Is my batch ruined?

So, Im new to brewing and this is my first batch. thought i did everything exactly as the recipe said but after looking at it something seems wrong. i’ve attached a picture. I did not have a hydrometer when i first started the batch but do now. its currently at 1.020 . I did have a lot of bubble over happen at the very beginning of fermenting. Just trying to figure out what I did wrong and was hoping someone would see the pic and just kinda know what I messed up on.

thx for any help you can give

You may have problems if you left it sitting with the stopper and airlock out for long. From everything I’ve read, blowoff is normal. Somebody with much more knowledge will pipe in soon but your ferment temps may have been a bit high. My suggestions are from a microbiologist’s POV not a seasoned brewer’s so take it for what it’s worth…

Edit: Was it a 1 gal. small batch kit? I saw the second reply and my thoughts were that you probably don’t have any transfer options…

Is the batch ruined? I can’t tell from your picture. What did you do wrong? It looks like too small of a fermenter for the batch that was brewed, but I wouldn’t say that dried krausen in the neck of the carboy means anything in terms of the beer, if you rack it over to a new fermenter (or bottling bucket and bottle from there). It would be good to do 3 tests on 3 straight days to know that your fermentation is complete. Good luck.

yes, it was a 1 gallon batch. I did not leave the stopper off for very long but was pretty concerned about all the stuff that was formed at top of the carboy. Probably incorrectly, i pushed it back into the bottle so that I could take a sample to test with a hydrometer. it was also in a room where the temp was around 60 degrees. I have moved it upstairs where it is sitting at 68 degrees currently

You’re probably OK - all of my research indicates that blowoff is pretty common. You just had an aggressive fermentation. My first batch is on the back end and has slowed down after about 40 hours. I didn’t have blowoff but the krausen did almost reach the neck of the carboy. You probably didn’t need to take a sample so early but as long as you sanitized everything it will probably still come out OK. Just give it time.

Yes blowoff is normal. I recommend using a blowoff tube. Get a drilled stopper

and some tubing and run the end into a gallon jug of sanitizer and water. It’ll blow off the kraeusen and get the headache causing stuff out of the beer. Your beer may not be ruined. Is there still beer in the fermenter? I can’t tell in the picture.

Let the beer finish fermenting. Bottle it. Send me the bottles. I’ll let you know if it’s ruined :wink:

Agreed, you screwed up. Just let it finish out and send it all to me to dispose of properly :wink:

All that stuff is yeast, and you’re almost definitely fine. What temperature was the beer when you pitched the yeast? You may have had an overly vigorous fermentation due to high pitching temp, but that’s not the end of the world. Give it time to finish up, bottle it, and drink it.

Congrats…you made your first beer. Looks like a pretty good fermentation. Give it a week then bottle. If you like the results and are hooked, get a bigger fermenter and up it to 5 gallon batches. You can do 5 gallons in just about the same time as 1 and YOU HAVE MORE BEER. The logistics may be a bit different but the payoff is better.

Good on you.

“The brown scum that forms during fermentation and clings to the side of the fermentor is intensely bitter and if it is stirred back into the beer it will cause very astringent tastes. The scum should be removed from the beer, either by letting it cling undisturbed to the sides of an oversize fermentor, or by skimming it off the krausen, or blowing off the krausen itself from a 5 gallon carboy. I have never had any problems by simply letting it cling to the sides of the fermentor.”

From John Palmer’s “How to Brew”

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Not trying to scare you, but just prep you in case your first beer has an unexpected taste. If it does, live & learn, and definitely use a bigger vessel for fermentation.

“The brown scum that forms during fermentation and clings to the side of the fermentor is intensely bitter and if it is stirred back into the beer it will cause very astringent tastes. The scum should be removed from the beer, either by letting it cling undisturbed to the sides of an oversize fermentor, or by skimming it off the krausen, or blowing off the krausen itself from a 5 gallon carboy. I have never had any problems by simply letting it cling to the sides of the fermentor.”

From John Palmer’s “How to Brew”

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Not trying to scare you, but just prep you in case your first beer has an unexpected taste. If it does, live & learn, and definitely use a bigger vessel for fermentation.[/quote]

You can also let it sink naturally and carefully siphon above the trub at the bottom of the fermenter.

[quote=“mvsawyer”]

You can also let it sink naturally and carefully siphon above the trub at the bottom of the fermenter.[/quote]

Good to know. I’ve never disturbed it. :smiley: