pkfrerich
Member
Hi - thanks for everyone's input to the site...I've learned so much over the last few months. Today, I did my first brew - it was an extract IPA recipe. I think I made 4 errors...would love your thoughts on the severity. Did I ruin my batch?
Today was an incredible learning experience...yes, I'm oficially addicted!
1) I put the grain in the water right after adding water to the pot....then turned on the gas an brought it to 150, at which point I turned off the heat for 30mins to steep. Should I have waited to add the grain bag?
2) I totally had a brain freeze and forgot to add the last hops addition...the recipe called for 1oz of finishing hops after the heat was turned off. I was prepping the sink with ice to chill the wort and totally forgot. I assume my IPA will be more bittier than usual?
3) As I was pulling the pot from the chiller in the sink, I paused as my labrador came in to the kitchen...when doing so the pot holder dipped into the water on accident and then dripped (after I lifted my hand) into the wort for a second or two. I was so bummed - a few drops fell into the wort. Probably hard to predict, but the untreated tap water may intorduce unwanted bacteria?
4) When I pitched the yeast, the temp read just under 80 degrees...maybe 78 or so. My kids were super restless and I was under the gun - such is life. I"ve read that close to 75 degress is preferrable. How much will the few degress of heat impact the yeast.
Thanks for any insight. My carboy is is the closet and I'm anxiously awaiting fermentation. Hopefully, it's worth bottling in 3-4 weeks.
Thanks,
Phil
Today was an incredible learning experience...yes, I'm oficially addicted!
1) I put the grain in the water right after adding water to the pot....then turned on the gas an brought it to 150, at which point I turned off the heat for 30mins to steep. Should I have waited to add the grain bag?
2) I totally had a brain freeze and forgot to add the last hops addition...the recipe called for 1oz of finishing hops after the heat was turned off. I was prepping the sink with ice to chill the wort and totally forgot. I assume my IPA will be more bittier than usual?
3) As I was pulling the pot from the chiller in the sink, I paused as my labrador came in to the kitchen...when doing so the pot holder dipped into the water on accident and then dripped (after I lifted my hand) into the wort for a second or two. I was so bummed - a few drops fell into the wort. Probably hard to predict, but the untreated tap water may intorduce unwanted bacteria?
4) When I pitched the yeast, the temp read just under 80 degrees...maybe 78 or so. My kids were super restless and I was under the gun - such is life. I"ve read that close to 75 degress is preferrable. How much will the few degress of heat impact the yeast.
Thanks for any insight. My carboy is is the closet and I'm anxiously awaiting fermentation. Hopefully, it's worth bottling in 3-4 weeks.
Thanks,
Phil