Brewed my first batch with a Cherry Wheat Extract kit I got from Midwest last week. Everything went well for the most part. I had a Propogator pack that I used to make a starter with 2L of water and 2 Cups Light DME. It sat out for about a day or so and had quite a layer of krausen, but I was a little scared to use it because I thought 2L might be a little bit too much to pitch. So...on brew day I just rehydrated an 11g packet of dry yeast and pitched it for the "fool proof" method. Luckily my hot water heater produces 144 deg F water, so I didn't have to heat it much to get to 155 for steeping the grains. My OG was supposed to be 1.042-1.045, but came out around 1.037. Not really sure what caused this. Got the ~2.5 gal of wort cooled in an ice bath in about 15 mins. Also froze some water bottles the night before and sanitized them, then threw them right in the wort to cool it even faster. After I poured it into the primary bucket, I put the lid on and shook it for about 5 mins...sure takes the wind out of you! Pitched the yeast and let her rip. I did make the mistake of pushing down on the lid once the air lock was in place, then it sucked a little bit of sanitizing solution into the bucket, but hopefully that doesn't make to big of a difference?? The air lock was bubbling about once every 3-4 secs ~16 hours later. We'll see how it goes. I've got the bucket sitting in water to regulate temp. a little easier during warmer days. I'll rack it to secondary in a week, then bottle it in another 2 weeks.