Beginner Questions...

[Framnk]

Hi, I have a few beginner questions for those more experienced than I. I'm just getting started out (3rd batch) so please bear with me!

1) At what point when you are creating your brew do you take the first hydrometer reading? I did it after I put my boiled wort into my fermenter. Should you "mix" the wort in with any clear water (that wasn't boiled) to get a good reading?

2) This may sound stupid, but I've never seen it exactly spelled out anywhere... Should you leave a lid on the pot when you are boiling your wort?

3) I made my most recent batch using a malt extract recipe where I steeped my grains and added my own bittering, flavoring & aroma hops. One thing I noticed is that because of the longer boil time, my wort boiled down from 2 gallons to about 1 gallon and was a soupy syrup when I was done. Is this normal? Should I be boiling with more water for recipes vs. kits?

Thanks in advance all!

- Framnk

[stouts]

1.your hydrometer reading should be taken after you have your total volume mixed and cooled.
2.no, you dont want the lid on when boiling your wort
3.you want the maximum amount of the total recipee that you have room for in your pot w/ out boil over , you can even start w/ say 6 gallons total for a 5 gallon batch due to boil off