So I am brand new to home brewing, and new to this site. I spent some time lurking and finally signed up. I did a lot of research on the topic before starting but still managed to screw up a lot of things. I brewed my first batch, an Autumn Amber Ale extract kit two nights ago. Here are my mistakes (please don't be too harsh):
I knew I had to chill the wort, but greatly misjudged what needed to be done. I had a gallon of water in the fridge and added that to the brew pot, but it didn't seem to do much. I then poured the hot wort into my primary (after some more research HSA might not be an issue) and topped off. The wort was sitting at around 110. I left the cover on, but when I took the cover off to stir and check the temp I shook the condensation back into the primary (I know now not to do that). I let it sit for a few hours and picthed the yeast late at night when I was tired. When I pitched the wort was around 95. With all of my worrying about it not cooling I forgot to take on OG. I moved down into the basement and left, and in the morning the airlock was going pretty crazy. Last night the primary temp was about 73 and bubbling every 10 seconds, to try and cool it off I opened windows and this morning the primary was at 70 and bubbling every 20 seconds. We have a large laundry bucket that I will be using from now on to put my brew kettle in an ice bath, it doesn't fit in my sink which is why I didn't use it this time.
My question is, becasue the yeast seemed to take, do I have much to worry about? I know it is early, so I am not going to worry much. I will probably drink it no matter what, so I am not thinking about dumping. Becasue this is my first batch I don't have any home brews to relax with, but I am enjoying emptying some bottles to re-use. Buy empty bottles? That place sells full ones!
I knew I had to chill the wort, but greatly misjudged what needed to be done. I had a gallon of water in the fridge and added that to the brew pot, but it didn't seem to do much. I then poured the hot wort into my primary (after some more research HSA might not be an issue) and topped off. The wort was sitting at around 110. I left the cover on, but when I took the cover off to stir and check the temp I shook the condensation back into the primary (I know now not to do that). I let it sit for a few hours and picthed the yeast late at night when I was tired. When I pitched the wort was around 95. With all of my worrying about it not cooling I forgot to take on OG. I moved down into the basement and left, and in the morning the airlock was going pretty crazy. Last night the primary temp was about 73 and bubbling every 10 seconds, to try and cool it off I opened windows and this morning the primary was at 70 and bubbling every 20 seconds. We have a large laundry bucket that I will be using from now on to put my brew kettle in an ice bath, it doesn't fit in my sink which is why I didn't use it this time.
My question is, becasue the yeast seemed to take, do I have much to worry about? I know it is early, so I am not going to worry much. I will probably drink it no matter what, so I am not thinking about dumping. Becasue this is my first batch I don't have any home brews to relax with, but I am enjoying emptying some bottles to re-use. Buy empty bottles? That place sells full ones!
