Recent content by firebirdude

Just ballpark it. 6-12oz of brew is likely under a gram of dextrose anyway. And a gram or even two divided by nearly 5 gallons worth of bottles is insignificant. You should know by now that brewing is not an exact science.:drunk:

Why go through all that trouble when a simple ball valve and gravity will work just as well and leave you with less mess to clean up?

Exactly what I was going to recommend. Once you've selected your recipe, brew one exact according to the recipe. Then brew another where you use your own personal judgement and tweak the recipe. Could be as simple as changing the style of yeast. Or maybe the strain of hops? It's your call. Once...

True. True. Had they denied any wrong doing and, no doubt, gotten snippy with you, you probably wouldn't have ordered from them anymore. So reshipping the grains to you is money well spent.

Wow. They instantly claimed responsibility? I wonder if other people had the same problem. Maybe they had a new guy in the warehouse who didn't know you had to crush the grains before packing. Kudos for their customer service though.

Didn't see the amounts in parentheses at first. Yeah, your scaling looks about right. Your LHBS employee is probably going to look at you funny when you asking for 1.6oz of three grains.... and 0.6oz of another... And for the record, I still brew 2.25gal batches. I'm really the only one that...

Pretty sure the #1 reason people boil the sugar water is just to help the sugar dissolve. Then it takes 2 minutes to set the small pot in a bowl of ice. That will take a good 50+ degrees off it right there. Pour the sugar water in a bottling bucket then rack your beer on top of it. The beer...

To say the least. You're looking at almost 130lbs with no handle...

Nope. Zero difference. Though I would give some thought before investing in large plastic fermenters. Then all the drawbacks of using a plastic fermenter are amplified and all the advantages begin to dwindle (not trying to get into a glass/plastic debate here). Plastic can scratch easily and...

I live in FL. We're all sand. Drainage has got to be very good. No low spots or anything like that.

We're talking about the plant twisting clockwise up a support structure? ....who cares? Let it do its thing naturally. My plants grab anything within a foot of them and start climbing. They are, literally, the easiest plant I've ever grown. I didn't even know people stress about this.

1st year plants. They're growing great. But I'm getting a couple of leaves up top that are starting to turn yellow. Just 3-4 out of ~45-50. The weather has been TERRIBLE here this past week. GOBS of rain. And when it's not actually raining, it's extremely overcast and gloomy. I don't think I've...

Still looks small to me. But maybe don't trust my opinion, as I'd like to know why people trim them back anyhow? I realize they grow buck wild. And I know some people say it so the plant can put all it's effort into the remaining bines. But on a first year plant, I'm not going to get much out...

Do what I did. I made a large "bird's foot" or Y-shaped trellis out of cheap dowel rods. Basically, one rod straight up, one rod off the each side, and one rod horizontal to add strength. Now the plants can really bush out at least 3 feet wide. Used a staple gun and some wood glue. Took 15...

Fail Ale.