Another "New to Homebrewing" post

Hello!

I started my first batch this past Saturday, from a kit. It's a whiskey barrel stout.

I'm trying a couple small changes to the kit's recipe:

•I added 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder during the last 10min of the boil.
•I've soaked the whiskey barrel chips in bourbon (instead of boiling)... which I'll then rack the beer onto in a carboy after fermentation ends.

A few notes from my brewing experience so far:
The OG was 1.065 (the high side of the supplied range.) I added water until I reached 4.5 gallons, instead of the recipe's 5gal... hoping it might add some thickness to the beer.

The fermenter bucket top cracked up to the rubber lining... over it in a few places. I taped it up really well for now, and will get a new cover after this batch is done. This happened because the directions stated to cut at some notches to make it open/close easier... I cut the notches I saw on the inside, instead of those on the outside. oops.

The airlock gasket dropped into the wort when I tried connecting the gasket. It was well sanitized... I sanitized my arm, let it dry for a bit, then reached in and retrieved it. oops.

I noticed bubbling from the airlock within 24h. It picked up a bit over the last few days. It's now close to 72 hours and the bubbling has slowed dramatically (one bubble/2min). I'm a little worried about that. It's in the basement, on the floor, and the temp is around 73.

My current plan is to let it go for a week or so before measuring the gravity again... if that reading is good then I'll pump it over to the carboy with the bourbon soaked whiskey chips.

It's my first time... not expecting it to be fantastic... just hoping it's not disgusting.

I enjoyed the process (even the mistakes) and am hoping that whatever it turns into tastes better than the time I helped a friend brew a Mr. Beer kit.

 

Oh!
there was a boilover (foamover?) when I added the DME... which happened to coincide with a phone call... "I'm brewing for the first time, just added some malt... oh crap gotta go. click." nothing else (LME, hops, etc) seemed to cause that same level of foam.

then I spent the next 5 minutes futzing with the heat on my ancient electric stove and trying to cleanup the mess.

I'm sure I'm forgetting other things that went wrong... needed to look to youtube for how to use the hydrometer... sprayed some wort over the kitchen when starting the syphon...

 

thanks for the tips!

 

That's exactly it.

I realize it's a kit, it's not all grain.
I'm still learning to use the equipment.
I'm still learning what to do when something goes wrong.
I'm still learning the vocabulary.
I don't have great control over my ferm temp.
I haven't read much about brewing or looked closely at many recipes.

I hope that some day I've learned enough and invested enough in the hobby to trust tried and true recipes... and eventually, to design some of my own and see what happens.

Now that I'm just getting into it, there's a novelty to it. I'm excited to create, but a bit remorseful that I didn't invest more heavily in the hobby and jump right into all grain.

I wouldn't feel content saying - "hey I grabbed a kit and followed it exactly and the beer came out OK just like everyone else who has bought this product and followed the recipe."

Changing things slightly gives me a bit more ownership over it - for better or worse.

 

The OG for this batch was 1.065 (the recipe range was 1.060-1.065)
Just checked the SG and it's now around 1.025.

The kit recipe tells me it should get to 1.016-1.019.

Bubbles have really slowed down. Didn't see one during the 3min I watched it before I popped the lid to check the gravity.

I'll be away this Sat - Tues.

Should I let it sit for the week? Or should I move it over to the glass carboy tonight or tomorrow and start it on the bourbon soaked whiskey chips?

I'm not in a rush - so if waiting wouldn't hurt anything, I'm fine with that.