Alrighty. First batch launched, had a (hopefully) quick question

[cowardm]

Ordered the kit and got an American Amber from Brewers Best. It wasn't my first choice, but it came with the kit, so who's complaining?

Pretty much everything has gone according to plan. Sanitized out the wazoo, followed directions, blah blah. Unfortunately, I neglected to do the airlock proper. I put it on, but didn't know to put any liquid in it. Started fermenting Wednesday night and just now (Friday morning) got suspicious and finally used common sense (and Google) to find I shoulda put something in it. Doh!

So, I put some sanitized water in there immediately, but I'm a bit uneasy. The first day the smell was a little strange, now it's negligible and only smelly if you get real close. I think it's the same smell as when I was brewing the thing, so hopefully it's no biggie. Might also mention I took the airlock off to put the sanitized water in. Anyway 2 questions:

1) Does this mean I should let it sit in there a bit longer or by day 7 should I pop her open and check the gravity (and if it reads the same 2 more days after that bottle it up)?

2) Any warning signs in my story? Or in this pic?

 

[PhiKappaGarage]

sounds like my first batch a few weeks ago. everyone on here and at my lhbs told me to let it go longer than a week, 2-3 if you can wait, mine tuned out great even after all kinds of newbie snafu's so yours will probably be fine as well.

 

[shecky]

Looks like a real nice fermentation going on there. Don't worry about the airlock thing. Some of us just top the carboy with a sanitized piece of foil. You'll be fine.

Let that sit for 3 weeks, at least. You'll be happier with the finished product.

 

[hoppymonkey]

+1 on phikappa. It'll probably be fine. We all make those kind of mistakes and somehow still get good beer.

 

[robertvrabel]

You most likely will be fine that you left the airlock without any liquid. It looks like it fermented really well, so you'll have a good amount of CO2 blocking the way for anything to come in.... so no worries.

Your picture looks perfectly fine too. Just let it sit and wait for the krausen to fall back into the beer and settle some... then you can start taking your hydrometer readings. Once its stable you are ready to bottle.

It would be best to let it sit for atleast 3-4 weeks... but knowing its your first batch, you will probably want to jump the gun. So by minimal standards.. you must wait until the hydrometer reading is the same throughout a couple of days to know fermentation is done.

 

[Gridlocked]

I wish MY first batch would have gone that smoothly... You'll be fine. Just do what the guys above said and let us know how it turns out.

 

[cowardm]

I can wait 3 weeks if you guys say it will make that big of a difference.

How long should I leave them in the bottles before popping them open?

 

[muthafuggle]

The best way to answer this is with a link

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

make sure you watch the video about 2/3 down the page.