Ok, so a small miracle happened late Friday afternoon.  The brewing ingredients that I ordered from Northern Brewer appeared at my doorstep only 2 days later than UPS stated they did.  There was much rejoicing and maybe some forgiveness.

Although our Friday night plans had been thwarted; the Saturday night plans stayed golden, Ponyboy. It was time for an Alt and Oatmeal Stout Brew Night.

I brewed a Dusseldorf Alt with my homegrown hops.

Brew Dude Mike brewed an oatmeal stout that he split in half and pitched two different yeast strain into two separate fermentors.

Take a look at some of the photos from the session:

After the session, I brought all my equipment and fermentor back to my house. I aerated the wort while I cleaned up and stored everything back into its proper place.

The yeast starter had been taken out of the fridge and had warmed up somewhat. The yeast clung to the bottom of my glass jug. I had to swirl it vigorously to get all the critters back in suspension. I pitched it and went to bed.

When I got up the next morning, signs of fermentation were apparent. The same milky white head that I have seen on lager fermentations was present. I checked it again at the 18 hour mark and the airlock was clacking away with a nice hop aroma coming out of it. Exciting stuff!