First brew

[ouzelum]

Hey guys. I'm Josh. I'm new to the whole brewing thing but a couple weeks ago I bought up the necessary starter gear, a Munton's Gold IPA kit, and an ounce of EKGs. I read How to Brew (it seems to be popular here) cover to cover and then read some parts twice. Yesterday, I worked up the nerve to make my first batch (boiled the wort 15 minutes, added the EKG during the last 5). It's now sitting in the fermenter at a steady 70 deg and bubbling every 2 seconds or so. In hindsight, I had a couple questions concerning the process (sorry for the length):

First, the starter kit I bought had C-Brite. I've read some conflicting directions for usage. How long do you soak? Is rinsing necessary? I soaked for 5-10 minutes and rinsed the stuff afterwards.
Second, I made the mistake of checking the temp of the water used to soak the yeast with my finger (what was I thinking?). What are some of the biggest red flags for contamination during fermentation and/or bottling?
Third, the yeast wouldn't rinse out of my measuring cup and I ended up pouring the wort back and forth to mix the yeast. Directions I read said to agitate before pitching the yeast. Will this hurt the yeast?
Fourth, anyone in the Philadelphia area? Are there any brewing clubs or the like I could get in on? I need to know more people that like beer as much as I do.

 

[McKBrew]

Welcome to the forum.

To answer the C-Brite question http://www.boomchugalug.com/cleaning_tips.htm

As for the rest of the questions, sure, you made some mistakes. Beer is alot more forgiving that some of the information makes you think. If you screw up a small sanitation step here or there, it's probably going to be fine. It's better to do it right everytime, just so you don't get in the habit of sloppy practices, but honestly I wouldn't worry about your beer. What's done is done. Chances are it will be fine, and if for some reason it's not, you can blame the finger dipping as the cause which is a hell of alot better than totally following the rules and still having a bad batch.