Where, errrr...How bad did I screw up? :/

[dawn_kiebawls]

Hey guys, I just put the lid on my fermenter and instead of sitting back with a feeling of accomplishment I'm resenting the brew day..Following is the ingredients used and what I'm hoping aren't horrible mistakes.

Intended style: Belgian IPA with American hops

6.75 lb extra light DME
1lb 2 row
.75lb white wheat
.5lb flaked oat
.5lb honey malt
.2lb carmel malt (I forgot to take note of which variety)
2lb honey

.5oz Simcoe 60
.5oz Cascade 60
.25oz Galaxy 60
.25oz Amarillo 60
.5oz Mosaic 10
.5oz Amarillo 10
.75oz Galaxy 10
.5oz Cascade Knockout
.75oz Tahoma Knockout

wyeast 3522 with a 3L starter (had a major blow-out when I agitated it, hopefully didn't lose to much of the yeast)

steeped/mashed all the grains at 150 for 40 minutes. added 3lbs of DME and brought to a boil. Followed hop schedule, adding half the honey at 5 minutes, then the other half of honey and DME after knockout while still in pasteurizing range. Chilled to approximately 65F and took a gravity reading. OG was 1.083 which was alarming since Beersmith had it calculated to be 1.071. I panicked and added about 3/4 gallon of top-up water to bring the OG down to about 1.073, decanted and pitched. After taking the reading I took a taste test, and it was nothing but honey..no hops, no malt..honey....

Airlock is chugging away with a little bit of foam coming out of the top (its a 3 piece airlock if that makes a difference). I'm hoping I won't need to learn how to make a blowoff tube on the fly..I am always extremely careful and cautious when it comes to sanitation. Before adding the wort to my fermenter I poured in 1 gallon of distilled top-up water turn around, look back in and there is some tiny brown fleck of something sunk to the bottom. I put on a latex surgical glove, sanitize hand and spoon to get the speck out and continue as normal. Sorry for the long read, but I need some reassurance that I did not screw an entire batch up and that my methods were not completely ass backwards. And if I did screw up or my methods are out of whack I need to know where and how bad I screwed up!

Thanks for the help!

 

[kh54s10]

Was this a full boil or did you add top up water before taking your gravity reading? If it was well mixed your 1.073 OG is pretty good.

I would get a Blow Off tube on that fermenter ASAP.

Other than that it doesn't look like any serious mistakes were made.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Was this a full boil or did you add top up water before taking your gravity reading? If it was well mixed your 1.073 OG is pretty good.

I would get a Blow Off tube on that fermenter ASAP.

Other than that it doesn't look like any serious mistakes were made.

I will definitely look into a blowoff tube. It was not a full boil, I topped up after boil and before gravity. And, uh, looking back on it when I went from 5 gallons to close to 6 trying to adjust gravity I just poured water in hoping that would mix on its own. I definitely should have stirred it in before taking a sample now that I think about it..Its only my second batch so I'll chalk it up to yet another lesson learned. Thanks!

 

[Turkeyshot]

Hey guys, I just put the lid on my fermenter and instead of sitting back with a feeling of accomplishment I'm resenting the brew day..Following is the ingredients used and what I'm hoping aren't horrible mistakes.

Intended style: Belgian IPA with American hops

6.75 lb extra light DME
1lb 2 row
.75lb white wheat
.5lb flaked oat
.5lb honey malt
.2lb carmel malt (I forgot to take note of which variety)
2lb honey

.5oz Simcoe 60
.5oz Cascade 60
.25oz Galaxy 60
.25oz Amarillo 60
.5oz Mosaic 10
.5oz Amarillo 10
.75oz Galaxy 10
.5oz Cascade Knockout
.75oz Tahoma Knockout

wyeast 3522 with a 3L starter (had a major blow-out when I agitated it, hopefully didn't lose to much of the yeast)

After taking the reading I took a taste test, and it was nothing but honey..no hops, no malt..honey....

Thanks for the help!

Between the half pound of honey malt and the 2 lbs. of honey, it doesn't surprise me about the strong honey flavor. After it ferments though it will probably fade out a bunch. Just so you know a little honey malt goes a long way. What was your calculated IBU's?

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Between the half pound of honey malt and the 2 lbs. of honey, it doesn't surprise me about the strong honey flavor. After it ferments though it will probably fade out a bunch. Just so you know a little honey malt goes a long way. What was your calculated IBU's?

final IBUs from Brewers Friend came out to approximately 38. Originally it was saying 43 but since I had to add a little extra top-up water it dropped it slightly. I'm planning to give it a pretty hefty aromatic dry hop as well. Duly noted on the honey malt! This was my first time ever using grains I picked out and milled myself so I figured there would be some sort of a learning curve involved. I can't wait to crack one of these open! The airlock is churning and it has a beautiful citrus smell to it!

 

[Turkeyshot]

final IBUs from Brewers Friend came out to approximately 38. Originally it was saying 43 but since I had to add a little extra top-up water it dropped it slightly. I'm planning to give it a pretty hefty aromatic dry hop as well. Duly noted on the honey malt! This was my first time ever using grains I picked out and milled myself so I figured there would be some sort of a learning curve involved. I can't wait to crack one of these open! The airlock is churning and it has a beautiful citrus smell to it!

Sounds like it still might turn out to be an excellent brew.