Making Beer

So Last Month I stopped by Bob's Homebrewing supplies and bought myself the basic beer making kit. I have been wanting to do it for quite sometime, but had hoped to get most of the items on craigs list. Sadly I never found what I was looking for and decided to just cut to the chase.

After getting everything home, I immediately put it in the cabinet and took off on a month long vacation to New Zealand.

Upon return, I puled every thing out and took stock. Some where between the time of purchase and no I managed to lose the Irish moss, which turns out to be seaweed? Aparently this helps keep the beer from becoming cloudy after it is cooled.

In addition the package of yeast, that has a small package inside to get the yeast started, probably some sugar based product, didn't seem to be activating. The instructions indicated to activate the yeast the night before for best results. I squished the bag around a lot, but it didn't quite poof out the way I was hoping.

First thing in the morning I made a trip over to Bob's and picked up the lost Irish moss and asked about the yeast- he seem to think I was okay, so I returned home to proceed. The whole process took most of the day, mainly because I am slow, but also because I was reading as I went.

Most of the steps are pretty simple, boil some water; steep the hops; strain the hops; add more water rinse the hops; add malt; boil for a hour strain; cool and add yeast. The only issue I had was when I got to the end of the mash process I brilliantly added enough water to exactly 5 gallons. The carboy actually hold exactly 5 gallons, so I had no room left for the yeast. After sucking out a few cups, I then added the yeast and waited.

This morning when I went into the kitchen- kazam- the beer was alive. We will see what happens when I get home from work.