Forgot to Steep the Grains....DOH!

My first post to go with my first batch….I brewed my first batch last night, it was a Brewers Best Classic English Pale Ale kit…. I figured that should be simple enough.
I cleaned & sanitized everything, went over the instructions 3 times and made a quick reference check sheet to go over while I was in the middle of brewing.
Well when I finished cleaning up last night and started to put everything away, I noticed that I forgot to steep the grains……DOH!!!!
Earlier when I was making my check list I noticed the grains in the kit, but the package said Crushed Crystal 60L Malt (NOT GRAINS) so I didn’t write ‘em down and I forgot to investigate where they belonged in the brew stage (Dumb A**).

Well I am looking at the fermentation bucket full of beer minus the grains. What am I looking at here?? Is this batch salvageable? Will it still taste ok?


Lesson learned,

Jim

 

Let me be the first to say: RDWHAHB.

I would guess that, assuming everything else went well, you'll still have a decent beer. What else was in the kit?

 

The Kit came with:

3.3 lbs Plain light malt extract
2 lbs Plain light dry malt extract
8 oz. Crushed crystal malt 60L (where I went wrong)
1 Steeping Bag
1 oz. Perle hops (bittering)
1 1/2 oz. Willamette hops (finishing)
5 oz. Priming sugar
1 Beer yeast

It just didn't click in my head that the grains are the malt (being a first timer and all. And being excited for my first batch).

Everything else went real SMOOTH !!! I had a small boil over when I looked away but I brewed outside, so that wasn't a problem. I will no better next time with the grains. And if the beer is still drinkable you can count on me to drink it. Hopefully that is the biggest mistake I'll ever make......HA!!

 

Steep the grain in a 3 cups of 170F water for 20 minutes and add the resulting wort to the fermenter. What you have would be ok, but it will be better with the crystal.

 

OK......I will try that! The water is heating up now.

Thank you

 

Ditto on what david said. However, you dont NEED to add the crystal 60L malt, it will just help you get a nicer beer. But no beer is ever BAD unless you forgot to add malt at all, or dont sanitize. You will find with homebrewing, its actually hard to produce a "BAD" brew. Some just dont taste fantastic, but are still drinkable.

Anyway, CONGRATS on the home brewing!

 

my first beer...which I'm currently drinking...didn't have any steeping grains and its great!

Still I'd take David's advice

good luck

 

ok, now Im worried.....

Well, I steeped the grains last night just like David 42 said to do. Before I did, I boiled the water first (just to be sure) and steeped the grains for 20 min at 170 degrees. I than let it cool to room temp and I opened up the fermentor and poured it in.
Before I went to bed last night the fermentor was bubbling like crazy.... I keep the house at 68 degrees and the temp on the fermentor was 72. Well when I got home today from work the fermentor is no longer bubbling and the temp is 68. I double checked the lid and it is closed tight.
I starred at the bubblier for over 3 minutes and I saw 0 (zero) bubbles

Should I be worried (is that normal)? Today it will be 48 hours into the primary fermentation stage.
If it is not normal is there anything I can do to correct this.

Thanks

 

kind of fast - but it is possible it is done. only sure way is to check the gravity with a hydrometer.
even if it is done - leave it for the balance of the 7 days in primary before you rack to secondary

 

Yea, definitely fast. The instructions that came with the kit say "Bubbling will slow down significantly and then stop after 3 to 7 days."

Maybe I shouldn't of added the grains..... I guess time will tell.

 

Yeast is not on the same clock as us. Do not worry about the speed of fermentation. There is really nothing that can go wrong at this point that can ruin your beer. Just let it ferment out and wait for it to stop bubbling. Then transfer to your secondary or if you don't hve one wait another week or so after that nd bottle. It will be goooooood! RDWHAHB

 

Mike B, I had the same experience with my first batch --- was bubbling very much when I went to bed the first night, then nothing in the morning. In my case, I just waited out two weeks in the fermeter, and when I did finally open it and take an FG reading, it was normal. In my case, though, I had added two packets of yeast, which might have contributed to the rapid ferment. I guess it could happen with a normal dose of yeast as well if the conditions are right.

On my third batch that I brewed Saturday, I'm having a similar situation. This time, fermentation didn't visibly even start until about 20 hours past the pitch (yesterday at around 1pm), and seems to have come to a complete halt by this morning. This time around, though, I'm tempted to take a gravity reading instead of waiting two weeks to see if something went wrong.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for everyone's input..... I appreciate all your help.

I feel better now.

I will let you know how they turn out. I'm sure it will be delicious:cross: