Well, I'm outside right boiling my very first batch of beer! It smells so yummy! I have a feeling though the Mrs. isn't going to enjoy it as much as I do, but that's why I'm brewing on the porch.

Thankfully, the porch is covered and screened because (a) it's raining and (b) there are some guys who harvest honey right down the road today who moved a lot of their beehives. Apparently, homeless bees are very attracted to the scent of boiling grain & hops. These things are swarming outside the patio.

Inside I've got some of the utensils sanitizing (I'm assuming things can sit in B-Brite for a while without harming them). The fermenter is already sanitized and all I'll have to do is add cold water which I will do as soon as the boil is complete. I'm planning on putting the fermenter in a large cooler of ice water to get it to 70 degrees before pitching the yeast. Hopefully that won't take all day.

Update:

Here's the scorecard:
Burns - 1
Cuts - 1
Boilovers - 2
Hungry bees denied access to the patio - 75
Spills - 2
Wives who hated the smell - 1

Now, I can't understand why my wife doesn't like the smell. I think it's wonderful. When I added the hops it was almost  citrusy in it's aroma. You can see from the picture here the hop dust floating on top. The kit came with hop pellets which I really don't like because it took forever to strain the @%^$! out.

I have to admit, the whole experience was very relaxing (besides the straining portion where I burned myself). I like the initial soaking of the grain and think it gave me a better feel for the whole  brewing process. I hope I sanitized everything well enough as that's the thing that was worrying me the most. The last thing I need to do is brew a batch of blue-cheese.

So, now to do the hardest thing and wait 10-14 days for the fermentation to subside then bottle. More info as it arrives.