Thanks for the quick response! Next steps for a rookie??
1. I have read about hydrometers so I'm going to wait out the airlock bubbling then get a reading of specific gravity with the hydrometer till it is steady reading for a few days. Then should I bottle?? I have heard people leaving it in the primary for weeks then going straight to bottling?
2. Ok try not to laugh at this one. I was thinking of using large 1 gallon spin top plastic bottles of water to bottle the brew in? Leave them in a very dark cabinet in the house to keep em away from the sun for a week of so. Am I dumb for attempting this?
I appreciate any advice on where I may be going wrong with my approach.
Thanks
1. I would leave it in primary for a minimum of two weeks. Maybe after 10 or 11 days, take gravity reading. If it's close to where it should finish, check again the next two days to see if there is any change. If it's still dropping, it needs more time.
2. I don't know about the bottles. I guess it depends on if they can withstand the pressure that will be forming inside them. It may work, or you may end up with a very dark and beer covered cabinet. I know some guys use plastic PET bottles to bottle, but I've never bottled in anything but glass. Also, if you're bottling in one gallon jugs, you may have to drink that entire gallon when you open or it may go flat. Again, I've got no experience with that, just my uneducated opinion/guess.