1st Time Brewer - 1st Time Mistakes

[PGEduardo]

Hello - I finally had the time to brew up the Midwest Autumn Amber Ale (for Spring?) kit I purchased.

Typical newb issues - bought a cheap starter kit, then decided to upgrade piecemeal and spent way too much cash... :cross:

I didn't quite have the time to really plan this out like I would have liked, but it's my first beer so I'm not too worried. I already have a Hop Head Double IPA kit in the fridge once this batch gets consumed.

Biggest issue? I boiled the wort with the lid on I conditioned the aluminum pot (yes, I plan to buy a stainless one now too!) but kept the lid on the whole time. I have a 32 quart pot, so I boiled 5 full gallons as wort.

I'm not sure what that will do to the flavor, but I half planned to give most of the first batch away anyway.

Upcoming plans include a move to kegging, but I'll try to hold myself to at least 5 batches before I make that jump...

:rockin:

 

[kevinlassen]

I boil with my lid partially on (apartment stoves are that powerful) and haven't had a problem.

 

[ScottG58]

The worst thing boiling with the lid on can do is allow DMS to stay in the beer. DMS can leave a cooked corn off-flavor. I do not know if DMS is a worry with an extract kit. The company created the extract by making wort boiling it and later condencing it. They may ready have driven the DMS off. (There may be a brewer chemist on this site who knows differently).

Congrats on the brew. Now comes the hardest part according to Tom Petty-the waiting.

 

[Cyclman]

If it's off, you'll taste it. Congrats on the great new hobby!

 

[PGEduardo]

The OG was 1.044, and fermentation was quick to start with thick foam. I just put a ziplock bag loosely over the carboy for the first 48 hours, then switched to a 3 piece airlock.

My only decision now is whether or not to switch the beer to my second 6.5 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation or just leave it. I really want clear beer from this batch, so I'm trying to be patient and do anything I can to help that at this point...

 

[PGEduardo]

So I went and bought a 5 gallon carboy for secondary - the beer just didn't have the clarity after 2 weeks that I wanted:

The color is a little off there - it's not really that yellow. The gravity was reading ~1.014, so I'll give it another week or so before bottling. There's about 5 inches of headspace in the 5 gallong carboy - should I heat it up a bit to drive some of the air out? The temp ranges from 65F-69F as it sits.

Another question is that I bought some Cascade hops to possibly dry hop. Would these work with Midwest's Amber Ale kit? Should I toss them in a couple days before bottling?

TIA