Recent content by bafroom

no basement, but i use a cold water bath (the swamp cooler thing wasn't cutting it) and usually ferment in the low 60's with notty. i haven't had any ester issues since i've done that, which was kind of why i was hoping notty might work. with that said, notty is one of the only yeasts i've...

alright, thanks for the input. i'll be putting us 05 onto my next order. i was looking for a nice, light, lawnmower beer for the summer, and this sure looks just about right. i have a beer that's about done, so i may just pitch this right on the old yeast cake and hope for the best. hopefully...

yeah, that's my plan, but i've got to deal with the here and now! :) so, should i take that to mean that notty is probably a no go?

i saw a bad experience with this beer and notty, but that's all i have and my lhbs price their yeasts like gold (or diamonds maybe)...anybody else have any thoughts on using notty?

as far as the oxiclean goes, if you have water like i do, it will leave a crystalline film on everything. i just have to do a weak acid rinse (some vinegar in water) to remove it. works great, but causes me an extra step, just fyi. as far as how much, i just sort of dump some in and go. i...

oh, and if you bottle, you will have "stuff" at the bottom of your bottle. it's the yeast and it's by products settling out from the carbonation process. you just pour your beer off of it. you'll be a pro at it after your 2nd beer, trust me! also, that stuff doesn't hurt you, my brother drinks...

i rack to a bottling bucket and bottle from there, or else you would get tons of sh*t in your bottles. and don't worry about the trub at the bottom of your fermenter, you will rack (siphon) your beer off of it. after 3 weeks in the primary, it should be plenty ready to bottle. oh, and +1 to...

i sample as i go. i drink every hydro reading and i drink a bottle every week after i bottle it just to see how it's doing. while it may not actually effect the final outcome, i can tell now how my beer is coming along. if nothing else it helped my narrow down a problem i was having with...

if you condition them at 70*, they won't be carbed in a week anyway. i bottle, and i usually plan on at least 4 weeks (and better to go 6) after i brew before they are ready to drink. i'm better at waiting until 6 weeks now (3 in the bucket and 3 in the bottle) and i will say that it does help...

i would, but that's just me. you can get by with 2 weeks, but that extra week will only help. that said, i've done 2 weeks several times! and as far as the secondary goes, i'd probably skip it and just leave it in the primary. i've only used a secondary a few times, and while it did help clear...

it's bubbling away, so it's good to go. just try and think about something else for the next 3 weeks...like what to brew next!

i'm not for sure, but i think if you use regular caps they can start letting in oxygen after a year. you can always go with the extra special oxygen barrier caps though, if you think you'll have it around that long (hasn't been an issue for me).

how big is your carboy/ail pail? i'd think that 6.5 gal w/ a blow off tube would be enough to hold it, you may not even need the blow off. like somebody said earlier, boil as much as you can get by with, then top it off with cool water in the carboy/ail pail. if you can boil the full 7.5 gal...

i do the same thing with a rubbermaid tote and frozen 2 liters (i can fit 2 pails in there that way). i could never get the swamp cooler (less water and covering your fermenter w/ a towel w/ a fan on it) to cool enough. i don't know what yeast you used, but i do know (from unfortunate, REPEATED...

5 fermenting now too (my first ag) 3142 + 5 = 3147