Newbie Foibles

So, brewed my second batch last night, and I'm feeling uneasy about potential issues (felt the same way on the first batch, and it turned out okay). Tried brewing a Deschutes Mirror Pond clone. Here are my worries, what do you think?

1. Started late and time got away from me, so I couldn't get the wort cooled. I put it in the Ale Pail, covered it, and let it cool overnight (about 5.5 hours). Pitched the yeast this morning. How bad is my risk of infection, and what other problems might arise?

2. I took out what I thought was enough for a hydrometer reading before I pitched the yeast, but it wasn't. So, I don't have a starting measurement. How bad does this screw me up?

3. How important is the sanitation of the lid for the Ale Pail? I sanitized it really early in the process, and now I'm worried it may be contaminated from sitting around.

Thanks for your patience

While these are experience you will likely avoid and learn from for the future, it doesn't necessarily mean that anything will be wrong with the batch. It is always best to plan for more time than you think you'll need, that will help you slow down and relax through the process. As long as you sanitized well, you beer is likely okay after sitting overnight. Though that is not a risk you want to continue to take next time. You missed the initial hydrometer reading, which just means you won't be able to know exactly what the alcohol content was, or your efficiency if you were brewing all grain. In the end, you can still take the final reading to make sure that the beer is finished and ready for bottling/kegging. Per sanitizing the lid, as long as you sanitized it well and didn't give it opportunity for infection, just 'sitting out' should be okay. There are certainly bacterias and fungi floating around, but the exposure the lid would have received over the course of a couple hours would be minimal.

All in all, just relax, its likely that your beer is just fine. We all make simple mistakes along the way, and they just provide wisdom for next time! Cheers.

Thanks. I keep telling myself it's just beer and it's for enjoyment and I'm just starting/learning. Still, little (stupid) mistakes bug me, ha!

Thanks again for earlier help

gnaztee said:

Thanks again for earlier help

Click to expand...

Oops, cut off part of my message. Should have said that my air lock is bubbling like crazy, so I hope it's the good yeast doing all the work!

I think you're fine. What temp was your wort when you pitched the yeast?

Also... the beuaty of buckets for fermenters... is you don't need to take a "sample" of the beer to get a hydrometer reading. You can sanitize your hydrometer and drop it right in the bucket for a gravity reading.

Gary

That would have been smart on the hydrometer...dang. Wort was just under 75.

the danger zone temperature range is (41 and 140 °F)
The longer that wort is held between those temps the greater risk for infection.
4-5 hours is not tremendously long, especially if your sanitation was good during the brew.
Chances are nothing will happen but you should be better safe than sorry.