New homebrewer needs help

I purchased a few spare grommets. I think I paid 50 cents for them?

Cheers!

 

Insertion, yeah. Removal, not so much. I usually give the airlock a twist, but have had airlocks almost glide themselves to grommets in the past.

The grommets didnt tear, I've torn the actual bucket lid where the grommets fit.

 

Whoa! You muse be a he-man!!

I have never had that problem.

Did your bucket(s) look like this?

 

Don't use the calendar to decide when to bottle the beer, use your hydrometer. Take two readings a day or two apart and compare them to each other as well as the expected FG from your recipe. You've had an 'explosion' incident on this beer and a stuck fermentation, so it isn't following a routine script.

You can probably find a clone recipe for FBS by googling for it, but your current recipe may be close to it anyway. I'd buy a bottle of FBS and compare it to your beer when it's ready after bottling and carbonating, and then decide from there. Brew what you'd like to drink, but keep it simple until you get more experienced with your processes and equipment.

You're in the right place for posting for help such as you did, and your question was appropriate. If you're new to chat forums I'll just suggest that if you get stuck on future brewing sessions, and if it happens to be something like a stuck fermentation, do a search of this forum first because there are plenty of threads on frequently occurring problems.

 

If you take lid off and then reapply, it will take a while for airlock activity to restart.
Taking off lid releases all the head pressure CO2. It takes time for fermentation to produce enough CO2 to overcome the airlock threshold. This is normal just as an FYI.

 

My experience is that it takes 2-3 weeks after packaging for a 'green' beer to develop into what it should be. Mellowing/blending of the hops is one of the taste characteristics that should change.

How is the coffee tasting in your beer? Get what you wanted?

 

Oh yeah, buddy. If it tastes good at bottling time, it’s gonna taste AMAZING after two weeks. I’m happy for ya

 

I bottle my beer and regularly sample early with the understanding that it’s not quite ready, if only to see how it progresses. Keep in mind that we are often our own worst critics, so don’t be put off if your week-old sample doesn’t taste like you thought it might.

Congrats on packaging your first batch.