1st batch ever, problems or at least questions

I'm confused by what you've written.

Is the beer in a bucket with a lid, but no air-lock?
How did you cool the beer, and how long did it take?
What temperature did you pitch the yeast?
What do you need a cork for?

 

Alright, well at this point I would just leave the wort in the bucket to ferment.

I don't advocate transferring to a secondary vessel at all, but some people do. In a Scotch Ale, I wouldn't worry too much about transferring. I would leave it in the bucket until it's done fermenting (about 3 weeks) then transfer to bottling bucket. If you're overly concerned about the seal on the bucket lid, transfer to secondary after two weeks.

The kettle trub (including) hops, won't affect your finished beer.

 

What JohnSnowNW said is spot on. Good luck with, and enjoy the rest of your first brew process!

 

I always use a bucket for primary fermentations. Just easier to use, both putting the beer-to-be in and cleaning out afterwards. I don't leave it in there long enough to worry about oxygen migrating thorugh, and I never touch it (by which I mean opening the lid) until almost 3 weeks after brewing.
Just make sure you have a decent seal, and keep the airlock full to the line.
Advantage again to bucket, is that I use a strainer (just a regular kitchen one, I do dedicate it to brewing, and make sure it's sanitized) over the top, I pour the cooled wort through it. This both aerates it and strains out the majority of trub. Some still gets in but I don't worry about it.

The other thing I wonder about, OP, is are you using the bottling bucket for fermentation? Or did you get the standard 2 buckets plus a carboy set?

 

You can just siphon from the bucket into the carboy and bottle from the carboy...if you don't have time to run to the brew store.

 

Should be fine, assuming the yeast are doing their thing. Even then, there are breweries that do open air primary fermentation. It's not recommended...but it just goes to show there's no reason to be overly concerned about stuff like this...you'll be fine.

 

What about if you want to rack onto a pie? Secondary or no?












I still can't get over the pie thing...

 

What's the "pie thing?"

 

Around the same times there was a guy brewing lambics in his turkey pan and another guy trying to do a pumkin. Beer by mashing in with a whole pumpkin pie in his mash tun.

 

LOL...now I do remember that.

 

Well, then myquestion still stands. Would you use a secondary for dry-pieing your beer?

 

Absolutely not, I'd just throw that bad boy right in primary!