Recent content by BorderBrewin

Couldn't live without my autosiphon. Best $10 I have spent.

+1 on the all grain primer. Great read.

My bucket has the same smell after every brew as well. I have found that an overnight soak in oxyclean removes the odor. I don't know if it is necessary, but it gets rid of the smell.

Yes, boil the water and let it cool before you pour in the wort. You are risking an infection if you don't boil tap water before adding it to the fermentor. If you don't have time to boil the water and let it cool, then you can use bottled water without boiling.

What kind of yeast are you using? I usually keep my fermenter at 60-65 in order to keep the wort between 65-68. 75 seems kind of high to me no matter what kind of yeast you are using. If you have a spot that stays 62 to 65 you should be alright for most ale styles.

If you don't cut the x off, it will clog and your bucket will explode. Trust me. What a mess. Good luck.

The mash and the boil smell different. I think the mash smells something like hot oatmeal and the boil smells like hops. When I brew SWMBO complains about the boil, but she thinks the mash smells good. That being said, this is great time to push for more equipment. For her comfort.

FWIW, some imitation vanilla flavoring is made from wood, not vanilla beans. Going with real vanilla beans is probably a good call.

Check out the sticky on hybrid fly sparging.

I have had great success using John Palmer's method of fly sparging. I float a coffee can lid on top or the mash and pour the sparge water onto it. I keep the water level at least an inch above the grain bed until I have collected all the wort I need. The lid does a great job of dispursing...

I got mine from a scrap yard for about $40 each. SS is going for $1.25 a pound around here. I have also heard of asking a liquor store for any nonreturnable kegs they may have. Good luck!

Don't worry, it's not as cosmic as you might think. I just did my first all grain two weeks ago and am planning to do my second this weekend. I suggest you read the all grain section of John Palmer's book if you haven't already. Just skip all the theory and go right to section 3 chapter 18...

No, I have it in the fermentation chiller at a constant 63 degrees air temperature and 68 degrees in the fermentor. I pitched the yeast a 72 degrees. I'm not worried; in fact I'm very pleased to see this kind of activity so quickly.

I'm using Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast, no starter, just pitched from the smack pack. My OG was 1.048, about the same as my two previous brews. Anyone have similar results?

I just brewed my first all grain beer yesterday and thanks to everyone on this forum it was a rousing success. I nailed my OG and my efficiency was above 75%, which I think is pretty good considering my humble equipment. I have noticed a distinct difference in the, for lack of a better term...