Just a quick update to the homebrew beer project: it was a success!

I cracked one open after a week and it tastes very delicious.

I won’t be brewing anymore until after I get back from Atlanta/Las Vegas trip in March. Gives me a little bit of time to see what I want to brew next.

It’s now February 5th and time to check the beer again. If I get the same hydrometer reading as last time, it means it’s done fermenting and it’s time to bottle it. Let’s find out.

And it is. So now we bottle the 5 gallons tomorrow!

February 6: It took me quite a while to bottle all my 5 gallons of beer, and it gave me a tired back from sitting on the floor doing it. But here’s my results:

52 bottles of homebrew beer!

They have to sit in the dark and carbonate for 2-4 weeks. I’ll be trying one at two weeks and see how they are.

It’s been 10 days since I’ve started the beer in the fermenter, so I decided to take a hydrometer reading. The purpose at this stage of the brewing process is to determine if fermentation has stopped. If it has, then you can proceed to prime the beer an bottle it for another two to three weeks. Primary fermenting is normally between two to three weeks as well, and at the end when it’s done fermenting (or you think it is) take two readings twp to three days apart to make sure it is done. If it isn’t done fermenting, there’s a good chance you’ll have some bottles of beer explode. The beer shouldn’t be bottled until the hydrometer reads below 1.006 or, again, your bottles might burst.

I started this beer with a starting gravity of 1.080 which has a potential alcohol yield of 10.8%.

Here is my hydrometer reading now: (clicking the pic enlarges it)

This reads 1.006. It’s only been fermenting for 10 days, so I think I’ll give it a few more days to see if it’ll get below 1.006 to be on the safe side. Then bottling time!

Edit: I forgot to mention, with the current reading, the estimated alcohol content is about 10.4%