New Poster, 5th or so brewing, DUMB Mistake..or was it?

Hello everyone-

This is my very first post here and as it is w/ many first time posters, i have a problem/question.

Bought the True Brew Brewing kit that comes w/ the Glass Carboy. Also got the Octoberfest kit as my first batch.

Anyway, long story short- Cooked up the brew last night and for some reason i thought it would be a good idea to put the hop pellets into the grain bag. (i dunno...i read the instructions and didnt see when the hops were supposed to be added so i added them to the grain bag and "steeped" them...ugh!!)
I realized while steeping that this was a mistake, had no additional hops available to me so i kinda moved the steeping bag around enough to get the hops somewhat dissolved. The brew was greenish at this point (no extract added yet) so i did manage to get some of the hops dissolved.

I added the ME and continued on- Everything went well, the wort looked and smelled great and even tasted pretty decent.

my questions:
1) has anyone done this before and what did your brew turn out like?
2) the wort is fermenting (bubbles in the airlock) however the foam was very "hoppy-green"- that normal??

- for informational purposes, theres a You Tube video of someone brewing this exact batch and his fermenting wort looks EXACTLY the same.

I hope im ok... ugh..this stinks!!

thanks
Paul

You'll be fine. You will have beer.

Time was, your choices for adding hops were early, middle, or late in the boil, plus dry hopping. Nowadays, people also add pre-boil ("first wort hops"), and in the mash. That's what you did - mash hopping - there are recipes that call for that, so how could it be terrible?

Enjoy the beer you get, and enjoy your next batches.

you have some hops in the fermenter. let them settle out after fermentation is done. siphon carefully. enjoy.

It might head toward a little more bitter. No big deal. I have always left my hops to settle into the trub at the bottom.

Did you add any flavoring or aroma hops later? It will probably be decent beer.

Wheeew... Thank goodness!

you basically did a "mash hop"/"first wort hop", which many people do intentionally!

Im stoked to hear all the positive replies.. Definitely cant wait!! On a somewhat related note, My airlock has ceased bubbling, probably had a steady stream of bubbles for approx 36 hours. I've read some other posts that say dont go by the airlock entirely however a reassureing.. "hey -dont worry, itll be fine" doesnt hurt to hear..

so?? Am i still ok?

I noticed that the wort is beginning to clear at the top and still looks murkey from 2/3'ds the way down the carboy to the floor.

BTW...Hop pellets don't actually dissolve, they just break up into a green mush. I brew All Grain and I put my pellets into a tea bag and let them go in the boil. I've "mash hopped" once. It was nice, but a bit too bitter for me. Everything will be A.OK Enjoy the hobby!

Stop fiddling with it and just brew another batch. This is what I like about loose lids: no airlock to worry about, check or sniff... Check your gravity in a week if you must or just leave it alone.

jfr1111 said:

Stop fiddling with it and just brew another batch. This is what I like about loose lids: no airlock to worry about, check or sniff... Check your gravity in a week if you must or just leave it alone.

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I agree wholeheartedly.

The batch I did the other night is going along really nicely. I can lift the lid and smell it.

Disclaimer: This only expresses the opinion of a flea bitten, back to nature, hop loving, slacker that can't afford real equipment. Thank you for not throwing rocks ;-)

i did about 5 cases of oktoberfest beer. it will get drank tomorrow night. it's been sitting for well over a month and it is great beer to say the least.

back up, leave it alone. in a few more weeks start thinking about bottling it. not till then. just becuase you don't see bubbles all the time doesn't mean they aren't popping out when your not around. if you have a 3 piece air lock just look at it. there will be a bubble ready to come out i bet. don't mess with it. let it come out on its own.

leave it alone for at least 3 more weeks!!!! then bottle and let it sit for a month at least. you'll be glad you did!!!!

i just learned time is our friend in this hobby. leave it alone and let it set for at least 3 weeks. bottle it and let it sit a month. you will be rewarded with a fine beer if you do so.

What was the recipe??

It was the True Brew Octoberfest "kit".. Sorry, not ready for mixing and matching my own ingredients.

Ok so.... I bottled today

the instructions for the kit say to bottle a week after you notice fermentation has stopped. Its a been a little bit longer than that..

Anyway, I transfered from the Carboy to the bottling bucket, letf behind a whole bunch of sediment..Bottled somewhat cloudy but not bad at all. I ended up w/ 45 12oz bottles. I was expecting at least 48 but oh well...

I will stop back in about a week and then again in the weeks following as i test the results

Did you taste it? It will change a bit through bottle conditioing, but it kind of gives you an idea of the final results.

Yes, It actually tasted pretty good. Pretty much a flat but sorta sweet octoberfest'ish taste. I liked it and am very excited about how it will turn out!

Just an update...

Successfull batch- Good taste good Carbonation...very nice overall-- A little too much sediment at the bottom of the bottle.. Any suggestions to help that?

stussy2870 said:

Just an update...

Successfull batch- Good taste good Carbonation...very nice overall-- A little too much sediment at the bottom of the bottle.. Any suggestions to help that?

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pour carefully?

letting it sit in primary, or even doing a secondary can help get extra sediment out of it

leaving it in the primary for 3 weeks and bottling from there will really help cut down the amount of sediment you have in the bottle.

OK awesome- I kind of figured as much but you guys are the experts so never hurts to ask.