First time mistakes, how bad will it be?

[linedpaper]

After doing much more reading (the directions I had at the time of brewing weren't very clear on some things) I realized I have done a couple of things wrong. First I left the lid on during part/most of the boil. How bad will this make it? Will it still be drinkable? Second, it took a couple hours to get the hot wort cooled down. I left the lid on during this time period because I didn't want bacteria to fall in, but now I have discovered I probably should not have done this. It is in the fermenter now, and according to the air lock it is fermenting, just wondering how bad it will be? At least I know for next time and can correct my mistakes. I was thinking about building an immersion wort chiller for next time as well. Any suggestions on this? Is it much cheaper to build one than to buy one? Most ones I have seen online are around $50. Thanks in advance for any tips and pointers!

 

[Orfy]

The beer will be beer. How will it taste? you'll have to wait and see.

As for build or buy.

1. how much can you get the copper for?
2. can you be bothered.

Answer those two and you'll have the answer to the original question.

 

[linedpaper]

Is there any good place to buy them online? I'll check out pricing on copper and determine what my best bet is.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Liquidicem]

If your going to be buying copper at market value your better off just buying the chiller from you local brew store or an online retailer. If you have access to free or highly discounted copper then you might be better off making your own.

 

[linedpaper]

Good online retailer to find it at?

If your going to be buying copper at market value your better off just buying the chiller from you local brew store or an online retailer. If you have access to free or highly discounted copper then you might be better off making your own.

 

[moger777]

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter7-2.html here's a good page on what happens if you leave the cover on. It's probably not that big a deal though if using extracts. In terms of cooling it down slowly you increase the risk of infection (though leaving it uncovered would also increase the risk) and you are more likely to get chill haze which should not effect taste but will probably make your beer look cloudy when you pull it out of the fridge. With most things beer you really don't know what will go wrong or even if anything will go wrong till it's finished.

 

[linedpaper]

Thanks for all the help and advice! I know better for next time now, although I need to find a cheaper place to buy ingredients so if you have good place online or in socal let me know. Also I think it would help significantly to have a wart cooler for next time as well so that' something to look into. I put the beer in the fermenter only about an hour before bed last night and the air lock is already bubbling, now just to be straight it will stop bubbling when it's done fermenting correct? I was told about 7-10 days?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[jmluke]

Waaaiiit... I thought you were supposed to leave the lid on the kettle as much as possible to have less water loss from evaporation. While chilling it is also ideal to have the lid on to prevent bacteria. I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE WAY now this thread is confusing me. Of course you open the lid to stir the wort around but I that is the only time the lid should be off and if you're throwing ingredients in their. Is this correct or have I been misinformed this entire time...

 

[two_one_seven]

Boil off is a normal part of brewing. When doing a full boil the amount of evaporation from boiling is calculated in. You should have the lid off when boiling. How do you know when it is about to boil over?

 

[two_one_seven]

There are several biggies and then a number of smaller good etailers as well. I use the ones close to me. Faster and cheaper shipping that way.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/

http://morebeer.com/

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/

 

[Arg1129]

Jmluke as long as you are honestly asking, leaving the lid off during boil allows DMS and other compounds that can effect taste to evaporate. Though I do not know each of the compounds I do know you want them out if at all possible.

I like to leave the lid off while cooling, with an immersion chiller, until I no longer see vapor coming from the wort.

Hope that helps.

 

[two_one_seven]

Good points Arg.

The action of steam coming off the wort will keep bacterial from falling into the wort. It's the same idea when you are working in a microbiology lab. You leave a flame on near where you are working the heat from the flame keeps contaminates out of what you are working on.

 

[boydster]

Jmluke as long as you are honestly asking, leaving the lid off during boil allows DMS and other compounds that can effect taste to evaporate. Though I do not know each of the compounds I do know you want them out if at all possible.

I like to leave the lid off while cooling, with an immersion chiller, until I no longer see vapor coming from the wort.

Hope that helps.

It's probably worth noting that DMS is less of a problem with extract brewing than all-grain, simply because the extract has already been through the boiling process when it was produced.

But still leave the lid off. Boilovers are a pain, and you should be accounting for boil off volume when you start.

Edit... Just noticed... Zombie thread again :smack: I keep ending up on these!

 

[jmluke]

I never have boil over, and the lid is on the entire time. I brew 6 gallon batches in a 15 gallon S's kettle so that is obviously why. Is there any other reason to have the lid on if you do not have to worry about boil over?

 

[andy6026]

I live in Canada (where I typically assume things are more expensive). I could have bought an immersion chiller (25' of 3/8" O/D) for about $90. Instead I built my own 50' of 1/2" for about $110. So I saved some money on a much better chiller. Mine isn't nearly as pretty as the one's ready-bought and I did have some aggravation. I put several kinks in it and decided to cut them out and solder it back together. So it was a trade off... some aggravation and more money output for a better chiller that doesn't look as nice...

If you can get one for $50 and aren't desperate for cash then I'd probably go that route. The only thing you won't get out of it is the pride of having built it yourself. If you do build your own and get kinks like mine, you'll be wishing you'd dropped the $50 part way through the project.