ESB brewing lessons learned

Well, since the ESB's fermentation has been going for over 48 hours now, I know now that there will be beer. Sweet.

Most of my lessons learned have to do with timing. The job took about eight hours, when it should take about half the time or less.

1. Prepare the water in advance - boiling and cooling take time, but not much baby-sitting.
   
2. Activate the yeast at beginning of the brew (or earlier).
3. Use more ice! I used two 10-lb bags for both brew and water.
4. Always employ brew buddies! Lissa and Annette made a long job much shorter!
5. RTFM! Read the directions often! If I had, then I would have remembered the activation bit. It also keeps you from forgetting ingredients. It didn't happen this time, but it might have.

I am surprised at how quickly the beer goes away. No, I didn't drink it all myself - many friends helped. Only twelve bottles left, though. Therefore, I am planning to put in the IPA almost immediately after bottling the ESB. And in 4-5 weeks, there's going to be a lot of beer around here!