Bach7210

Recipes 

Good to hear your brew day went well. Take a close look at the yeast washing thread that was provided. It really isn't all that hard and is a great way to cut down on the cost of your brews. If you can boil and cool water, then pour into a container;...you can wash yeast.

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Ornery Cuss Brewing Co., Est. 2005
On Tap #1 - EdWort's Haus Pale Ale
On Tap #2 - Kölsch
Bottled: Raspberry Wheat
Kegged: Oatmeal Stout, Strawberry Blond
Primary: Cream Ale, Pumpkin Ale
Up next: Guinness Clone, Irish Red

onemanlan

Recipes 

Should I be looking for a signal to put on the blow-off hose? Right now I'm using the airlock supplied with the kit. However Im doing a 5 gal brew in a 6.5 gal fermenting bucket so my recipe may not even call for it since it's not high gravity of any sort.

Also I wanted to note the OG read 1.061 and the recipe states that OG should be around 1.059, so it looks like I'm doing good! Hopefuly the FG will be close 1.015 the recipe states. Will my stop point be when fermentation stalls/slows and the FG is around 1.015?

If so how often should I be checking the change of gravity? Also coupled with my first question: How often can I open the fermenting chamber to check the gravity?

Thanks a ton for helping a newb out! Also thanks for all the tips and tricks so far!

TipsyDragon

Recipes 

when you start to notice the foam getting into the airlock it would probably be a good idea to switch to a blow off tube pronto. also if you come home and find the airlock and stopper on the floor and the room covered in beer you know you need a blow off.

good to hear about the slightly higher OG. you got more than the projected efficiency out of the grain. your stop point is when the SG stops falling for more than 3-4 days. it should theoretically be around 1.015 but you have to remember that some yeast are more attentive than others (they usually have a range of percentages) and extract isn't as fermentable as AG. close is close enough.

check the SG when you see no other signs of fermentation going on. as long as fermentation is going on and your sanitize everything you can check as much as you want. the CO2 production of the yeast will protect your brew from oxidation.

BendBrewer

Recipes 

Any batch near 1.060 and above I always attach the blow off tube from the get go.

Why not?

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CarPort Brewery
JCMAC Farms Garden