Howdy from Laurel, MD

[HandsomeRyan]

Howdy everyone,

I just relocated to Laurel, MD from Knoxville, TN and in a moment of boredom since I'm not currently employed I began to look at home brewing. I went to the local homebrew store and picked up a few things:

• A basic beer making kit complete with capper, buckets, cleaner, and the like.

• A box of ingredients to make some kind of wussy wine coolers for Mrs. HandsomeRyan. I feel like if I can get her excited about this from the beginning I'll get a lot less flak for the time/money I spend on the hobby down the road.

• A corker and some corks (although I forgot to get any bottles?!)

• A couple one gallon errrrr...? "glass bottle-lookin' things"

• Matching stoppers and airlocks for the aforementioned "glass bottle-lookin' things"

• Some additional cleaner

• Some additional yeast

When I got home I decided I should save the wine-making until a day when the Mrs. could assist (again, getting her involved is a strategic move). I couldn't resist doing something though so I decided to start 2 gallons of [hard] cider. My off-the-top-of-my-head recipes are as follows:

Gallon #1-
• just under 1 gallon of Apple Cider
• 71b-1122 yeast
• 1/2 cup of clover honey

Gallon #2-
• just under 1 gallon of Apple Cider
• 71b-1122 yeast
• 1/2 cup of "raw" cane sugar

No idea what to really expect of either one as far as taste but I guess they'll be pretty dry.

I didn't think to get a gravity reading on either jug. (rookie mistake) but I'm sure it'll be fine.

So uh, anyway- Hi everybody.

-HandsomeRyan

 

[jezter6]

What's up Ryan!

Welcome to HBT and Maryland. I'm sure you'll love it here (both places).

We're getting together in Joppa, MD (about 30 mins north of you on I95) on the 15th of Aug. Check out the gatherings forum if you're interested in coming up and hanging with a few local HBTers.

 

[HandsomeRyan]

Thanks, I'll have to check that out. Currently, I rock the "car-free" thing and bike or bus it to wherever I'm going but I might be able to steal the car from Mrs. HandsomeRyan if I plan ahead.

I've determined that even if I don't learn home brewing I'll at least learn some patience as my yeast has been tossed into both ciders for 5+ hours and I'm really not seeing any meaningful bubble action in the airlocks. I hope to see some action soon because I hate the idea that I'm less nurturing to yeast than an athletes foot is. I'm sure all is well, just a little bit of the "first time jitters".

 

[jezter6]

Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew. Or in your case - microbrew.

5 hours is like 4 minutes in yeast years. If you don't see anything in like 48-72, then consider worrying.

You may also want to post in the gathering thread that you need a ride - maybe someone could pick you up if you can't find a ride?

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome

 

[HandsomeRyan]

The bubbles; they have begun!