Good to know! ha.
As I mentioned, there are definitely loop holes in what we did, and we certainly learned a ton. I'm glad its garnering some conversation. As we know, everyone has their own way of doing something and if you ask 3 people the same question on process, etc., you will get 3 different answers. It makes brewing always exciting!
Im glad you aren't offended by anyone's nit picking. We're just really into brewing and see little things and talk them up.
So im curious about pitching warm. The article says it was to get fermentation started. I'm guessing you did that because you didn't do starters and were worried about lag time? Or do you guys usually pitch warm?
Well getting offended won't do much, only cause more issues!
We pitched warm somewhat because of lag time, but also proximity to where we brewed vs where our lager fridge was. We brewed the beers at my house (Torrington, CT), and the brew day was 12+ hours. The lager fridge that is big enough to hold all four carboys, is owned by a club member who lives 20 or so minutes away. After the 12 hour brew day (and some "sampling"), I wasn't up to making the trip. Also, several people in the club who make lagers, said they start warm with all their lagers and then drop. So, we gave it a go. Maybe that was a lesson also, not to go that route. Even changing one variable of this whole thing could have changed the entire outcome!