Long-time drinker, first-time brewer in Dartmouth.

[SynapticHammer]

Greetings, fellow humanoids and Heimbraumeisters.

My first wort went into the fermenter this afternoon. It is a "Best Coast IPA" from NG, which I hope will mesh well with my appreciation for Propeller Double IPA and The Vicar's Cross Double IPA.

Thanks to the forums, I managed to get through some paranoid holy-crap moments, such as:

Oh no! There's no muslin bags for the hop pellets -- what am I going to do?

(Go ahead and pour it all into the fermenter. See if I'm okay with the outcome.)

...and,

Is the water sitting in the bottling bucket getting dirty while I finish this boil?

(Put a lid on it next time if I'm worried.)

...and,

Oh no! I have no thermometer. Was the water too warm to rehydrate my yeast? Is it game-over?

(Not necessarily, I might re-pitch in a couple days if no action.)

Thanks to all the OPs and those who shed light on dark matter.

- Tim

[chalmers]

Welcome aboard! Not sure if any is included, but some dry hopping at the end of primary will help increase the hop aroma, getting closer to those beers. Both of those breweries also employ dry-hopping (and I'm guessing both of those are dry-hopped).

You've learned the most important thing about brewing: Relax, don't worry, have (another) homebrew!

[Keith]

Welcome. At first brewing can be a bit overwhelming, but as long as you santize well, you will have beer. Takes a while to get the hang of it, and we all still have our "oh shit" moments. Just need to go with the flow.

Example. I added 3liters extra to my mash today. Wondered why my efficiency was off and realzied I fat fingered it. Boiled for 15 minutes before adding my 60 min additions and nailed my SG as expected.

A few "tips" from this Amature.
Fermcap is your friend, and will save you lot of mess.
Kegging saves time and makes the whole process that much more enjoyable.
All Grain isn't that scary afterall and is much easier than partial mash.

If you have any questions, search the forums and if you can't find an answer ask away.

[mr x]

[GuingesRock]

Hello Tim, I like your process of dealing with each event. It's the relax and don't worry thing that Chalmers was talking about. Who needs hop bags anyway, I never use them.

There is a lot of fussing that is not necessary and can sometimes actually detract from the beer. There is some fussing that is necessary ...sanitation, fermentation temperature, not oxygenating fermented beer ...that's all I can think of ...oh there's another one; you need to have a nice glass to drink your beer from.

[redoubt]

[LiverDance]

[akr71]