Adding the additional hops

Added the secondary hops this morning. The mix was still very foamy, but no bubbles in the airlock. I hope we didn't add them too soon.

First, the hops


Next, open the primary fermenter (pretty foamy)


Then dumped the hops into the wort






Happy hops, floating on the foam. There was nothing in the instructions or that I could find online about stirring them into the wort or anything, so I'm assuming they will settle to the bottom as the foam dissipates.

Bubbles...

At 6 pm the following evening, we now have bubbles in the airlock. Current rate is about 1 per second, the temp on the primary fermenter is 66 degrees.

Brewfest January 2009

Well, we're at it again with a second batch. We added another "Brewer" to the team, so now we're DJDS Homebrewers.

After a road trip to our favorite brewing supply store, in Cincinnati, OH http://www.listermann.com/ (yeah, it's a shameless plug but the customer service is great, and they're so helpful for us novice brewers) we gathered at the brewhaus for a night of food,brewing and fellowship with spouses and friends.


We had a table full of food and some new Cream Ales to taste, so without further ado, let's get down to the brewing.


First order of business was to put the grain into the "sacks" or BB's as we call them.

It took two sacks this time as we needed a second one for all the hops



Then we added the "secret ingredient" to the mix


Meanwhile, we all ate pizza, salad and an EXCELLENT pecan pie (thanks K) while the grains, water and hops steeping.


After steeping the water and hops, and bringing it to a boil a second time, we added MORE HOPS, boiled for another 1/2 hour, and then we were ready to whip the wort.


After an uneventful casting of the yeast,

we had a little excitement when inserting the airlock into the top of the primary fermenter. The rubber grommet decided after 10 years of sitting, it fell apart. This led to a trip to Lowes, where we were fortunate enough to find an exact match. Whew, now all is well and the primary fermenter is in the downstairs brewhaus.