Looking for an honest opinion.

[Mangod52]

I r ecently brewed my second batch of beer, 1st was a success, and had a couple of minor incidents. First, I burned some of the extract onto the bottom of kettle and then it flaked off during the brewing boil. I attempted to spoon out the pieces but some where left behind. It didnt have a taste of any kind, so, did I hurt this beer?

Second issue occurred just after I pitched the yeast. I was putting the lid on and accidentally pushed the rubber grommet from the airlock into the beer. I didnt have anything long enough to scoop out the grommet, so I sanitized the crap out of my hand and arm and reached in and grabbed it. Did I ruin the beer?

[spiderwrangler]

If you can't taste the scorched malt, you're probably fine. In the future, turn off the gas (or move the pot to a cold burner if you're on electric) and stir your malt in thoroughly before returning it to the heat.

For the grommet, the better course of action would have been to run and get another grommet and not worry about that one, as it should have been clean and sanitary already. If you sanitized your arm, that's better than reaching in without, but still something I'd avoid.

PS. Suck it Chad.

[Mangod52]

I knew about the burn issue from class, so shame on me. I will not forget next time
How many days into the ferment can I realistically taste the beer and see if it is going south?
Or, should I just let it runs its course and pray?

[TheDarkSide]

Oh man, I hate when that happens. Hopefully you have a nice healthy yeast that kicks the ass of anything that may have gotten in there, but as Spider says, try to avoid in the future or get a long stainless steel spoon.

Time will tell but I doubt it will be ruined.

Good luck.

[TheDarkSide]

I knew about the burn issue from class, so shame on me. I will not forget next time
How many days into the ferment can I realistically taste the beer and see if it is going south?
Or, should I just let it runs its course and pray?

I'd just let it go. You are pretty much invested in it now so the only thing you've got to lose is time. You never know, you may have just created the best beer you've ever made and will have to remember what you did

[Mangod52]

Ok cool, thanks guys. If it turns out, I will probably name it Mighty Forearm Pale ale(everyone says I have forearms that resemble Popeyes)

[spiderwrangler]

That'd make for a bad ass tap handle design if you were kegging it! Agree, no reason to dump it, you'll likely be fine.

[snowcapt]

Big forearms, huh? What ever have you been doing to bulk them up?
Sounds like itll be a good learning experience. Drink it up and make anotber batch.
You may not be able to save a batch gone bad, but you can ALWAYS brew up another and avoid the pitfalls of previous batches.
Live and learn, brotha!