Did I mess it up?

[ChaddyWa]

So I brewed my second batch ever yesterday (a dry Irish stout extract from NB) - and as I looked over my notes today, I realized that I added the liquid malt syrup before I reached boiling. I did it immediately after steeping the grains!

The directions called to steep the grains for 20 mins (which I did at a temp 150 - 170). Then remove the bag, bring to a boil, and then stir in the 6lbs of Gold malt syrup.

Not sure what I was thinking. To my defense, my neighbor was over and had distracted me with beer. I know, a big no no when brewing.

Anyway, how badly did I screw this up?

 

[Yooper]

You did nothing wrong at all. The wort doesn’t have to be boiling to add the extract.

 

[ancientmariner52]

As long as you stirred, so that the liquid extract didn't lay on the bottom and scorch, you'll be just fine. And you would know, because there would be an ugly smelly mess on the bottom of the pot.

Your beer will be just fine. Welcome to the madness!

 

[Surly_goat]

Yeah don't worry about at all. Just need to make sure you mix it to disolve the sugars into the wort and avoid scorching on bottom.

You never screw anything up my friend. Experience is growth!

 

[eadavis80]

Dump the batch immediately and hang your head in shame after selling all of your equipment on EBay.

 

[frankvw]

No matter what happens, you're not messing up. You're learning and gaining experience. So even a totally ruined beer is never a complete loss, because you learn from it and thereby become a better brewer.

That said, you might be able to detect minute differences between the beer you "messed up" and the same one brewed as per the instructions. Will this be a problem? Only if you're completely anal about it and brew with a micrometer, in which case you shouldn't be a home brewer but work at Budweiser or the like.

The rationale behind partial boils is that you don't want your boil gravity to be too high, because too high a boil gravity interferes with hop utilization, promotes scorching and boil-overs, and is generally not necessary. But when your boil gravity is too high the worst that can happen is that you have a little bit less hop bitterness (not much of a problem for the style you brewed) and more cleaning to do on your brew pot.

So you're fine. And you've learned! I'd say that's double win. You've done well.

Cheers!

 

[Redpappy]

That is pretty much what I do for my extract. Once I steep my grains I grab my suryp ( that’s been in hot water) and slowly poor it in while I’m stirring it. The only exception is when the instruction calls for a late addition.

 

[SEndorf]

It's a mess. Totally ruined.
Better ship it to me and I'll uhhh.. "dispose" of it properly....

 

[gunhaus]

1. There are no mistakes - only different TECHNIQUES
2. There are not off flavors - there are subtle, underlying flavors, and charachteristics.
3. There are NO forgotten steps/ingredients - there are style adjustments.
4. There are no dumb questions - ALL inquiry is healthy and good.
5. There are no silly ideas - only valid experimental interests.
6. It's all for fun - don't take it too seriously or fret too much, beer is very forgiving.

It is not supposed to be stressful or hard - it is supposed to be beer!!!!! And BTW, drinking while brewing is not a big no-no. It is a combinations of scientific inquiry and research for future brew sessions, and necessary educational development of your tasting palate!