Tell me how to git gud at homebrew

Oxygen is the enemy. ONLY allow it when pitching yeast.

>>927862
How do I know the condition of the beer otherwise?

>>927864
Visually check krausen and bubbling of the airlock. Apart from that just wait and check the gravity at the end. It's not like there's much you can do about it during primary fermentation. Well, apart from maybe pitching some more yeast if fermentation doesn't want to start.

>>927870
Yeah, but is it alright to open things up for a short period just to check the gravity?

>>927876
Get fermenters with taps

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>>927876
Yes it's OK to check gravity periodically, but obviously be as sanitary doing this as possible. You can still fuck it up by introducing foreign organisms late or after fermentation.

I don't even exhale toward wort or must when I'm checking gravity or pitching yeast, etc.

Assuming your cleaning habits are good, you shouldnt have to worry too much.

Once you've done a few beers to completion you will probably not need to check so often, since you'll have an idea of the process.

>>927925
Well, I checked it, after sanitising everything and doing it in a clean room. It came out as 1.018, according to the instructions it should have started at about 1.040 (I forgot to check at the beginning). At least now I know it is working, even if there is a while to go. It smells like something approaching beer, though I tasted a bit of my sample and it's definitely nowhere near to tasting like it.

>>927984
What style is it? Checking gravity at he start is important. I'm guessing you used extract?

>>927984
>>927990
Never mind, I read the file name.
Also found that pic on a beer blog, so I'm guessing that's your recipe.

At any rate, I would suggest making your next homebrew an IPA, not an imperial/double, but a standard ipa.
It is probably the fastest brew day to drink day style you can make. And most common problems you run into will be covered by hop presence, especially if you dry hop in addition to boiling hops.

>>927996
Actually the pic isn't what I'm making, I just found it online.

I used an extract, which specified what the initial gravity would be. Next time I think I might try making the wort from scratch, then I'll make a point of testing it.

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>>927998
Be sanitary, oxygenate your wort, use a starter if the target abv is above 5%. Brew a bunch of different styles and have fun. If your beer looks like pic related and you didn't do it on purpose, you fucked up.

>>927851
>>928292
I want to hit like 10% what do I do

>>928411

Add a little sugar and let it ferment a little longer is my guess.

>>928411
Post your recipe, and process.
How long has it been since you pitched yeast

>>928411
Add more sugar/malt. Original gravity needs to be above 1.100.
Pitch tons of alcohol-tolerant yeast and aerate like crazy.

I want to make liquor but it's illegal in my state. What do I do?

P.S. Fuck the government.

>>928816
just fucking stab your eyes out now

>>928891

I know to get rid of the bad stuff.

What do you do when your beer's not creating gas any more?

>>929026

drink it

>>929026
Then it'll need a couple of weeks of conditioning at a cool temperature depending on the yeast, strength of beer and style. After than you can either force carbonate or bottle condition for carbonation.

>>927864
If your vessel is clear you can see bubbles rising to the surface, fermentation of most beers ales is finished by two weeks unless you have a stuck ferment, which is fairly rare. Also the oxygen being evil meme is kind of wrong. Yes it will change the flavour of your beer and directly oxygenating your wort mid ferment by vigourous stirring is stupid, but I brew a yorkshire square mild with a completely open top vessel that always turns out fine. Feel free to open your vessel to take gravity readings mid ferment.
>>927984
Even a "finished", as in primary is over, beer will taste vastly different to a well conditioned and aged beer, 3-4 weeks into secondary fermentation. 1.018 isn't particularly uncommon for high gravity or dark beers to finish at, you should compare your final gravity to beers of a similar style to be sure but just as a guideline most ales finish at around 1.010>>928411
>>928411
You can just murder your wort with sugar if you like. I definitely did that a couple of times when i was 18 and brewing beer to get whole parties drunk, but it will taste like shit, watery and off flavours are common. Otherwise you can attempt a particularly thick high gravity mash,but this will cause your efficiency to drop, or you can use the belgian abbey method and make a thin large volume mash and go for a 4-6 hour boil to increase the gravity.>>929026
Take a gravity reading. If you think it is too early I'd check the seal on my fermentation vessel. If you have a stuck ferment there are a few solutions. Add a small amount of sugar. Gently rouse the yeast with a sanitised spoon or paddle (take care not to cause ripples or over oxygenate the wort), add a particularly dry yeast, lager yeast a clean ale yeast like nottingham or occasionally champagne yeast works.

>>929200
Quite comprehensive, thanks. I checked the gravity again and it's around 1.010, but according to the instructions it should be finished by the time it's consistently below 1.008, so there's still a couple more days to go I'd say.

>>929203
No problem, what style beer are you brewing?

>>929204
I'm not really sure. I got a kit that said it was lager, but after I looked it up later I found that most lagers take a couple of weeks in the fermentation, whereas this said 4-6 days (mine is taking longer because the room hasn't been quite warm enough).

In any case, it should be ready to bottle soon, the instructions just say to bottle it with a little sugar in each bottle for carbonation, leave it in a warm place for two days, then a cold place for two weeks.

>>929221
Ok, most lager kits aren't actually true lagers. Lager yeast requires cold temperatures (around 10C or lower) otherwise they start to throw off lots of sulphurous compounds (a normal part of lager fermentation) that take ages to condition out so kit companies make a lager kit either with a hot lager yeast like california steam which tolerates temps up to 22C, or they use a clean ale yeast like nottingham or any pale ale yeast or a west coast USA yeast.
If your beer seems to be taking a lot of time to finish fermenting at the end, like a lot of lagers do, you could try briefly raising the temperature by a couple of degrees for 2-5 days, or until it hits target gravity.
After that a good thing to remember is that lagers tend to mature slower than ales, leaving your beer as long as you can hold out, 60-70 days at 4C is about best.
I hope it turns out well, homebrewing is a great way to always have great beer, and the more people that make great beer, the more breweries that make great beer open.