ChrisTalbot.com

Doing some extra reading on homebrewing, as well as asking questions of those with a lot more experience than me, I've found out that a beer takes about three weeks for fermentation before bottling, so it'll be about another week before I get to the bottling stage. After that, my understanding is the bottled beer needs another couple of weeks for carbonation. So I'll be looking at late September before the beer is ready for the fridge ... and drinking.

I know when I pop the first one, I'll drink it by myself to make sure it's drinkable. After that, assuming it is definitely drinkable, anybody who likes stouts is welcome to join me for a drink or three. I may be a bastard, but I'm not going to poison my friends if I don't have to. ;)

Still, the brewing bug is already biting again, and now I'm thinking seriously about trying to make a semi-sweet mead. Thankfully, mead is supposed to be simple, as it's basically just water, honey and yeast (with maybe some extra nutrients added). Unfortunately, it takes months to ferment -- and the longer it ferments, the smoother it's supposed to get. If I can get what I need for mead this weekend, I could maybe whip up a small batch on Labour Day Monday, and maybe it'll at least be drinkable for Christmas.