I think I may have screwed up my first ever batch

[atrex808]

I brewed on Sunday a kit I got from my wife as a gift.
5 gallon jug in the basement was fine when I left it sunday night.
Everything seemed to be fine. I went to check it after work today the cap has shot off and there is dried foam residue left over. The one way/water valve was on the ground. I quickly rinsed it off and recapped it. It was open to air for who knows how long (probably 8 to 10 hours) Is my first batch ruined?

 

[fartinmartin]

No, it will be ok, the gas coming out stops the air going in, clean up and let it go again.
You probably have too much in your FV, try to leave 25% free space above your brew.

 

[BeerFst]

don't forget to re sanitize that stopper

 

[revco]

You'll be fine, most likely. The CO2 creates a bit of a natural barrier between regular air and the beer, so it usually works out without trouble. Plus, not many things can live in beer. So, there's a lot going for you and it should be fine.

Definitely look into blow off tubes, it's all that "most" of us regulars use because we've been through this a time or too and we get tired of cleaning up the mess. It's hard to say whether one beer will erupt or not, so it's better to just be safe. They're not very expensive and tend to give more aggressive fermentations a place to go if needed.

Good luck and hope you enjoy your first!

 

[atrex808]

thank you for the responses

 

[aidan]

absolutely nothing to worry about, you could even ferment it with the lid off alltogether and it would probably be fine. Anchor still does open fermentation - http://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/brewing-insights-open-fermentation/
Here's a picture of an open fermentor at Montieths brewery in New Zealand:

My mate was on a tour of that brewery and saw a bird inside the brewery overhead the open fermentor!

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Hey, aidan. Not to hijack the thread or anything ... but I've been trying to find a clone for Montieth's Summer Ale to make for my brother-in-law. He loves the stuff. Any tips? Also trying to get some Riwaka hops but it sounds like they may not be available until next year.

Anyway, we now return you to your previously scheduled thread. BTW, atrex808, I think the majority of us on this site have had the exact same thing happen to them. I haven't yet heard of one that didn't come out fine. You shouldn't have any problems.

 

[aidan]

Hey, aidan. Not to hijack the thread or anything ... but I've been trying to find a clone for Montieth's Summer Ale to make for my brother-in-law. He loves the stuff. Any tips? Also trying to get some Riwaka hops but it sounds like they may not be available until next year.

Anyway, we now return you to your previously scheduled thread. BTW, atrex808, I think the majority of us on this site have had the exact same thing happen to them. I haven't yet heard of one that didn't come out fine. You shouldn't have any problems.

Sorry can't help you with Montieth's Summer Ale clone. I used to think Montieth's beer was pretty decent but since I've been home brewing my tastes have changed and they taste a bit bland for my liking.

Riwaka seems to be hard to get sometimes even here in NZ, demand exceeds supply. It's currently out of stock on this popular NZ online brew supplier: http://www.brewshop.co.nz/hops/nz-hops Probably won't be back in stock until after next hops harvest, March/April 2015.
I recently did a hoppy pale ale with Riwaka (had it in the freezer for a few months) and it's sister, Motueka plus another local, Waimea - turned out to be a really nice combo: http://brewinmyown.com/beer_recipes/october-pale-ale/

 

[BPal75]

Per Aidan, it sounds like you just need to brew up a summer ale and dry hop with some bird sheet. Brother-in-law can't get enough of the stuff huh?


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[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Yeah, he loves the stuff. I've never had it but the reviews I've seen don't speak too highly of it, to say the least. I guess it is pretty heavy on the ginger side. I worked up a recipe with 2-row and wheat malts along with some vienna and C20. I subbed in Motueka instead of Riwaka and I'll use 4 oz of fresh grated ginger at stages in the boil. I'm not sure about the amount of ginger but it sounds like it has a lot in it so I'm thinking 4 oz isn't crazy. I'm brewing it this Friday so we'll see how it comes out.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Aidan, looks like a nice recipe. I've used the Motueka a couple of times and really enjoyed it. I may have to do an all-NZ IPA and play around with some of those. I'm curious, how did the MJ West Coast yeast work out? I've never tried it. I've had good results with their Burton and Bavarian Wheat but uneven results with the Newcastle Dark. My go-to APA and IPA yeast is US-05.

 

[aidan]

Aidan, looks like a nice recipe. I've used the Motueka a couple of times and really enjoyed it. I may have to do an all-NZ IPA and play around with some of those. I'm curious, how did the MJ West Coast yeast work out? I've never tried it. I've had good results with their Burton and Bavarian Wheat but uneven results with the Newcastle Dark. My go-to APA and IPA yeast is US-05.

The MJ West Coast worked out fine, I would have no hesitation in using it again. I too usually use US-05 for American style pale ales and IPAs. The M44 is another clean brewing yeast suitable for these beers. The M44 seems to attenuate a bit more. This beer went down to 1.008 whereas I'd expect 1.010-1.012 with US-05 for similar recipe. My palatte is not finely tuned enough to pick out any noticable differences in yeast contribution in this highly hopped beer. Maybe a side by side comparison of same beer brewed with the 2 yeasts would show some differences but both are good yeasts for this style. Definately worth giving M44 a go to see what you think.