First Brew, A Little Concerned

[Saagr]

Hello All,
This is my first post here and it goes along with my first brew. Yesterday I used the Brooklyn Brew Shop kit to make their Bruxelles Blonde Ale and am a bit concerned. I followed all the instructions, the brew went alright, but it didn't seem to have much of a hot break during the boil. There was a little bit of foam but nothing like pictures I saw online but after keeping it boiling for 20 minutes and it not getting anymore foamy I decided to continue with the boil. Fast forward to the fermenting, it started to bubble and is bubbling away now but its still rather cloudy and has some sort of gunk from the bubbling. I've attached a picture and was wondering if you guys could let me know if its normal or the beer is contaminated. Thanks.

 

[unionrdr]

The gunk ring is just trub/hop debri from the krausen settling on the sides. It's cloudy because fermentation is still active with yeast in suspension. If it was an extract kit,you're likely not to get much hot break,since it's been mashed into extract malt already. I get wild hot break once in a while with plain wheat DME. But not often. The rest only give a thin bit of foam right before it boils.
Yours looks completely noemal. No worries,mate.
* I see you're from the home town of Armond Holley,the greatest short track super modified driver ever.

 

[GamehengeBrewery]

I'm new at this too, but I think one of the reasons you got so much gunk in the blowoff tube is because your carboy seems a bit small. The krausen doesn't have anywhere to go. I doubt it'll affect the end result however. Brew on!

 

[amandabab]

there is often just not enough protein to get a foamy hot break in a 1 gallon batch with most pots that have a large surface area.

not a problem.

a cloudy ferment with a blow off is normal.
fermentation is nasty and until you get used to the nasty, its scary.

not a problem.

 

[TheZymurgist]

Yeah, that looks like happy yeast chowing down on wort to me. Makes my mouth water a little. You should be just fine, no reason to worry from the looks of it!

 

[duboman]

You should raise up the blow off tube to near the top as it appears it is actually in the krausen layer, all you need is it to be in enough to vent the gas

Congrats on your first brew!