Recent content by bloomerjt07

3. An easier way to chill is to set your hot brewing pot in an ice bath and swirl it around uncovered. (more water, less ice). This should drastically reduce cooling times. But also invest in a wort chiller as soon as possible;) . It'll still take about 15minutes, but thats a much shorter time...

Can some1 plz tell me what exactly a yeast cake is, is it the dried material on the bottom of ur fermenter? and how do u reactivate it to use it?

I buy hops in those 1 oz. nitrogen proof packets, is there anyways once you open the packets to keep them fresh? Is there a method like freezing them or something. BTW: I always use pellet hops.

well what im talking about is after 2 weeks i "crack" one open and check the head and the flavor, and than if it looks and tastes right i refrigertate it. I made an american light, and used 3 oz. of priming sugar to reproduce a lightly carbonated beer. They had a great head before being...

Is it normal when that when your first put the brew in the fridge, for it to lose carbonation? Before i put it in there i crack one open and its got good carbonation, than when i put it in the fridge it seems to lose it.

I finally did my first AG today, and it was a Brown Ale. I decided to half the recipe from 6 gallons to 3, due to my lack of having a pot that could boil 6+ gallons. In halfing my recipe it threw me off quite bad. I thought i had it all figured out, but now the amount of water i needed, for some...

I've read about 100 diff. times to put in the gelatin finings. I've read in the seconday as soon as you rack it, I've heard right before you bottle it. My gelatin bottles tells me to dissole it in water, and than boil, which yields best results?

I just went out and bought all my supplies for my mash tun and built it today. I need some easy, delicious all-grain recipes that bring back your favorite memories of that first All-Grain Brew.

I brewed a fat tire clone, and i didn't strain which is usual, and i put in the fermenter. Everything went great until i read a thread on HBT that said if u leave the trub in ur primary it adds a bitter flavor to ur beer. Is this all beer? will my fat tire be bitter? I plan to rack to a...

Thanks a lot guys and keep posting me with good ideas and great brews.

I'm usually an american light, light beer kind of guy. I've been wanting to branch out into darker beers and try to taste the more flavorful beers....any suggestions on a great medium beer to start with and dark beers to move onto?

I bottled my American Light yesterday and while bottling i tasted it, it had a little bit of an apple flavor at the beginning..it was odd. What caused this? What can i do to prevent it? Is it too late to fix it? I Cracked one open today, and the apple flavor was even more noticeable. It's not...

I just got done brewing an IPA from a box called Brewers Best. It says the SG is supposed to be about 1.050-1.055, and mine was 1.035, why is there a difference? I followed all the directions to a tee, and this was my fourth batch so I'm over some of the rookie mistakes. I am confused on why the...

Should you strain your trub before it goes into the primary, or before it goes into the secondary? Is this a personal taste, because ive brewed one where i left the trub in there during primary (there was no secondary) and it turned out alright. If you strain your trub on some beers will it lack...

I have a couple questions on mashing i hope this is the right thread. 1. Do all grains have to be cracked or just if you buy whole grains? Because i kno you dont have to crack crystal malt. 2.Should i use a bag to hold em in and when do i take out the bag, after they steep for 60 minutes...