First brew!

[Relyt]

After months of waiting, I just finished brewing my first batch! I'm doing a Nut Brown Ale kit I picked up at my local home brew shop. For the most part, everything went very well (much easier than I had anticipated), but I think it went so smooth because I spent so much time prepping and sanitizing. So right now she's hanging out in the primary...

I do have a couple questions, though:
1) It took much longer than I thought it would to cool the wort to 70 degrees (around 35 minutes). Is that typical and will this affect the finished product?
2) When it comes time to bottle and I mix the wort with the priming sugar, am I supposed to gently syphon it together or mix it well and aerate it?

Thanks!

 

[zurcj20]

question 1- 35 min isn't bad final product will be just fine,
question 2- gently siphon it together. you do not want to add any air to it at that point.
have fun waiting for the finished beer! it is worth it!!

 

[jonmohno]

1} 35 minutes is very good!
2) Rack your beer into a botteling bucket with the preboiled priming sugar already in it,Maybe stir with the end of the siphon hose (after) or santized spoon gently not aerating it!

 

[Relyt]

Great, thanks guys! Things are going right so far, my air lock is bubbling like crazy today!