a step-by-step but im 5 hours into my first brew sequence and could use any jab to the gonads or boost to the ego. Any insight is appreciated.

Of the 20 or so extract batches I've made, all of them have been topped up with water from a garden hose. I try to remember to wipe leaves off first and not touch the inside of the fermenter with it, usually unsuccessful. 1 bad batch so far, and Im sure it had nothing to do with the water / hose.

werksmini said:

could use any jab to the gonads

Click to expand...

how could you not have beer in the house to start with!!!

as long as the snow wasnt yellow.

Your golden man, give it time and you just made beer! WTG!! RDWHAHB! oops, I mean micro brew!

I've topped off with cold water from the tap several time in my 8 batches so far and haven't had a problem so far. I think it's best to avoid it if possible, but between the risk of the water having enough bacterial content to infect the beer (in addition to any surfaces that can increase the chances of contamination) and having too much headspace, I'd rather add tap water, assuming I'm not lowering my OG too much.

Unless you didn't add all the extract or your volume was too high, you have an OG of 1.064 like the recipe said. the reason your reading was off is that it is tough to mix wort and water well enough to get an accurate reading. its impossible to be off when doing an extract recipe. if you want more accurate readings, its best to take a reading before topping off and then adjusting: Batch OG = post-boil OG * post-boil volume / Batch volume

ive never had a problem with topping with tap water, you'll be fine.