Recent content by erock2112

My recommendations: - Calibrate the pH meter immediately before use. Otherwise you can't trust that it hasn't drifted. - Use lactic or phosphoric acid instead of acidulated malt, since you can't be sure of the acid content of the acidulated malt. - Make sure you're not reusing your buffer...

They're equipment stands from Restaurant Depot. You can get them online as well. They're shorter than work tables and have the walls on 3 sides. Pretty perfect for heavy stuff. The fermentors are on a 24x24" stand and my brew kettle and mash tun are on a 24x48" stand.

Makes sense. I'm betting that's a much higher-quality pump than the little FTSs pond pumps though. I admit I had some concerns with it running non-stop for a 4-day cold crash.

Nice setup! I didn't realize that the original version had its own pump. I was in "working out of the box" mindset when I purchased this stuff and didn't want to DIY it, or I might have looked more closely at alternatives. If you're using the FTSs for your fermentors, you'll have the small...

Good to know. Mine is in the kitchen which opens to the living room, so I don't have many walls to buffer the sound. The SS Brewtech chiller is rated 2300 BTU/hr. Seems to be more than enough for me.

Forgot to mention that. It's pretty darn loud. Significantly louder than my chest freezer or normal fridge. Not really sure how to measure that, but when it cycles it's hard to hear the TV in the adjacent living room.

I'm loving mine so far! Some numbers: - Glycol chills from room temp (72F when I measured) to 28F in ~40 mins - FTSs+Chiller gets water from 100F to 60F in ~35 mins. This was just a test; I'm not using it for primary chilling, but it's nice to get it "cool enough" with the primary chiller...

Fermentation temperature is the first thing that comes to mind. You might be pitching too hot?

Well, it's been 12 days and activity seems to have stopped. The beer seems only very slightly tart, but that may just be due to the low FG at 1.004. Should I wait longer for the lacto to work, or do you think it's done? I was under the impression that lacto worked quickly by itself, so I was...

Update: The starter I made with the handful of grains seemed to work well! I got plain bubbles like I saw with the WLP677 but the taste and smell are much different this time: grainy, fruity, and tart. I brewed the gose today and pitched the new starter since there weren't any nasty vomit or...

Yeah, I thought about the sour mash but figured doing it on a small scale with the starter would be safer in case I get something gnarly. Thanks!

Quote-in-a-quote isn't working, but that link describing the commercial strains is awesome! (http://www.themadfermentationist.com/p/commercial-cultures.html) So it sounds like what I'm seeing is the intended behavior for this strain, and unfortunately that's not what I want in this beer. I...

I just tasted a little of my starter, and it tastes like it smells: fruit and cloves, just as if I'd put hefe yeast in there. Not a hint of acidity. So, unless the tube contained some, I've got an "infection" of wild yeast. To be honest, it doesn't taste bad at all, but definitely not what I...

I'm planning to brew a gose (OG 1.040) this weekend using S-05 and WLP677 (L. delbrueckii). I made a 1 gallon starter with 8oz malt extract (1.020) on Saturday night and have been keeping it warm in a double boiler-type setup in my brew kettle on the stove. There was no activity on Sunday...

Thanks, that's what I was hoping. I never really did better than 25 mins with hose water in the summer, so if I can get close without needing the hose, I'll be in good shape.