[flbrewer]

Hi all,
I'm brewing my second extract kit tomorrow (Ferocious IPA from Midwest) and have a few questions...

-My crushed grains have been crushed and sitting in a closet (ziplock) for about 4 weeks, will this affect anything?

-There is a bit of grain dust I can see in the bag, should I rinse the grains in the muslin bag prior to seeping?

-Any need to rinse/wash/sanitize the muslin bag for seeping?

-Is there an issue when I don't use 100% of the malt extracts provided? (even after heating in warm water, I can't seem to get ALL of the extract syrup out of the plastic jugs into the kettle)

Thank you!

[morticaixavier]

Hooked huh?

Hi all,
I'm brewing my second extract kit tomorrow (Ferocious IPA from Midwest) and have a few questions...

-My crushed grains have been crushed and sitting in a closet (ziplock) for about 4 weeks, will this affect anything? No worries, fresher is better but 4 weeks is not a problem

-There is a bit of grain dust I can see in the bag, should I rinse the grains in the muslin bag prior to seeping?again, no worries. The dust is not going to hurt anything

-Any need to rinse/wash/sanitize the muslin bag for seeping? nope

-Is there an issue when I don't use 100% of the malt extracts provided? (even after heating in warm water, I can't seem to get ALL of the extract syrup out of the plastic jugs into the kettle)There will be an ever so slight reduction in gravity but not enough to worry about. If you want to pour hot water in the jug from the kettle to dissolved the last bits that's fine but I wouldn't work about it too much.

Thank you!

[klickitat jim]

Don't sweat the small stuff.
Do things the same way each time

So, pre crushed is fine
Don't rinse off yummy dust
Sanitizer is for anything post boil
If you want to get it all out, cut it open and scrape it out, but I wouldn't worry

[euge]

I reserve some of the hot kettle water to rinse the containers out. Costs nothing.

[flbrewer]

Hooked huh?

A yup.

[Jimmy K]

Hooked huh?

A yup.

[flbrewer]

What about all of the floaties or pieces of muslin bag that come off in the seep? Cotton going to kill me?

[Jimmy K]

I've never had floaties come off a muslin bag, but if you do - no problem rinsing.  It's just not normally needed. Bits of grain, cotton, etc probably won't make it to the bottle anyway. They're likely to settle out and be left behind with the yeast and trub.

[gmac]

Cotton going to kill me?

Only if it's a pillow that your significant other is holding over your face (because you won't stop snoring and they can't sleep and they just can't take it anymore because they've got to get up tomorrow for a big meeting and it's already 2 am...)  Sorry, got a little personal there.

[Joe Sr.]

I always used a ladle to add hot wort back to the LME jug/can to get the last bits of it.  Add it let it, sit a bit, swirl it and pour it back into the kettle.

LME pouches were always the biggest PITA, but you can also do this same thing with pouches.

Or, you could buy a bit more than you need and not sweat it.

[flbrewer]

Geez guys...having some trouble with this one, think I burnt some of the LME, I see these big black sheets of stuff floating in the boiling wort. Any advice?

[Joe Sr.]

Yikes.  I have never seem something like that.

When I've scorched LME, it's always just been some scorching on the bottom of the kettle.

Can you get the "sheets" out of the wort?

When you're adding LME it's a good idea to kill the heat, add the LME, stir it to dissolve, and then turn the heat back on.

[flbrewer]

Here are some pictures at the top of my instagram...

http://instagram.com/flbrewer

[Joe Sr.]

Weird.  That almost looks like plastic.

If you scorched the wort, and it looks like you did, you're likely to be able to taste it in the finished beer.  It might be smoky or burnt.

Taste the wort before you pitch the yeast.  I'd go ahead and ferment it anyway even if it has a burnt flavor, unless it's overpowering.  But you've really got nothing to lose in fermenting it out.

[flbrewer]

Crap...yeah it's not plastic as it breaks apart when you touch it. Its also more of an amber color.  Almost like dried seaweed. Really disappointed, I almost had a boil over, wonder if it was related.