Finished my first batch, few screwups, can I get some peace of mind? (pics)

[Jmart]

Alright, phew, I made it through the first brewing step.
I sanitized everything, namely my fermenter, the fermenter lid, spigot (disassembled while sanitized), stir stick, hydrometer, thermometer, measuring stick, measuring cup, and I had a sanitized mat to put my sanitized stuff when not using it. I think I sanitized fairly well. I used one packet of no-rinse and sanitized the small stuff in the measuring cup, let it soak a minute, etc.

I filled my Mr Beer keg to 4 quarts like it told me to with cold water.

Next, I put in 4.5ish cups of water in my boiling pot (i'm doing a Mr Beer batch here), and stirred in my DME in place of the booster (booster was 355g, I did 360g of DME). I let it dissolve completely, then got it up to a boil and removed the heat.

SCREWUP: I took my eyes off of it for half a second and it boiled over a little bit, holy ****, I did NOT expect it to boil that high in that little time. I did not lose much liquid, but still, aaaaagh! Definitely going to remember this next time.
Anyway, when it was off the heat, I poured in my can of hopped malt extract (Bewitched Red Ale), and stirred that in.

Once it was stirred, I poured it in my fermenter. I stirred it pretty well, let it sit for a few minutes, put in my yeast, and stirred it.

SCREWUP: I misread the directions slightly, I didn't let the yeast sit there for a few minutes, I thought it read stir first with the yeast in, and then let sit, blergh! Is it alright? Is it a big deal? I let it sit for a couple minutes after that.
I took the temperature, about 80 degrees.
I brought it down to my basement that holds a very steady 71 degrees, I looked at my thermometer on the outside of my fermenter and it read about 77.

RDWHAHB.... Sort of. I didn't have any, so I had some Leinenkugels.
Other than those 2 incidents, it went pretty smoothly, can anyone comment on my screwups? Are they a big deal? This is my very first batch. I want to do another one right now! Daagh, I should have bought a 2nd fermenter, I want to do another one with the knowledge I already got from doing my first runthrough of the process.

EDIT: I wonder why my pics aren't showing up in my post, they showed up in the previews, and I got the tags on.... Eh whatever.

 

[david_42]

I misread the directions slightly, I didn't let the yeast sit there for a few minutes, I thought it read stir first with the yeast in, and then let sit, blergh! Is it alright? Is it a big deal?

Not a problem. Enough yeast will survive to make beer.

And boil-overs happen. They only make a mess.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

The boilover is a big no-no but your beer should be fine. And the yeast is not an issue either. Congrats on the first brew.

I can tell you from experience you'll want to get away from Mr. Beer kits almost immediately. They tend to screw up your perception of brewing beer for one. Second, I feel like they teach people to basically pour and stir.

 

[Jmart]

I can tell you from experience you'll want to get away from Mr. Beer kits almost
immediately. They tend to screw up your perception of brewing beer for one.
Second, I feel like they teach people to basically pour and stir.

So I've heard. I'm thinking of using my Mr Beer kits for the rest of my recipes I have, and for other homebrew projects (I have some spiced orange mead in a 1 gallon jug in my cabinet that would work nicely in a 2 gallon fermenter). I'll probably be buying a better kit when my bills are taken care of after next paycheck. I dunno if I want plastic or glass carboys...

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Go with the plastic. They don't break and they're a lot lighter. Everyone will have their own personal opinions on that though.

As for Mr. Beer.... I sort of came off a little harsh there. I think it's a great way to get into the hobby, but the beer produced doesn't compare to what you can do on your own. I think if more people who bought Mr. Beer knew that...they wouldn't quit brewing after a few batches.

 

[Vuarra]

I've said this before, but the whole Mr. Beer / The Beer Machine! setups are great for trials (like a 10L trial that got me to All Grain). Plus... sometimes I just don't feel like making a masterpiece that will take me three hours, I just want to be able to drink some dang beer

 

[LarryC]

I graduated from Mr. Beer university back in May and working with a real brewing setup is so much nicer (though there is a lot more to pay attention to). I got the deluxe Mr. B kit with 3 brew kits and I think I bought one or two more. Then the family blessed me with a 5 gallon setup for Dads Day. I've been happily playing and spending money on brewing "stuff" ever since.

I've had lots of hobbies but this is one of the best

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I graduated from Mr. Beer university back in May and working with a real brewing setup is so much nicer (though there is a lot more to pay attention to). I got the deluxe Mr. B kit with 3 brew kits and I think I bought one or two more. Then the family blessed me with a 5 gallon setup for Dads Day. I've been happily playing and spending money on brewing "stuff" ever since.

I've had lots of hobbies but this is one of the best

Spending money on brew "stuff"..... As you say, this is one of the best hobbies. It's also a pretty expensive one if you get really into it. I've probably put a good 3k into this hobby in just the last year...and that's probably nothing compared to what some people spend.