Recent content by barefoot_trashko

What about sanitization? I'm in China and don't have access to any fancy homebrew sanitization supplies.

I'm planning to brew a Cherry Blonde/Amber ale and wanting to use fresh cherries. Any suggestions on when to add them? Should I put them in the mash, boil or post-fermentation? The one question I would have about post-fermentation is how to sanitize them. Any advice would be appreciated since...

Great. I think I'll try the double zip lock bag thing. Should be able to use it all up in 3 months!

I'm in China and getting HB supplies from the US isn't easy. We're moving our small operation to our friend's restaurant and trying to pump out at least 20gal a week. I bought a 500g package of Fermentis Safale US-05. On the box it says "Opened packs to be used within 7 days." I'm obviously not...

I'm in China and I need to brew in a couple days and I'm in a pinch. Unfortunately, I can't just walk down to my LHBS. I have no wheat and only have Fermentis Safbrew WB-06 Wheat Beer Dry Yeast. If I am making an Amber or Brown Ale am I going to have any problems? I've been roasting my own grain...

Got 10 gallons chilling @ upper 30 degrees for 52 hours b4 I bottle. I know there will be plenty of yeast for carbonation, but I read some people say to add a little extra priming sugar. I obviously DO NOT want gushers. Any advice on amounts. I'm using regular cane sugar.

I've read a ton about cold crashing and it seems like nobody has addressed my question. Can I take the carboy out of the fridge/freezer and immediately bottle? Do I need to let it get back up to a certain temp before bottling? I'm assuming that kind of defeats the purpose, but I just wanted to...

Maybe we're doing something wrong. but our wert is friggin amazing... Drinking it now: (in case it's unclear from the picture, the bottles are from our previous batch, bottled while we brewed today's batch. the wert is boiling now, pitching the hops as we speak, and enjoying this deliciousness)

There's a Chinese guy who spent 16yrs in the States and came back and opened up an online store. We can get almost everything we need. Variety is limited but we get creative. And there's 4 of us doing it so somebody is either going back to the States or having visitors so our supply line is...

I've got the orange 10 gal Rubbermaid cooler that is the topic of this thread. Not sure a pic is gonna help.

Lost a ton of heat during my last mash and it seems like my lid is not closing very tightly. Anyone else experience this and have any idea about how to fix this. I'm in China so "run to your local Home Depot" won't work. Thanks!

Ok, I read it again. I see the differences he's talking about but I'm still unclear on Hopville's 3 "steps." Is the process essentially the same as what I've been doing (1hr mash & 2 10 min sparges)? And am I really putting 212° water in for the 2nd & 3rd "step?"

Yes, and still have questions. That guy didn't clearly answer my ?'s. Or at least it wasn't clear to me. That's why I asked again. That is what a forum is for, right?

I'm confused why my 60 min mash & two 10 min sparges is single step and Hopville's is two step. When you say "add 212F liquid to reach next temperature" do you mean that for the 2nd & 3rd steps I add water that's 212F? That seems awfully high. Am I missing something?

Brewing a 10 gal AG batch of Pale Ale on Sat. Been doing everything on paper and just discovered Hopville's online recipe calculator. I'm a bit confused by the mash instructions and I don't have time to do a bunch of reading on this. Basically I've been doing hour long mashes at about 151° and...