First batch is in the fermentor - lots of questions

[Mach]

First brew ever tonight. My recipe was:

2 cans of "german amber" malt extract
1 oz. of Tettnanger hops (pellets)
1 slap-pack of Wyeast 1007 "german ale" yeast

I used my propane turkey fryer for the brewpot, cooled the wort in the sink, and transferred into a 6.5 gallon glass carboy for primary fermentation. Boiled for 90 minutes, hops added 1/3 at 60 minutes, 30 minutes, and 2 minutes from end.

Here are my questions so far:

1. I filled up a 5 gallon glass carboy to the rim with water and poured it into the brewpot. I then added about an extra inch of water. It looks like a lost a LOT of water during the boil. I think I lost about a gallon so I wanted to add it back in. I didn't have any "clean" (non-tap) water to add at the end so I added a 20 oz. bottle of aquafina (the only thing I had around). How much loss should I anticipate? What kind of water can you add at the end if you need to add some more.
2. I realized that I can get a rolling boil going, or I can crank the piss out of the burner and get a big foamy boil going that still didn't boil over. I decided to switch between the two. Which is better and why?
3. The wort is very dark. Way darker than I was expecting considering I used "amber" malt. I'm afraid that I might have scorched the wort when I was playing with my burner. I turned the burner off when adding the extract and made sure it was thorougly disolved before I put the torch back to it. What does a scortched wort look/taste/smell like?
4. When I transferred from the brewpot to the fermenter, there was sludge on the bottom center of the pot and around the top where the foam was during the boil. I got a little more bottom sludge than I should have (got greedy for that last little bit I suppose). I have a secondary ready to go, at what point should I transfer the wort? Should it be earlier if I got some extra sludge in the primary?
5. My "wine theif" would reach into the wort just fine, but when I dropped the hydrometer in there wasn't enough wort to make the hydrometer float. I had to pull two thieves of wort into the tubey thing that the hydrometer comes in to get a reading. Is this normal, or do I just not have enough wort in the carboy? Should I pour the wort back into the primary after testing?
6. My hydrometer reading was 1.060 at 75 degrees. Somebody tell me if that's good or bad. I just don't know yet.
7. All of the websites and books I've read have said to slap the yeast pack 36 hours before pitching, but the yeast package said 3 hours before pitching. I followed the advice on the package, but I'm not sure if I should have. What's the deal with the post-slapping time? What does it affect?
8. I'm colorblind and have generally crappy vision, so seeing the level of fluid in the airlock is kinda hard unless I get up close. I filled mine with vodka, but I was thinking about adding some red food coloring to make the level easier to see. Can anyone tell me if this is a good or bad idea and why?
9. Looking at my ingredient list, what the hell kind of beer am I making? I'm guess it would be classified an altbier if anything, but I'm not really sure. Any ideas?
10. There were some star-san bubbles in the 6.5 gallon carboy after sterilizing it, and they just weren't evaporating or coming out after a couple of hours upside down. I gave the inside a quick squirt of hot tap water to get the bubbles out. How do you get sanitizer bubbles out of a carboy? Is there a good way to keep star-san from bubbling up like that?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but I'm excited as hell to be brewing my first batch of homebrew. I want to learn as much as I can this time around so that once my primary is empty I can load that bad boy up with something even better. I'm sure I'll have even more as I go along. Thanks a million in advance for any help you guys can provide.

 

[Whiskey]

First of all congratulations on your first batch! Welcome to the addiction! This a great site with a vast store of experience and knowledge, most if not all your questions regarding the craft can probably be answered here!

1. Put marks on your carboy for gallons, this will help you judge how full it is. Not sure on loss, it will depend on how good your boil is I loose about a half gallon on a 3 gallon boil.

2. Not sure which is better. I generally keep it at least a rolling boil.

3. The darkness may have come from caramelization of the extract, some folks are suggesting to add the extract to the end of the boil, like the last 15 minutes.

4. The sludge shouldn't hurt your brew. It's better to leave it out, but it should settle out during the fermentation process.

5. The test tube should be filled about 2/3 way, do not pour it back into the primary, you can drink it if you want to taste the wort.

6. The recipe should have given you a "OG" (Original Gravity), but 1.060 sounds close.

7. Not sure only used one smack pack so far and I activated it about 3 hours before.

8. If you are going to use food coloring, add it what ever you are using to fill the airlock, i.e. if you are using vodka, add a drop to the whole bottle. This will allow the color to dilute and should keep from staining your airlock, also should kill any nasties in the food coloring.

9. Not sure on the beer type, I'd guess an Altbier.

10. The bubbles from star-san are good! Just leave them there. After you have star-saned your carboys, the only thing that should go in them is wort!

 

[talleymonster]

1. I filled up a 5 gallon glass carboy to the rim with water and poured it into the brewpot. I then added about an extra inch of water. It looks like a lost a LOT of water during the boil. I think I lost about a gallon so I wanted to add it back in. I didn't have any "clean" (non-tap) water to add at the end so I added a 20 oz. bottle of aquafina (the only thing I had around). How much loss should I anticipate? What kind of water can you add at the end if you need to add some more.
I always buy 6 gallons of Spring water for a 5 gallon batch of beer. As far as what kind of water, I know there are guys on here who strictly use tap water with no problems. I think you were alright with the Aquafina.

2. I realized that I can get a rolling boil going, or I can crank the piss out of the burner and get a big foamy boil going that still didn't boil over. I decided to switch between the two. Which is better and why?
I think a rolling boil is all that you need...it is just enough to keep the hops and other adjuncts moving. I'm not sure, but you might scorch the wort with too much heat, resulting in a darker beer than intended. Myabe someone else will correct me.

3. The wort is very dark. Way darker than I was expecting considering I used "amber" malt. I'm afraid that I might have scorched the wort when I was playing with my burner. I turned the burner off when adding the extract and made sure it was thorougly disolved before I put the torch back to it. What does a scortched wort look/taste/smell like?
See answer above.....

4. When I transferred from the brewpot to the fermenter, there was sludge on the bottom center of the pot and around the top where the foam was during the boil. I got a little more bottom sludge than I should have (got greedy for that last little bit I suppose). I have a secondary ready to go, at what point should I transfer the wort? Should it be earlier if I got some extra sludge in the primary?
I wouldn't sweat that extra bit of trub. Let the beer fement out in the primary, then rack to secondary to clear. Use your hydrometer if you have one.

5. My "wine theif" would reach into the wort just fine, but when I dropped the hydrometer in there wasn't enough wort to make the hydrometer float. I had to pull two thieves of wort into the tubey thing that the hydrometer comes in to get a reading. Is this normal, or do I just not have enough wort in the carboy? Should I pour the wort back into the primary after testing?
Don't pour the wort back in. Regardless of how clean everything is, why would you risk 5 gallons of beer for an extra swig from the hydrometer? Just dump it out, or if you're a real trooper, drink it!

6. My hydrometer reading was 1.060 at 75 degrees. Somebody tell me if that's good or bad. I just don't know yet.

7. All of the websites and books I've read have said to slap the yeast pack 36 hours before pitching, but the yeast package said 3 hours before pitching. I followed the advice on the package, but I'm not sure if I should have. What's the deal with the post-slapping time? What does it affect?
The nice thing about a smack pack is that you can see if your yeast is viable or not. 3 hours might not be enough time. I dunno though, I have never used a smack pack.

8. I'm colorblind and have generally crappy vision, so seeing the level of fluid in the airlock is kinda hard unless I get up close. I filled mine with vodka, but I was thinking about adding some red food coloring to make the level easier to see. Can anyone tell me if this is a good or bad idea and why?
I wouldn't see a prob with it. Anybody???

9. Looking at my ingredient list, what the hell kind of beer am I making? I'm guess it would be classified an altbier if anything, but I'm not really sure. Any ideas?

10. There were some star-san bubbles in the 6.5 gallon carboy after sterilizing it, and they just weren't evaporating or coming out after a couple of hours upside down. I gave the inside a quick squirt of hot tap water to get the bubbles out. How do you get sanitizer bubbles out of a carboy? Is there a good way to keep star-san from bubbling up like that?
Don't worry about the Star San bubbles...they're actually good for your yeast. They are completely safe and won't hurt your beer. I think I read somewhere that in it's diluted state, you could drink Star San and be fine.

 

[Mach]

Thanks for the responses so far! I've actually got a couple MORE questions now.

11. I didn't use a recipe since I didn't have one at the time. I just basically guessed at the ingredients (picked three "german" products from the store). Now I'm concerned that I didn't use enough hops and the resulting brew is going to be too sweet. Can I dry hop it now to get some more bitterness/hop flavor in there?
12. I siphoned from my brewpot to the primary, and it was a fairly slow and steady stream. Then I shook the carboy as much as I could for a minute or two to aerate the wort before pitching the yeast. I found out that it's really hard to shake a fairly full carboy, and I'm not sure if I aerated the wort enough. Should I try to "splash" the wort into the primary by holding the tube out of the wort during transfer to get some oxygen into it? I noticed during sanitation that if I put a funnel with a strainer into the primary and siphon through that, the strainer kind of cuts up the stream and then the liquid splashes when it hits the bottom/other liquid below. Would this be a way to help to increase wort aeration?
13. If I did caramelize the malt in the wort by giving it a little too much heat, is that generally a good or bad thing? I know that some people like anything, but I'm just trying to think of what this beer will taste like. Is there a kind of commercial beer that has a caramelized malt in it that I can try?

Thanks again all, I'm off to look for bubbles and check the temperature before I roll out to work.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the responses so far! I've actually got a couple MORE questions now.

11. I didn't use a recipe since I didn't have one at the time. I just basically guessed at the ingredients (picked three "german" products from the store). Now I'm concerned that I didn't use enough hops and the resulting brew is going to be too sweet. Can I dry hop it now to get some more bitterness/hop flavor in there?
12. I siphoned from my brewpot to the primary, and it was a fairly slow and steady stream. Then I shook the carboy as much as I could for a minute or two to aerate the wort before pitching the yeast. I found out that it's really hard to shake a fairly full carboy, and I'm not sure if I aerated the wort enough. Should I try to "splash" the wort into the primary by holding the tube out of the wort during transfer to get some oxygen into it? I noticed during sanitation that if I put a funnel with a strainer into the primary and siphon through that, the strainer kind of cuts up the stream and then the liquid splashes when it hits the bottom/other liquid below. Would this be a way to help to increase wort aeration?
13. If I did caramelize the malt in the wort by giving it a little too much heat, is that generally a good or bad thing? I know that some people like anything, but I'm just trying to think of what this beer will taste like. Is there a kind of commercial beer that has a caramelized malt in it that I can try?

Thanks again all, I'm off to look for bubbles and check the temperature before I roll out to work.

11. Why don't you wait until it's done and taste it? Then, if you want to dry hop, you can. A good way to sample is to take some when you take your next sg when you rack into secondary (the clearing tank). Following a recipe is a better idea, though because you'll have the bittering correct right from the start.
12. Very good idea- that's what I do. I also use an aquariam air pump, in addition to the splashing and straining. Not necessary, but I've been doing that for about 9 months or so.
13. Caramelizing the wort is generally not a good thing, especially if it's burned. Still, it'll be ok unless it tastes scorched and it probably doesn't. I prefer to use dry malt extract instead of the liquid because I think it doesn't carmelize as easy and doesn't have a certain twangy taste that some liquid extracts seem to have.

All in all, it sounds like you did a great job on your first batch! Take a look in the recipe database and see if you find something you like and try that. Or purchase a "real" beer kit from your homebrew store or from Northern Brewer or Austinhomebrew.com. Then, you'll know what kind of beer you're shooting for and learn more about specific ingredients.

Oh, yeah, welcome to HBT!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I'm curious as to why you boiled for 90 minutes. Did you add your extract at the beginning of the boil? If so that explains why your beer is so dark.

 

[Mach]

I'm curious as to why you boiled for 90 minutes. Did you add your extract at the beginning of the boil? If so that explains why your beer is so dark.

Mostly because I had no idea what I was doing, honestly. I added the extract right at the beginning. I thought you were supposed to for some reason.

I didn't follow a recipe this time because I was anxious to just get something in the fermentor. I did plenty of research on equipment so I had enough to do what I needed, but I should have slowed down a bit and done some more research on the ingredients and what to do with them as well. I'll know for next time (hopefully soon, once the primary is empty).

I've learned more just doing the first batch in a few hours than I have spending weeks reading up on what to do. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I checked on my way out this morning and the fermentation has begun (scum on top of wort, airlock bubbling).

How often do you usually have to refill the airlock? I don't want to make a mistake and let it go rancid on me.