The First Brew - Day 10

On a suggestion from a co-worker, I decided to repitch some yeast to hopefully jumpstart fermentation. I pitched the yeast into my secondary carboy and racked on top of it. Hopefully that will get me closer to my final gravity. I used Safale US-05 yeast for the repitch.

The First Brew - Day 9

I took another hydrometer reading tonight. As I suspected from the lack of activity over the weekend, the gravity reading was stuck at 1.020. On the plus side, the flavor was much better than it was on Thursday. It was less sweet and more beer-like. It kind of tasted like a Belgian trippel. I could see it tasting alright with some refrigeration, carbonation, and a little more time. If the gravity reading hasn't changed by Wednesday, I'll probably rack it to a secondary carboy and give it a little time to mellow.

Kegerator

In preperation for my first brew, I constructed a kegerator for my corny keg. This is a Frigidaire 4.4 cubic foot mini fridge. It can potentially hold two 5-gallon cornelius kegs. I am looking forwarding to kegging my first brew and not having to clean 48 glass bottles.

The First Brew - Day 5

i removed the blowoff tube and added the airlock stopper half-filled with vodka. The foam had pretty much subsided, but was coming back before I went to bed. The gravity was 1.020 when I made the change. The next major step will be racking to the secondary.

The First Brew - Day 4

The krausen is getting pretty gunky.

The First Brew - Day 3

In the morning, there was a thin layer of bubbles. By the afternoon, bubbles were visibly coming out of the blowoff tube.