I made 6 gallons of "The Brew House" beer kit about 2 years ago and am about to start another. After sanitizing all equipment, the directions have me adding a ph adjuster, 8 litres of room-temperature water, then the wort (included in kit) into a the primary fermenter. It says to stir this mixture vigoruosly for 1 minute, take a specific gravity reading, and then sprinkle the included yeast on top. It then says to put the cover on the fermenter and store at room temperature for 3 days or until the foam starts to recede. If memory serves me correctly, doesn't the fermenter build up pressure as the yeast works the mixture into a boil? I don't want to have a huge mess on my hands as the wife is a little uneasy about allowing me to make beer in the house already. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You're using a plastic pail with a lid for your primary fermentation, right? Without an airlock? If so...

Yes, you will build up some pressure, but chances are the lid isn't totally airtight. If you wanted to, you could pry up the side a little bit to be certain that it's not airtight. Your brew will develop a nice atmosphere of CO2 on top that will protect itself, forcing the oxygen out.

If you're really concerned about pressure (I wouldn't be) and you don't want to leave the lid open just a crack, check it after 12-18 hours, just crack the lid a bit. Give it a sniff. Take a peek to see what's going on. Then do it again in another 18-24 hours and then 24 hours later. After 3 days or so, the first stage of vigorous fermentation will be over and there'll be little risk of "explosions."

Remember, folks do this in their homes all the time!

PS: Best way not to worry is get an airlock. If you have one, don't worry at all.

PPS: What are you brewing?

Okay, my primary fermentation is done and I just racked my brew into a glass carboy for the secondary fermentation. Before I did though, I took a specific gravity reading out of the primary plastic bucket and and noticed that my s.g. had increased instead of decreased. My inintial reading before adding yeast was 1.046 on 1/16/12 and now it is 1.060 on 1/21/12. Why would this be and how can I fix this?

It is unlikely that the specific gravity actually increased.

I suspect that for some reason the hydrometer was not floating freely or you somehow misread it the second time.

Initially I thought perhaps you may not have corrected for temperature but that seems unlikely. I mean, a reading of 1.048 at even 80 F only results in a corrected gravity of about 1.050.

At any rate, let the bubbling airlock guide you as to when to bottle. Once activity has stopped you should be set to bottle/keg.

I only take initial gravity readings when I brew. This lets me know how close I was to the mark I was shooting for and allows me to decide whether I need to add more extract or hop tea if I'm off more than expected.

Beyond the initial reading you are only risking contamination. Watching the airlock, assuming you have a proper seal, should initicate whether or not fermentation is continuing.

Please let us know how your beer comes out.

- Scott

You're right.......I read the hydrometer wrong.