First Homebrew (4th of July)

Today is the first day of the making of the greatest beer in the world. Frick Beer! At least that's what I say to motivate myself while I make this beer. I recently bought this beer kit because I wanted to learn what I considered the dark art of brewing beer. After reading up on it, I realized that it's not so difficult. In fact, it's quite easy and fun! This first batch that I make is going to be an amber-colored ale. Easy to make and ferment (at room temperature), as opposed to a lager which ferments at colder temperatures. As you can see, I will be making about 2 cases of beer in this first batch. This weekend I will brew it, measure the initial specific gravity, and put it in the primary fermentor (the plastic bucket). Then after a few days, I will measure the specific gravity again. If it has dropped to half of what the final specific gravity is supposed to be, I will transfer it to its secondary fermentor (the glass carboy). It will sit there for about another week, where I then add some priming sugar to the batch to give the yeast one last meal and to help in the carbonation of the beer, as I bottle it. it needs to condition and age in the bottles for about 2 weeks, then I can put it in the fridge and/or drink it. I can't wait! I have posted a couple of pics here, and I will post some more as the process progresses.