My first brew today

[mattne421]

hey all i brewed my first batch of beer today. it was an american pale ale, i used northern brewer and liberty hops. the only problems besides the fact that i felt like i didnt sanitize well enough were i didnt feel like i cooled my wort fast enough. Im not sure of the exact time it was in the bath but i ran threw my ice maker fast. Any suggestions? i also had a couple scorch marks on the bottom of the pot from the liquid malt extract. i put the LME in with about 10 minutes left on my boil. How will this effect my brew? thanks for any responses.

 

[beergolf]

Relax.... you made beer. Let it sit for three weeks, bottle it up and then let it sit for another three weeks and you will have a tasty brew to drink.

I know the waiting is the hardest part about this hobby, but patience pays off.

 

[NorthRiverS]

I think you'll be fine. I scorched some LME in a batch recently and it came out great. The other issues shouldn't cause any problems.

NRS

 

[BlainD]

I'm still paranoid after my third batch don't worry.

 

[RJS]

i didnt feel like i cooled my wort fast enough. Im not sure of the exact time it was in the bath but i ran threw my ice maker fast. Any suggestions?

Ya, i used to do no chill method and let the batch sit for awhile, and i did ice baths. I and everyone else would recommend getting a wort chiller. cools from boiling temps to 80f in about 12 to 15 minutes, for me anyways. I love my wort chiller

 

[Stauffbier]

hey all i brewed my first batch of beer today. it was an american pale ale, i used northern brewer and liberty hops. the only problems besides the fact that i felt like i didnt sanitize well enough were i didnt feel like i cooled my wort fast enough. Im not sure of the exact time it was in the bath but i ran threw my ice maker fast. Any suggestions? i also had a couple scorch marks on the bottom of the pot from the liquid malt extract. i put the LME in with about 10 minutes left on my boil. How will this effect my brew? thanks for any responses.

Are you doing full 5 gal boil, or partial boil? When I did partial boils before I had a wort chiller I would sanitize a tuperware container, fill it with natural spring water and freeze it the night before. Then when it's time to chill the wort put the kettle in your ice bath and plop the sanitized ice block into your wort. I used to cool 3 gal in about 15 mins like that.. You can also put your top-off water in the fridge the night before...

 

[BMan1029]

Did you take your pot off the burner when you added the LME? When I first started extract brewing, it was recommended to me to take the pot off the burner when you add the LME and give it a good stir to prevent scorching. I never had a problem, so I figured it was sound advice.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I'm still paranoid after my third batch don't worry.

$h*t, i'm still paranoid from time to time and i lost count of what batch i was on some time ago. i think it's something that doesn't ever fully go away. just go with the RDWHAHB thing and it makes it easier. also, as you gain more experience, that knowledge will overpower the worry.

 

[Stauffbier]

Did you take your pot off the burner when you added the LME? When I first started extract brewing, it was recommended to me to take the pot off the burner when you add the LME and give it a good stir to prevent scorching. I never had a problem, so I figured it was sound advice.

If you boil on an electric burner (especially if it's an old burner that doesn't heat evenly) it's very common to get scorching, even if you remove the pot from the burner to add extract. I've had a couple minor scorches, but it never created any problems. It actually adds a bit of carmalized flavor sometimes. My chocolate stout scorched, and it tastes great!