Just bottled my first batch of stout. My airlock only showed activity in the primary for about 30 hours. The guy at the local shop where I purchased my equipment said "not to worry". I it siphoned it into the glass carboy after six days and the airlock showed activity for 7 days. He recommended bottling at that time. Should I have waited longer? When I siphoned back into the bottling bucket, the brew tasted like a stout. After mixing the corn sugar I noticed a bitter taste. Is that normal? 24 hours ago I cooked a batch of steam beer. I added the yeast with the wort temp at just over 70 degrees. I was having trouble cooling it quickly. I had mixed my yeast in a sanitized bowl in warm water as advised by the yeast package. The yeast was growing rapidly and had been in the bowl for nearly 30 minutes, so I added it to the wort at 72 degrees. It has been 20 hours and I have no activity at the airlock. Should I be worried? Also it was not recommeded that I purchase a hydrometer. I quess I need one.