A Home Brew Journey

So after purchasing everything I thought I needed it was time to get the brew underway. As this was my first brew I studied the instructions some more just to be sure (cant be wasting the beer now can we). The instructions that came with the kit were shall we say 'minimal', this I thought was a good thing. 

1. Clean and Sanitise. Everything that comes into contact with the ingredients
2. Boil 6 pints of water and add contents of can,sugar and boiled water to fermenting bucket
3. Mix together and top off to 5 gallons with cold water
4. Add yeast once correct temperature has been achieved
5. Leave  fermenting bucket in a warm place for at least a week
6. Check hydrometer reading is consistent for a couple of days
7. Siphon beer into barrel and add priming sugar. Then leave to carbonate for 3 weeks
8. Drink

Not a problem I said to myself. Ha was I wrong there. Steps 1, 2 and 3 not a problem then came step 4 that will be the point I realise I do not own a thermometer DOH!! What to do ? I ask myself, well what does any man do in that situation? Exactly, stick it in anyway and hope for the best, I think that may have been my first mistake.

Step 5 should have been a simple thing to do but that is where my second mistake happened. As it said in the instructions the beer should be left in a warm place at between 17 and 20 degrees C the only room in my house that is constantly warm is the boiler cupboard, again no thermometer so in it goes and I hoped for the best again.

Now you might be noticing a pattern here of alot of hoping and praying well the mistake I made with step 6 is just down to sheer impatience. After 7 days I checked the reading it was a bit high, day 8 still the same reading so sod it I am putting this in a barrel.

The actual job of siphoning was a piece of cake and even I didnt muck up adding the primimg sugar. There was just one problem though, you knew there would be. When I was sanatising the barrel I took the tap off to give that a good clean also and possibly, just maybe I or someone else didnt tighten it back up fully. I only found this out after a few hours when my house started to smell like a tramps coat after a good session. In my ignorance I thought that this was just how it was supposed to smell. Evenyually I had a look then had a little panic attack and grabbed the barrel and ran to the kitchen with it. Thinking that I had somehow threaded the tap I took it completly off, that was the point that all the gas escaped. All I could do at this point is screw it back on and hope there was no more leaks, but wait I thought the gas has all escaped 'I know', I says 'just add a wee bit more sugar that will sort it right out'. Never do this it is the same as dropping Mentos into Cola not a pretty sight.

Step 8 has still to happen but I am not looking forward to it, you never know though after a couple it might be ok.