New Brewer-need guidance

[HawkLake]

I just started my first brew with an Amber Ale from HomeBrewStuff.com. I am sure I have made mistakes along the way and that's why I'm here, to learn.
Mistake 1; letting the steeping temp go to high. The instructions said 155 and it may have gone as high as 170. Is this temp critical?
Mistake 2; after the boil was complete I did not strain the wort before pouring it into the fermenting bucket. And I forgot to allow for boil off and ended up with a little less beer in the end. Is it the general consensus of those here that the wort should be strained as it is poured into the fermenting bucket?
The last thing I was unsure of was the amount of priming sugar to use in one of the 5L mini-kegs. I searched the forum and came to the conclusion that half the priming sugar used for bottling was a good rule of thumb. So I added one tablespoon of priming sugar to one cup of water and boiled and added that solution to the keg and then siphoned the beer in.(One tablespoon sugar and one cup water per keg)
No leaks or bulges as of yet, and the kegs were filled one week ago tomorrow.
Also on the kegs, is it necessary to drink all of the beer from the keg once the tap on the bottom is opened? I read that the keg will lose it's carbonation rather quickly once it is tapped.
I will say that my son and I tasted a sample of the beer and we thought it was great, so maybe any of the hiccups in brewing and fermenting were minor.
Any help, suggestions, or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[porterpounder]

Mistake 1: steeped grains do not require the process of starch to sugar conversion, so 170 is fine. There is the chance of extracting some astringency-causing tannins at higher temps if the pH of the steeping liquid gets too low, but I wouldn't worry about that too much.

Mistake 2: either way is fine. Many people like to whirlpool manually and siphon cooled wort from the edge to avoid trub in the fermenter, but there is little evidence that it will change the finished beer, so again, you're good.

It can take a couple weeks for beer to fully carbonate. With the 5 L kegs (if not being put on external CO2 for serving) you may want to bump up the half to 3/4 or full priming sugar as you will not be able to adjust easily after it is carbed. Yes you will likely have to consume the kegs withing 2-3 days to avoid de-carbonation and oxidation flavors/infection as with those kegs one usually has to let air displace the beer going out so it will pour properly.

 

[GHBWNY]

...my son and I tasted a sample of the beer and we thought it was great, so maybe any of the hiccups in brewing and fermenting were minor.

Hiccups are part of brewing. So to speak.

 

[HawkLake]

Mistake 1: steeped grains do not require the process of starch to sugar conversion, so 170 is fine. There is the chance of extracting some astringency-causing tannins at higher temps if the pH of the steeping liquid gets too low, but I wouldn't worry about that too much.

Mistake 2: either way is fine. Many people like to whirlpool manually and siphon cooled wort from the edge to avoid trub in the fermenter, but there is little evidence that it will change the finished beer, so again, you're good.

It can take a couple weeks for beer to fully carbonate. With the 5 L kegs (if not being put on external CO2 for serving) you may want to bump up the half to 3/4 or full priming sugar as you will not be able to adjust easily after it is carbed. Yes you will likely have to consume the kegs withing 2-3 days to avoid de-carbonation and oxidation flavors/infection as with those kegs one usually has to let air displace the beer going out so it will pour properly.

OK, thanks. I will just keep doing what I have been doing.

Hiccups are part of brewing. So to speak.

I completely missed that.

 

[HawkLake]

Tapped and tried my first ever brew. The Amber Ale turned out a little dark, but has great flavor and a nice head. The kegs were just a little over carbed; it gushed out all over until I found that opening the tap just a little helped.
I think with the next brew I will try adding the LME latter in the boil(maybe 20 minutes from the end) may help with the color and taste!?!
Here it is with the celebratory cigar...
All in all I thought it turned out pretty good! It's beer!

 

[RedlegEd]

Welcome to the hobby/obsession! It's yours, it's good, it's BEER!

 

[PADave]

Tapped and tried my first ever brew. The Amber Ale turned out a little dark, but has great flavor and a nice head. The kegs were just a little over carbed; it gushed out all over until I found that opening the tap just a little helped.
I think with the next brew I will try adding the LME latter in the boil(maybe 20 minutes from the end) may help with the color and taste!?!
Here it is with the celebratory cigar...
All in all I thought it turned out pretty good! It's beer!

There is that cool moment when you try your first brew and you say I made this and it's actually drinkable. :rockin: I missed my mash temps of my first brew, on the low end. Thought it was going to be messed up. Actually tastes not too bad. Mistakes are learning experiences.