"Joe Murphy" <SPAMTHIS@SPAMTHIS.com> wrote in message
news:41426029$0$6917$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...[color=blue]
> Prior to opening up the ferementer tonight I did notice some activity in[/color]
the[color=blue]
> airlock but I'd say 3-4 minutes passsed between 'burps' so there is a wee
> bit of hungry yeast left.
>
> Intial gravity before I pitched the yeast was 1.040. Today it is at 1.017.
> I'm going to take another reading in the morning and then again tomorrow
> night. If there is no movement from 1.017 I guess it is time to bottle.[/color]

Sounds good. Sounds like the yeast is almost finished doing its job.
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> When I pulled the lid off the fermenter I noticed a subtle film of oil. Is
> this from the hop pellets? Should I be overly concerned?[/color]

It's probably the hops, but could be that your fermenter was not clean. If
it's a cleanliness problem, you might not get as nice a head on your beer as
you might like... but it's not a real big deal. If it's the hops, it's
nothing to worry about.
[color=blue]
> Otherwise the beer has retreated from the hops and left them clinging to[/color]
the[color=blue]
> sides of the fermenter. During transfer to my bottling vessel I should be
> extra careful not to get hops in there, right?[/color]

It won't hurt anything, but it's nice to leave most of the slime behind so
you don't end up with a half inch of crud in the bottoms of all your
bottles.
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> The beer smells sweet, malty and boozy. I'm pretty excited. I damned near
> drank my sample for the hydrometer, but given that I dunno how clean the
> hydrometer is, I thought it best just to throw out the sample when I was
> done.[/color]

I usually drink a sample, there's no harm in it. It's flat and not fully
developed yet, but it gives you a rough idea of how your beer is going to
turn out.

--
Dave
"Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" --
Genesis, 1973-ish