Hello all, First brew, Irish Stout, success!!!

Hey all, Just wanted to say hello. First post!

I started on an irish stout using an extract kit a few weeks ago. It has been in the bottles for about a week now and I opened one to try. Its turned out really good, a little different from guiness but I am pleasently suprised. Here are a few first time errors I made while brewing...

Broke my hydrometer and never got to get the OG. (Until racking)

Siphoned the wort after cooling into the primary fermenter instead of pouring to allow for more air. Accidentally threw excess hops away that was left in boiling pot after siphoning to primary fermeter.

Pitched yeast dry.

Broke a racking cane trying to get some siphon tubing off of it.

All in all it turned out good and after seeing some problems other people have had on the forums, my brewing went silky smooth. Cheers!

Congrats and welcome! Hopefully your equipment casualties will be lower in the future, but otherwise sounds great! You'll find tons of info here, and lots of smart brewers to help you along. My two cents are fundamental: keep it sanitary, and give your bottled beer time to mature! it is tough(for me) to resist, but SO worth it. Good luck and happy brewing,

the 2nd batch i ever did was a stout and it turned out great. probably the best until the IPA i just bottled (dont know really how well it is, warm and flat i loved it!)

things will get better with time...i've been brewing a year and still learn something new everytime. this site helps alot. alot of forums i've been on for other topics (like mustangs), this is by far full of really nice and helpful people.

>Accidentally threw excess hops away that was left in boiling pot after siphoning to primary fermeter.


Is that really an error? I've heard that you can allow the hops into the fermenter, or you can pour through a strainer and get 'em outta there. It's not supposed to make a big difference either way.

NOTE: I am a n00b, so if I end up being wrong, I apologize.

Nicely done.

Now...one piece of important advice:

Go buy more ingredients and plan your next session...