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you should be fine just sanitizing. i usually give a quick rinse with some warm water, but no real need for detergent unless they're being reused.

fill it with star san next time and you won't have to even think twice if some gets sucked in. but you should still grab a drink when it happens...

I'll drink to that!

Can I go :off: (slightly) since the OP has mostly been answered. Is there a consensus on lid on/off while steeping specialty grains in an extract brew? I always left it on during the steep, since there is a lid on when I mash an AG brew...but I've seen differing opinions. (sorry to threadjack)

Go ahead and brew it! It'll have to sit in the fermentor for a few weeks anyway, so you can pick up a bottling bucket while its doing its thing and be all set before you even need to worry about bottling day!

My $.02 I'd say go with the carb tabs if bottling out of the primary. I agree with both of the posts above that you'd have to stir the priming solution (gently) to get it properly mixed and that you generally don't want to stir/mix your beer after the yeast has settled out. You could totally...

Fair point. But kit instructions are notorious for suggesting less-than-ideal techniques. You didn't harm your beer by racking, but pompeii is correct that most brews don't need a secondary...and certainly not a second secondary. I'd say leave it where it is for a while at let it do its...

I'm with you, earwig. If people are making good beer with hot tap rinsing, more power to them. That's not enough to convince me to stop being anal about sanitizing though.

I guess I'm not clear on what you are trying to test? Just to understand the taste/fermentation differences between different DMEs? Or is there some theory you are trying to prove/disprove?

Yes. The most important time to control temperature is during the first few days of fermentation when the most yeast growth is happening. After most of fermentation has occurred, the risk of producing off flavors decreases quite a bit. A lot of folks actually recommend slowly bringing the...

I had the same problem on my first several batches. I don't know for sure what it was, but the sweetness dropped out when I started controlling my fermentation temp instead of going at room temp. I hit or came close to my FG on all of those too. My $.02 would also be to get those temps down on...

Sorry, I see you said 8 hours in your post. Give it more time.

How long has it been since you pitched? I'd say give it a couple of days. Then crack the lid and check for krausen and/or take a hydrometer reading. That should tell you if you need to repitch or not.

Compact fluorescents put out a small amount of UV (same as what was said above), but it wouldn't be enough to effect fermentation unless you had it the bulb pointed right at it for hours everyday (like, say, in a display cooler in your liquor store). Just having it in a room and turning the...

it'll be fine. tell us how it turns out!

This is just a shot in the dark, but I'm thinking some of your bottles may not have been totally clean when you went to sanitize them. Running them in the dishwasher doesn't always get the last little bits of crud out because its hard for water to get up the skinny necks. If there were some...

the font fits really well. maybe in addition to the splatter, the hand could be streaking down (i'm thinking in the cliche movie sense where you see the hand plant on the window and slowly slide back down...)

Exactly the kind of story I was hoping to hear to put my mind at ease. (dare I say it)...Doctor's Orders

I'd say make a starter and find out? If they're no good then you're just out a little time and some DME. If they're good, then you've saved some $$ on new yeast.

Its about 24 hours at this point. My initial reaction was just to RDWHAHB and pitch the starter as normal. But then I started second guessing myself and worrying that a huge bunch of yeast got carried out and I'll be setting myself up to really underpitch.