The brewing happened as planned today.  I had forgotten what a mess it makes.  No matter how neat you try to do it, the pot always finds a way to boil over and make a big, sticky mess on the stove.

Straining the beer from the kettle to the fermenter is also a challenge.  I think it must be the hops that clog things up so fast.  We used a handy funnel with built-in strainer, and it took several iterations of:  pour beer into funnel until strainer clogs up, stir up gunk in funnel until funnel slowly drains, repeat.  It’s definitely a two-person job, although I must say it does a fine job of aerating the wort in the process.

Starting gravity of this batch was roughly 1.070, which could be a pretty potent beer, depending on how completely all the stuff ferments out.  I think the starter culture was a good idea.

Stay tuned.