Sunday, February 24, 2008

Joining the Homebrew Nation

The time has come.
Pete, I'm joining the nation.
I need your help. I have a kit from The Wine and Hop Shop, but am lacking a boiling pot. What do you suggest?

12 comments:

Chris Ferguson said...

Why don't we all quit our jobs and open a brewery? Pete and I will move back to Madison, and we'll open up a brewpub. Sound good?
I call "Brewmaster"

피터 said...

I call 'Beer taster'!

피터 said...

I use one of these
because it was cheap. Don't get anything smaller. Another way to go is to use a turkey fryer (stainless steel ideally). Probably will be my next purchase.

Barry said...

Pete,
need assistance. My yeast bag didn't expand and I'm concerned that something went wrong. Also, I have two fermenters....how long until I need to transfer my goods into my second carboy...and then until bottling? I'm getting conflicting information.

As for you and Chris returning to Madison....thumbs up!

피터 said...

Did you pitch the yeast? It should be fine, maybe take a few extra hours to get started bubbling. If all went well, then by tomorrow morning the primary will be bubbling.

I turned on my phone in case.

As for fermenting, I usually do 1 week primary, then 10 days secondary. If you want to get scientific about it, take sp. gravity readings in the secondary. When it stabilizes, it's ready to bottle.

Barry said...

So...tomorrow morning i should see some bubbling in my stopper? Also, what specifically is pitching the yeast? Thirdly, what do I look for to determine the gravity and ensure it has stabilized?

피터 said...

you need a hydrometer to take gravity readings and estimate the alcohol content. pitching is when you add yeast to the wort.

Barry said...

Pete,
I added the yeast in the primary fermenter after I cooled the wart and poured it into the fermenter with the cool water (which I think I cooled too much) Did I mess this up? There is no action/bubbling today!

Chris Ferguson said...

Barry, you're such a "worry wort"

Barry said...

Chris....solid

피터 said...

Is it bubbling yet?

Barry said...

No...i think the yeast was the issue