Just Brewed my First Beer, Check it out. Couple Questions

[Djshakes]

Hi All

I brewed my first beer last night and it is going crazy in the carboy! Awesome.

It is a Hef and I used extract with pellet hops. When transferring from the kettle to the carboy my screen on the funnel got clogged easily so towards the end of the transfer a lot of the hops and stuff got into the beer (because I removed the screen on the funnel). Take a look at all the stuff that has risen to the top of the carboy. Should I hook up a blow off line or leave it as I currently have it? The stuffs goes to the top of the plug in the carboy Thanks.

 

[WharfRat]

Yes to blowoff tube. If you don't have full sized tube, stick the smaller diameter tube into the hole in the bung and the other end in a bottle with starsan solution.

 

[inhousebrew]

Yep, it's better to attach the blowoff tube and not need it than to not attach it and need it later.

 

[frazier]

It's really two unrelated issues.

Get that blowoff tube on right away! Your headspace looks small, and Hefs can get violent.

As for the funnel screen, I used that - once. Never again. Too much pain for very little gain. What gets into the carboy will end up settling out over time, and you can leave it behind when racking to the bottling bucket.

Cheers!