How Bad Could It Be?

[kylek42]

So last week, 4/07/17 I brewed beer for the first time. I got a kit through my local brew store and went with "Brewer's Best Irish Stout". I'm a little worried cause a few things went wrong or were conducted wrong by me due to my inexperience , somethings I did wrong....
1) I sanitized everything to what I felt was proper but I think I added too much water to the sanitizer (it was just a little packet) so I don't know how well it worked.
2) Because I am an idiot and didn't have a funnel I thought it was a good idea to try and pour the wort from the pot into the carboy's little top. I now know that I should avoid things like splashing and that I should realize what a siphon is used for.
3) I didn't pre-measure 5gallons in the carboy so I estimated the amount of water I added, also I thought it was bad to leave the wort sitting in the pot even with the lid on so I rushed the cooling process and moved to the next step at around 80-85 degrees.
4) I guess I overfilled the carboy or I should get a bigger one because the foam from the fermenting overfilled the airlock and caused the lid of the carboy to fly off and make a mess. Luckily I saw this and rigged the siphon tube I had to a bucket of water to act as an airlock but also allow the foam to flow through and not make it explode again. Also since I had no more sanitizing liquid I just rinsed the cap off with super hot water.
5) I didn't get a pre-gravity reading being as I watched a youtube video where the guy said it was pointless. Regretting that now.

Well that's pretty much it for now. Bottling the beer this sunday 4/16 and plan to give it a try the following week 4/22. Was wondering if it is safe to try when bottling? I know it wont be carbonated but should it have the same flavor? Although I may have failed this try I am still glad of what I learned from the experience and am excited to use my new knowledge on future brews. I appreciate any tips you guys have.

 

[Jtk78]

Congrats on getting the first one under your belt and learning a thing or two.

May want to give that beer a touch longer than 9 days in the fermenter before bottling. You may learn a lesson on bottle bombs otherwise. 14 days is my minimum.

 

[Sadu]

So you know what you did wrong, and you learn for next time. Great job.

I would caution against bottling after only 9 days in the fermentor. It MAY be ready by that time, but it also may not and you don't have the experience to tell the difference. If you bottle too early you get potential bottle bombs and those are dangerous and messy to clean. I would suggest 14 days minimum for your first brew, but use your hydrometer to ensure that the gravity doesn't change for 3 days in a row.

Yes it is safe to have a taste when bottling. It will be flat and warm, and it always gets better once carbonated, but you can get an idea of what's coming ahead.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

Congrats on your first brew day. RDWHAHB (Relax, don't worry, have a home brew).
I have been brewing for 6 years (all the time) and here are my thoughts:
1) sanitizer- i eyeball how much I use and get a different concentration every time. No big whoop.
2) Get a damn funnel or you got a mess and an angry wife.
3) mark your carboys with tape at 5.5 gallons. I never used to and got different strengths every time.
4) fermentation blow offs happen all the time. Get a 6 gallon carboy and keep an eye on it so you can attach a blow off tube if you need it.
5) I never bother with any gravity readings. Who cares? Especially with extract beer. It just tells you when you have too much or too little water. So mark your carboys.
Store your bottles in room temperature. Wait at least two weeks.
Now go brew your next batch so you don't obsess about this one.

 

[kylek42]

Congrats on getting the first one under your belt and learning a thing or two.

May want to give that beer a touch longer than 9 days in the fermenter before bottling. You may learn a lesson on bottle bombs otherwise. 14 days is my minimum.

I also thought this from the videos I have watched however the instructions that came with the kit says "Within 4-6 days the bubbling will slow down until you see no more CO2 being released" This caused me to believe 9 days would be fine. If you guys say I should wait longer than I think I'd trust you over the instructions.

 

[doug293cz]

Congrats on getting the first one under your belt and learning a thing or two.

May want to give that beer a touch longer than 9 days in the fermenter before bottling. You may learn a lesson on bottle bombs otherwise. 14 days is my minimum.

Yeah, you should't bottle by the calendar; yeast don't look at calendars . Wait to bottle until you get the same SG reading with your hydrometer two days apart. This way you know that there is no remaining fermentable sugar in the beer which could cause excessive carbonation, and the dreaded "bottle grenades."

You didn't do anything that I didn't do on my first batch, and I got drinkable beer. I make fewer mistakes now, and you will too with practice.

Brew on

 

[-DELETED-MEMBER-]

Yeah! I love hearing about first brew days. That sounds like an adventurous one. I hope you had fun. I second the advice to leave the beer in the fermenter longer. But most of all my tip is to just keep brewing. Every time you do it you'll figure out one more piece of the puzzle.

 

[kylek42]

Congrats on your first brew day. RDWHAHB (Relax, don't worry, have a home brew).
I have been brewing for 6 years (all the time) and here are my thoughts:
1) sanitizer- i eyeball how much I use and get a different concentration every time. No big whoop.
2) Get a damn funnel or you got a mess and an angry wife.
3) mark your carboys with tape at 5.5 gallons. I never used to and got different strengths every time.
4) fermentation blow offs happen all the time. Get a 6 gallon carboy and keep an eye on it so you can attach a blow off tube if you need it.
5) I never bother with any gravity readings. Who cares? Especially with extract beer. It just tells you when you have too much or too little water. So mark your carboys.
Store your bottles in room temperature. Wait at least two weeks.
Now go brew your next batch so you don't obsess about this one.

Thanks for the advice I like the way you think haha. Just wondering since you said store your bottles in room temp. I'm going to take the advice of everyone and wait another week to bottle but when I do bottle them are you saying to leave them in room temp? Little confused because i would've assumed I'd refrigerate them once bottled.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the advice I like the way you think haha. Just wondering since you said store your bottles in room temp. I'm going to take the advice of everyone and wait another week to bottle but when I do bottle them are you saying to leave them in room temp? Little confused because i would've assumed I'd refrigerate them once bottled.

You add sugar at bottling to create the carbonation. This is called priming. You have to leave the bottles at room temp while the residual yeast eats the priming sugar to create CO2 (and a little more alcohol .) Usually takes two to three weeks to fully carbonate. You can test one at two weeks, and if it's carbed to your liking, you can start chilling and drinking bottles. You want to chill the bottles upright, so that the residual yeast settle on the bottom of the bottle. The longer you chill before opening, the more complete the yeast settling. You want to pour your beer gently into a glass to minimize stirring up the yeast, and leave the last 1/4" or so of beer in the bottle.

Brew on

 

[kh54s10]

There are no great problems here. I too would go longer before packaging. I would take a gravity reading at 10 days minimum and another one on day 12. If the numbers are the same go ahead and bottle. If the second is lower wait another 2 days and take another reading until you get two in a row with the same number. I always go at least 14 days.

1) Unless you added a lot more water it is probably OK. Get Starsan or Iodaphor. Most of those packets are sanitizer/cleaners and they do neither well.
2) Get a funnel to save your back and making a mess. But, splashing at this point is actually a GOOD thing. The yeast require oxygen and splashing adds more by mixing it into the wort.
3) Unless your amounts were far off it is OK. Maybe a little weaker of a beer. 80-85 is not great and fermenting that high is quite bad. Do something to control your fermentation temperatures to the mid sixties. Fermentation creates heat so you may have to artificially cool the wort. Search "swamp coolers"
4) This can happen even if you fill low. I suggest setting up a blow off tube at the start of every fermentation. Use a little Starsan in a margarine cup with that in another bigger vessel in case it over flows. Temperature changes can cause a reverse siphon and you don't want it to suck up 1/2 gallon of Starsan .
5) I always take the OG just so that I know if I got it right. I do all grain and it is easier to miss. With extract, if you use all the ingredients and get the right volume it is difficult to miss by much. FG readings are more important. That is the measurement when fermentation is done.

Watch more YouTube videos and read a lot here. There is a lot of bad advice floating around the internet. Look at a bunch and follow what is common amongst most of the videos and posts that you see/read.

Congratulations, In a few weeks you are most likely going to have a decent beer to drink. Get another one started ASAP. You will be surprised at how fast the first one will disappear. You will want another one ready by the time the first is gone.

 

[allanmorgan]

2) A funnel with a fine mesh strainer is ideal. This is the one time that you actually want to add air to the wort. It helps the yeast do their thing.

5) Not 100% necessary, but helps you to know when your beer is done. If you know the expected OG and FG, taking readings helps to know when you are good to go. A Tilt or hydrometer helps with both readings. A refractometer is good for OG, not so much the FG.

 

[allanmorgan]

Dang! @kh54s10 beat me to points 2 and 5.