First attempt at homebrew

I think I would wait two weeks and then take a gravity reading. Patience is a virtue.

 

First and foremost, have a great time! Homebrewing is fun and can help cure the energy crisis.

I am also new and have only done 5 batches so far, but they have all turned out excellently. Don't be afraid to ask specific questions here when you're not sure of something. I've done so a few times and people here are very quick to respond and are very, very helpful. Thanks everyone!

Enjoy!
Jeff

PS: What VikeMan said. I don't think I've bottled one batch before the 3 week mark, and that was without dry hopping. Just let it sit and you will enjoy the results.

 

I highly doubt you need to re-pitch sounds like you are good to go. I usually get noticable airlock activity the first week at most. And it usually slows down after a couple days.

One last piece of advice is if you plan on brewing regularly get another batch going ASAP. The first batch will disapear faster than you think and then you have to go through the waiting game again. It is much easier to be patient when you have plenty of homebrew on hand.

 

What was the expected orig. gravity? It's entirely plausible your primary fermentation is about done. Especially pitching the results of a starter, it can easily be done in a couple days. Now let it sit, I disturbed for at least another week and a half (2 weeks total) to let the yeast clean up any byproducts. At that point, you can check the gravity. Check again a couple days later and if it is the same - it should be at that point - you'll be good to bottle.

 

What is the temperature environment around the beer where it sits? After pitching, if you went right to the basement floor with it then the cooler temp could have slowed the activity of the yeast.

With evidence of yeast growth when you peeked inside I'd say you're going to be all right.

 

I wouldn't panic . Absolute worst case, you take your gravity reading in a week or two, and if it isn't where the recipe indicates it will be, you can pitch more yeast (it won't hurt anything).

 

In general, the later you add the honey, the more honey flavor/aroma will be preserved. You can do it once primary fermentation (attenuation) is done or nearly done. That will usually be sooner than 10 days though, so there's no benefit (that I can think of) to waiting any longer than that. But no matter when you add the honey, the sugars in the honey will ferment, so you'll need to allow time for that to happen.

What do you mean by 'in addition to the sugar?' Your recipe didn't include sugar (other than honey) did it?

 

Brewers friend has a great brewday checklist to use as a beginners reference just to make sure your not scrambling for items or ingredients when time is of the essence.

Also have everything set out in your recipe in the order that you will be adding them. This helps my boil be much more calculated, organized and relaxed.

 

That small bag (5 oz?) of sugar is used at bottling time; it's your priming sugar to carbonate your beer.

 

As mjohnson17 said, that sounds like priming sugar (for carbonation), which you would use at bottling time, well after fermentation is finished. It is possibly to bottle prime with honey, or any source of simple sugars. But I would not recommend bottle priming with 3 lbs of honey. There are priming calculators out there on the webs, and I'm assuming some of them have a honey option. Caution... if any calculator recommends a honey priming weight much more than about 1.3 times the amount it would recommend for table sugar, I'd find another calculator.

 

If it taste like beer then you're on your way. But, the "5.5"? You lost me. What is that?

You also mention your garage in a post. Where is the fermentation bucket? In your garage?

 

Beer ain't so sensitive that you have to take samples in the dark. Just don't leave it in the sun.

And never open it unless you're checking the gravity with a sanitized wine thief. Resist the temptation to mess with your beer.

mid 70's is probably optimal for bottle conditioning. Wasn't sure whether you meant you're keeping the conditioning bottles in the garage or not, but I wouldn't if it's very hot in there.