txtaquito
Well-Known Member
Brewed an IPA tonite. Started out with my trusty companion but he bailed (15hr work day). I went it solo tonite. When my bud bailed that should have been an ominous sign. First sign of trouble, it began to darken outside and I began to get kamakaze bugs aiming for my boil. I covered with lid. Then my boil went over and glazed the side of my pot. *sigh*. Im good though - no worries. Here we go with all the hops. I should have bagged from the start but I figured, eh, they're just pellets - they will settle. Then I get to thinking, 6oz cascade fully absorbed with wort will take a lot of space at the bottom along with the other misc settling. A bright idea pops into my head. I will strain into the primary and catch it all there. Began to chill the wort w/ my handy-dandy wort chiller. An hour later I cant get it to go lower than 85F. Its always cooled to 70's within 30 min max. I figure the 90+ deg temp outside this evening played a roll in that. I decided to go ahead and transfer to primary and strain the hops pellets remnants there. Bad move. All that hops clogged the nylon bag preventing the wort from straining through. My dumb @$# squeezes the bag with my hands and in the process wash my hands in the wort. Great. I dump the bag in the primary and say the heck with it. Add cold water to get it to 5 1/4 gal and hoping that it will reach at least 79F. I get 85. Now the dilemma - pitch at 85 and hope the yeast gets a good start (I got it going in a starter earlier in the day) or wait for 79F and chance bacteria growth from my hand washing episode. Worst brew nite Ive ever had. Hope it turns out good. Input anyone? Starting gravity - 1.070
Ashamed,
TxT
Ashamed,
TxT