First brew session paranoia

[Frozgaar]

So after wanting to get into homebrewing for quite a while I finally brewed my first batch today using the Midwest brewing supply Groupon starter kit. I got the irish stout recipe kit and I followed the instructions very closely. The only difference is I added some baker's chocolate to the wort with 10 minutes left in the boil. It smelled amazing.

Since I don't have a proper wort chiller yet, I had to do an ice bath in my sink. In about 10-12 minutes I brought the wort down to about 100 degrees. The couple extra gallons of drinking water I added were enough to bring it down to yeast pitching temp.

I feel like I did a fairly good job for my first time brewing. I was very thorough with sanitizing my equipment (used star-san). There is only one thing that I'm a little paranoid about. When I was chilling my wort in the sink I used my hand to move some ice around the outside of the kettle. As I took my hand out of the ice water, I saw a single drop of water fall from my hand into the wort. My heart sank. I decided I probably don't have to worry, so I continued. However I still can't help but think, "What if that drop of water is all I needed to infect my beer?"

So what do you guys think? Am I in trouble? Or am I worrying over nothing?

On a happier note, I just checked my fermenter and my airlock is already bubbling at about 1 every 3 seconds. The thermometer was at 75 about 8 hours ago when I closed the lid. Now it's at around 68. I can't see it going below 63 in my basement so I feel like I shouldn't have to worry about my yeast being happy.

 

[fishsniffer]

In this situation, the only way to tell is to send it to me for analysis and sampling.

About 5 gallons worth and i should be able to tell you if it's infected.

My first time using this but RDWHAHB, or because this is your first brew, RDWHAMB.

 

[Haputanlas]

You're likely going to be just fine even though you can never be certain about what might have been in that drop.

However, let me tell you that I've had some crazy stuff happen at the same point and have never had a problem.

I would have to say I'm pretty darned sure you'll be OK if it was only a drop of water.

 

[Frozgaar]

Does the M in RDWHAMB stand for "Macro" or "Micro"?

 

[fishsniffer]

I was thinking you could go enjoy a ham actually.

Because once you have homebrew, you will never go back.

 

[Frozgaar]

I feel better already. Thanks guys. lol

 

[neko]

Just chill out.

Did you see what I did there? You were worried about something that happened during the chilling process but it should be fine so you should chill. Ha ha ha. Hmm...I guess it wasn't that funny. I'll leave now.

 

[dutchoven]

I'm sure you're fine ... But I'd recommend trying a few batches without the exotic ingredients ... While the extras are fun, it makes it extremely difficult to spot flaws and learn from them (and hard for us to help you troubleshoot problems). Welcome to the boards!

 

[Frozgaar]

Yeah, I know I should have probably done my first batch without chocolate. But my personality kind of makes it hard. I'm pretty individualistic so it's not easy for me to go 100% by the book. I couldn't accept doing a ingredient kit unless I changed it up a little. Believe it or not I actually held back a little bit. I considered also adding honey and/or vanilla. I'm way too eager to experiment. lol

 

[strambo]

I couldn't accept doing a ingredient kit unless I changed it up a little. Believe it or not I actually held back a little bit. I considered also adding honey and/or vanilla. I'm way too eager to experiment. lol

I'm the same way, I solved it by not buying kits! I make my own recipes using Beersmith. I started simple, a basic Pale Ale, Porter and Wheat so far. Once I get them dialed in, I'll have some good base styles to experiment with by adding various stuff.

 

[phenry]

Far worse things have fallen into peoples cooling worts and their beer has turned out fine.

 

[iv_hokie12]

Youre fine! I love your post about experimenting too! Sounds like you have the right personality type for this. Youll learn to relax once you get a few batches under your belt. Irish Stout with chocolate sounds amazing btw!

Good luck!