Forgot key ingredient . .does it matter much?

Did I ruin this batch?

Working on my first brew (so excited!) and I forgot to use water. I'm doing a kit with LME and hops. I started out boiling the LME which was really messy, being there was no water. It splattered a lot and I think I even burned a little of it. With all that sticky bubbling you'd think I would have thought "hey noob . . don't you need water to make beer??". So I tossed in the hops at the right time but it was hard to stir them in but most of the pellets got down into the sludge.

After 45 mins (I just couldn't get to the full hour -- I was driking a lot and had to pee but was afraid to leave this kettle of boiling lava) I put the pot in an ice bath and cooled it down to 65 degress. I tried to dump it into my ferm bucket but now that it was cool, it was a thick as . . . I don't know, burned LME i guess!! So I grabbed a garden trowel (yes I washed and sanitized it -- very careful brewer I am) and scrapped all the black stuff into my bucket and threw in the yeast. I stirred it in as best as I could but after breaking three wooden spoons I gave up and put the lid on with my air lock (filled with a little vodka after I took a deep swig).

Here is my question: obviously I won't get near the 5gals I was looking for (right now it looks like about 3 pints of black concrete) and it doesn't seem as if fermintation has started yet (its been 2 weeks), most of the yeast is just sitting on top, rather placid looking. Shoudl I toss this one? You guys always say DWRHAHB so maybe I'm just conerned about nothing. I'm sure you guys do this all the time! Also, I wanted it to have a really unique taste so I'm thinking of adding apples and bananas . . should I toss those in now or will that ruin it?

Thanks for your help, you guys are the best!

Yeah you're good. Make sure you get all the burnt crap off the pot in to the fermenter for that nice "roasted" taste.

omg............

toss it man, unfortunetly it doesnt sound like something salvageable.

This can't be serious?

paulster2626 said:

Yeah you're good. Make sure you get all the burnt crap off the pot in to the fermenter for that nice "roasted" taste.

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I really scrapped it good . . .think I got a chunk of aluminum too. Will that leave an "off-flavor"?

This has to be a joke....

I would ferment it next to your toilet.

What was the OG? May want to have a spare hydrometer on hand when taking the reading in case the first one breaks

You'll be alright without the water. It's not that important. Hell, it wasn't even included in the kit. If it was necessary, it would have been included.

awoodring said:

I wanted it to have a really unique taste

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You can be sure (there is absolutely no doubt) that it has a really unique taste already, and with time this taste will be getting more and more unique!

This is like a test for naivety.

I think you are going to be fine. It certainly will not have a thin body and there should be plenty of mouthfeel. I'm hoping it was light LME. If so you will probably have a bit of a smokey flavor, but the aluminium shouldn't really throw an off flavor. You may need to leave it in the bottle a while to let it age as it should be a fairly high gravity brew. With that in mind you might want to pitch a second packet of yeast. RDWHAHB. At least you didn't forget the hops.

Oh yeah, apples and bananas, no. I would look at figs and avacados! Yum.

hahaha, I like this guy.

Greatest post ever!

awoodring said:

I really scrapped it good . . .think I got a chunk of aluminum too. Will that leave an "off-flavor"?

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well, your really big problem with all this is that you used an aluminum pot for boiling. any weirdness in the beer will probably be because of that rather than something simple like forgetting 1 ingredient.

It will be fine. Beer is very robust despite what people say. You might want to brew a second batch just like it and blend the two to bring your over all volume up. Cheers

IrregularPulse said:

It will be fine. Beer is very robust despite what people say. You might want to brew a second batch just like it and blend the two to bring your over all volume up. Cheers

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+1 to this and add some honey. that will give it a sweeter falvor.

WildGingerBrewing said:

+1 to this and add some honey. that will give it a sweeter falvor.

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Oats, always add oats.

It will probably be a really good breakfast beer. You could just pour it over your pancakes.

You'll be fine. I know a guy who is a "Master All-Grain Brewer" (Hell, it says so right above his avatar) and he has missed his OG target by many points before. He claims it turns out fine, so you're good to go, bro!

I'm picturing all the yeast cells saying "Oh, f*** this," and crawling out of the fermenter en masse.

JonM said:

I'm picturing all the yeast cells saying "Oh, f*** this," and crawling out of the fermenter en masse.

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I'm laughing hysterically at my desk right now. Great thread.

Just sell it as hopped extract... might get some twang on this one.

JonM said:

I'm picturing all the yeast cells saying "Oh, f*** this," and crawling out of the fermenter en masse.

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This is getting an old thread resurrected. Thanks.

Did you use liquid or dry yeast?

If you used dry yeast, go ahead and dump the batch. The only thing you made is a mess.

However, if you used liquid yeast, and a substantial amount of it, you have made beer concentrate. My grandfather taught me how to do this. Allow the concoction to ferment for about 60 days. Once it is done scoop the sludge into a jar and place the jar in your fridge.

When ever you need a beer just stir some of the concentrate into a glass of tap water. Use just a little for a lager, and several scoops for a porter.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can steep the mixture in a dirty sock for a Belgian.

Happy drinking!

haha I laughed really hard at this

this thread.

mmm. doctor scholls beer inserts

Your question is absurd, this all depends on air lock activity. No bubbles in the airlock dump it, no doubt.

According to Mr. Malty, you needed a 19L starter.

Love this thread. Hardest I've laughed in a while.

Since Simcoe hops are expensive now, toss in a cat for the piss aroma.

midfielder5 said:

Since Simcoe hops are expensive now, toss in a cat for the piss aroma.

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Wouldn't that make it taste like *****? If you want the cat piss flavor wouldn't kitty litter be better?

Newbie question: How much would 2 cups of used kitty litter bump up the gravity? Can I also use it as a substitute for marbles to reduce head space in secondary? Thanks.

carltjones said:

Newbie question: How much would 2 cups of used kitty litter bump up the gravity? Can I also use it as a substitute for marbles to reduce head space in secondary? Thanks.

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Damn noob. Kitty litter won't bump the gravity, it just adds flavor, but it will help reduce headspace. If you want to bump your gravity you'll have to boil up some more extract, use DME, it'll bump it up faster.

Thanks viking. I'll give DME +kitty litter a try. The marbles were a PITA to spit out. I'll try the OP's recipe with peanut stout; this might make a tasty brittle for Xmas gifts.

viking73 said:

Wouldn't that make it taste like *****? If you want the cat piss flavor wouldn't kitty litter be better?

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I know there is some disagreements on this, but that information is OLD. You add cat to primary, as fermentation is winding up. Litter goes in secondary for added mouthfeel.

midfielder5 said:

I know there is some disagreements on this, but that information is OLD. You add cat to primary, as fermentation is winding up. Litter goes in secondary for added mouthfeel.

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Are you calling me old?