First Brew, 2 weeks in the Primary Fermentor

I have a few question regarding my first batch...

1. While steeping the grains, the water itself did not rise above 170 degrees, but in my efforts to keep the water above 155 I kept adjusting the stove. The bottom of the pot itself rose above the 170. My question is will that cause tannins to leach into the wort? It was only for a cumulative minute or so, each time i noticed it i quickly dropped the temp on the stove back down.

2. The batch has been in the primary for 2 weeks now, I read that cold crashing will result in a clearer beer. I moved the primary into the garage to cold crash around 40 degrees for one week before bottling. Did I move the primary too soon? I would guess that the yeast will not effectively clean up in those temps as they are dropping to the bottom of the bucket. Should I bring it back to fermentation temp for another week, then cold crash? Revvy wrote that he has clear beer without cold crashing but I imagine his bottling technique has been perfected where this will be my first attempt... I am hoping the cold crash will give me a margin of error in bottling so I can still come out with a clear beer.

I know this was a lengthy post, but I think these are less noobalicous questions than I've found posted by other noobs such as myself. I searched for these specific questions and was unable to find a definitive answer.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

First off...I love the word "noobalicious".

Second...I think you probably should raise the temps again for another week and maybe swirl the fermentor a bit to get those yeast back in suspension. You do want to allow the yeast a little extra time, but it's not absolutely neccissary.

Did you take a gravity reading before crashing it? Are you sure fermentation was done? I'm sure you'll be fine, but you always want to make sure.

I typically get very clear beers without cold crashing. With sufficient time in the fridge after they're carbonated, the yeast will drop. As long as you pour it nicely, you should have a clear beer.

If you want to cold crash, it does make it easier to rack without pulling too much sediment into the bottling bucket.

Just for future brews, try to leave your beer in primary and at fermentation temps for at least 3-4 weeks.

And no...I doubt you'll have any tannins in your beer.

I am going to go the other direction and say that you should just leave it, even bottle it in a day or two rather than going back and forth between cold and warm. If you warm it back up, open the bucket it, stir it, put the top on, re-airlock it, wait another week, then crash for another week... you are making it harder than it has to be. I would just remember 3 week fermentation for next time. And that really depends on what kind of beer it was anyway, and at what temp it was fermenting.

I should have mentioned that I took gravity readings over 48 hours in which they were both 1.006. I did not take an OG as I was concerned about contamination but I got over that with my second brew. The English Brown Ale kit says OG should have been 1.045-1.049. It was fermented at 64-68 degrees and the garage is 40-44 degrees where it is now.

I read a minimum of three weeks in the primary fermenter all over the site. In my haste I thought to myself "self, 2 weeks fermenting, 1 week cold crashing = 3 weeks in primary" now that I think about it I definitely should have left it for at least one more week at fermentation temps... lesson for next time I guess.

The three weeks isn't for fermentation only. I would say 2 weeks of that is for what people are calling "cleaning up". Its an effort to improve taste according to how they like their beers, but that doesn't mean you have to. The only way you will really learn what they are talking about and if there really is a difference is to try it for yourself. Do one at 1 week, then 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4... the whole idea is to make beer how you like it, not the way everyone else does.

Is it worth keeping it at 40 degrees for a whole week since the yeast will be mainly inactive? I have some time on Sunday to bottle... If the cold crashing interrupted any cleaning up the yeast would have done should I just bottle sooner and return to conditioning temps for an additional week? Maybe the yeast will clean up a bit at conditioning temps?

The beers will mellow out with time in the bottle. I dont think you need a whole week at 40, a few days would easily do the trick.

Does the FG of 1.006 seem low? The kit states the FG should be 1.011 - 1.015? The temperature was approx 65 degrees

Yes that seems low.

any guesses on why? I did not calibrate my hydrometer, temp was around 65. I took an OG reading of my second brew and it was spot on with what the kit projected...

Not really. It could be a lot of things the most troubling of which would be infection. I'm sure it's fine though, don't worry about it. As a precaution against bottle bombs I would condition them in a spot that won't hurt anyone or anything and perhaps cover them to contain any mess. That would just be a precaution though, I'm sure everything is fine and something else contributed to the low FG. If the beer tastes good then enjoy it. Cheers!