My first batch of beer...

Hi, I just started my first 5 gallon batch of beer and I have a few questions and doubts... First off, all my water didn't fit inside the pot I am currently using so I boiled like 2 gallons separately. The thing is that when I started to fill up my fermenter I noticed I needed more water, so I miss calculated. I was frustrated after trying to get the temperature of my wort down to 75 degrees so I just added son cool water that hadn't been pre-boiled (bad idea I'm guessing). So my first question is, was this a really bad idea? am I in a big risk for contamination? and my other question is, is it normal for the wort to start to ferment about 7 to 8 hours after pitching in the yeast? (dried yeast that came with kit). The thing is I woked up this morning at 6 and noticed the airlock had started bubling and when I returned from work after 5 pm the airlock was and is really bubbling continuously. I'm asking if this is normal because I usually hear that it takes 24-78 hours to start fermenting. Thanks for any feedback

Sounds like my last two batches... (the fermentation part) My brew started bubblin' after a few hours and then it erally rocked after that.. sounds like the water (unbolied) was full of nice oxygen for your yeast.... my guess is that everything is good... I had some of the same concerns and the fellas gave me sound advice... one of which was, 1 -2-3... one week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary and 3 weeks in the bottles...... I have one week to wait until the bottle cap is sprung....

no worries..... no hurries


Shamu

I never bought bottled water and always topped up from the tap. Maybe that's not the recommended way, but if your water is fit to drink, I would think it's ok for beer, right?

My motto was always if it's good tasting and safe to drink, it's ok for beer and wine and cider and mead. If you have well water or use a water softener, it may be different.

Thanks for the feedback! Well Yeah, I sure hope everything goes out well, but I have to wait so I will be pacient... and yes, I'm using drinking water, so yeah, I hope all goes well and I didn't screw up my brew, that sure would be a bummer, but it would be a lesson well taught and I would be better prepared next time... but hopefully that wont be the case but i'm guessing if it starts fermenting sooner, alcohol will be produced faster and might kill off any baddies in the wort... don't know if that's accurate, just an assumption I guess =/