Yet another "Did I ruin my brew" post heh

So, I took my first stab at brewing today. I apparently misread a secton of John Palmer's guide, and I added my first hopps right after my extracts (not waiting for the hot break stage). So now I'm left with the question of: how will this affect the final product?

Am I totally boned here?

Are you saying that you added them before the Wort started to boil?

No.... Not at all no big deal you beer will be fine.

Wow you guys reply so fast! hah

This forum is awesome hah.

My wort is currently cooling, just waiting to put it in the fermentor, pitch my yeast, and wait

You're fine. The main reason they recommend waiting 'til post-hot-break is because of the boilover risk. If you dodged that, you're fine.

Not a big deal at all. Since it's your first brew, you won't notice any difference.

Dude if i had a dollar for everytime i screwed something little like that up i would be a millionaire. Except for a couple batches that tasted bad they have all come out exceptable. The longer i brew and the longer i read a lot of experienced guys talk, the more i realize to just relax and not make it harder than what it is.

Figured I'd just bump one of these threads since I couldn't find a topic to answer my question...

Opened up my first batch to rack into the secondary, when lo and behold, I found that I had only 4 gallons of brew. I'm not saying a gallon disappeared, but rather I absentmindedly failed to top off my wort correctly. Hydrometer read at 1.010, which according to the kit instructions is in the range for FG. Just wondering if I could/should add a gallon of water when I'm getting ready to bottle. Thanks!

I used to throw them in during hotbreak with no issues. Since i started using a hop bag, it is easier to wait till hot break is over.

Prickle said:

Figured I'd just bump one of these threads since I couldn't find a topic to answer my question...

Opened up my first batch to rack into the secondary, when lo and behold, I found that I had only 4 gallons of brew. I'm not saying a gallon disappeared, but rather I absentmindedly failed to top off my wort correctly. Hydrometer read at 1.010, which according to the kit instructions is in the range for FG. Just wondering if I could/should add a gallon of water when I'm getting ready to bottle. Thanks!

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No. Let her be and bottle away. Just make sure you measure out the priming sugar correctly. It's going to be less for 4 gallons.

+1 on shecky's advice. Don't water it down if you're where you wanted to be for Final Gravity.

Save that gallon of water for your next batch!

Yeah there is nothing wrong with that everyone develops there own technique. This is all about trial and error. you do some things by accident and they end up making your beer better or worse. The time you put your hops in really effect your HBU hops bittering units. If you put it in too early it will make your beer more bitter. I have learned to wait about ten minutes after the boil settles before putting in my first hops.

You just responded to a post that was 6 months old. Cool!

Hey, I'm not sure how to post a main question so I'll post it here. I just began my frist batch of ale today and the sg reading came out around 8.5. Any advice?

mattlamers said:

Hey, I'm not sure how to post a main question so I'll post it here. I just began my frist batch of ale today and the sg reading came out around 8.5. Any advice?

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Do you have a triple scale hydrometer? You want the scale labeled SG or specific gravity- it's not the same scale all the way around the tube. I expect this is from the %ABV scale (which is useless, don't ever look at it- all it does is confuse noobs). The reading should look like 1.040 or maybe just one mark that says 1.000 and then increments that read 10, 20, 30, 40 etc.

Also: to post a new topic, to into the forum you want to post in ( so you can see all of the new threads) and look for the "forum tools" button. That's a dropdown, and one of the options is "post a new thread."

First, at the top of any forum, there is a "New Thread" button. Click on that and type a subject and the question that you have. But, to your question, are you sure you're reading the hydrometer correctly - can't have a gravity of 8.5. You might be looking at the wrong section of the hydrometer. There might be 3 or 4 columns to look at make sure you're looking at the gravity column. For the OG, it should be anywhere from 1.040 for low gravity beers and 1.1 for really high gravity beers.

Hehe, on my 2nd batch I mistakenly added the hops into the mash lol. I was worried, but the beer turned out fine.