First Batch, Sorry for noobert questions

[JughedJones]

So............

I read most of the stickys and couldn't quite find answers for my questions.

First, pitching the yeast foul up:

We followed the directions to the tee until we realized we had taken our initial gravity reading AFTER pitching the yeast. Our thief was sterilized but the hydrometer wasn't.

Since the wort we (theived?) had a huge amount of yeast in it, we dumped it back in to the carboy and sealed it up. (Here it is!!) Did we ruin it?


Second, Gravity question:

We decided on a Black Butte recipe, our hydrometer reading was 1.049. Mind you this was taken right after we dumped the yeast in and before we realized our mistake.

Nonetheless it seemed really low, is this a normal reading? Was the reading shot because of the aforementioned foul up?


Thanks a lot guys. I'm really glad I found this site!

 

[Zen_Brew]

So............

Since the wort we (theived?) had a huge amount of yeast in it, we dumped it back in to the carboy and sealed it up. (Here it is!!) Did we ruin it?

Maybe. It is hard to say. You increased your risk of infection, but it is not certain by any means you will get an infection. I would not even say it is likely, only that it is possible. The more healthy yeast you pitched, the less the risk of infection as they can out compete the bad bacteria that may be in the wort. Let it ferment out and see how it tastes. Don't let the beer stay around real long after it is finished fermenting either in case anything is in there it may take a while to get a hold and throw bad flavors into the beer. In other words, if it tastes good, drink it up and brew some more.


Second, Gravity question:

We decided on a Black Butte recipe, our hydrometer reading was 1.049. Mind you this was taken right after we dumped the yeast in and before we realized our mistake.

Nonetheless it seemed really low, is this a normal reading? Was the reading shot because of the aforementioned foul up?

We can't say if it was normal not knowing the recipe or the procedure used to brew. Many things can effect your final gravity from not getting good extraction efficiency if it was all grain, to adding too much water, too not measuring correctly. How far off were you?


Thanks a lot guys. I'm really glad I found this site!

Chalk the error up to learning and brew on. Soon it will become second nature and you will think back on brew days like this and smile.

 

[DirtyD]

I did the same thing actually with the yeast and hydrometer...mine turned out fine and am drinking now...just wait and see

 

[Frodo]

Likely the beer will be fine re: the hydrometer sample being poured back in. You'll know more in a couple/few weeks I reckon!

With an extract batch, as long as you are accurate on the volume of wort, you can just trust what the OG is stated as in your kit/recipe. Your measured OG could be off a little (or a lot) if the wort wasn't thoroughly mixed after you topped up the fermenter with water.

EDIT: ALSO, since you didn't state it specifically above at what temp you took the hydrometer sample, temperature will affect the reading. 59 to 60F is what most hydrometers are calibrated at. You can use a temp correction chart up to about 90F though and that'll still be pretty accurate.

 

[JughedJones]

Thanks so much for your quick reply.

The store I bought my ingredients and recipe from apparently didn't supply us with the OG. I did however go to their website and find (what I assume) is basically the same thing which says it's supposed to be 1.052.

I'm no scientist but that doesn't seem terribly far from my reading of 1.049. Is that a acceptable difference?


One more thing, the color of the brew is pretty light for what I know a porter to be. Does it darken as it ferments or is it just too light?


Thanks again, your quick response was AWESOME!!

 

[Zen_Brew]

The variance form 1.052 to 1.049 is extremely minor. As frodo mentioned it often is just a question of the wort not being mixed enough. Nothing to worry about.

There is some variance in color among porters from a dark ruby red to so dark you can't see through it. You'd have to look at the predicted SRM (color) on the recipe. Again here incompletely mixed wort could be part of the issue. Don't worry about mixing it more, the yeast will churn it up soon enough.

Time to relax and let the yeast take it from here. That's the hardest part of brewing your first couple batches, is waiting for the yeast. They make their own schedule.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Typically the fermentation process should not cause any coloring of the beer. That said, O2 does darken beer by oxidizing the sugars and other components, so, depending on how much head space is in your fermenter and the level of O2 in your cooled wort it's possible to pick up a SRM point or two.

 

[JughedJones]

Thanks very much everyone.

Can't believe how helpful everyone is at midnight on a Wednesday!

I'll just hold off and try to be patient.

EDIT: I just found the SRM (Didn't know what that even was!) and my brew looks just like the 27 it's supposed to be! Thanks!!

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

Well just remember that it is your beer. you can do what you want with it. if you think it is ruined then you should definately dump it....(into my fermenter )

beer will be fine

RDWHAHB (or micro)