Recent content by Got Trub?

It doesn't fall below freezing does it? Given the mass of the beer it will not fluctuate as much as the ambient temperature does in the garage. In an ideal situation you would have little if any fluctuation but we all have to improvise/compromise. I have used a back (North side) room to lager in...

Use it it is fine. The shelf life is years - assuming it doesn't get wet. GT

Give it some more time. Lagers are slower starters and less active than ales given the lower fermentation temperature. You have underpitched significantly so expect a long lag phase as the yeast are busy reproducing and not fermenting as yet. Even with an appropriate pitch of yeast I have seen...

More time. Frequently the solution to whatever problem a brewer is having. Check again in two weeks. GT

According to their website the descriptions are identical http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_products.cfm. I doubt there is any substantial difference other than the label on the package. Yeast is yeast. GT

Gelatin will work fine in warm beer. It works better with chilling as that will flocculate the remaining yeast and produce chill haze which the gelatin can then remove. The result will be clearer beer when it is served. I'd use it even if you can't chill as it will help clear your beer and it is...

If you pitch the appropriate amount of yeast they will first undergo a growth (replication) phase before starting to ferment. Overpitch and they will shorten or bypass growth and go straight into fermentation. Commercial brewers have access to more yeast than they know what to do with and they...

Amen. Once you have 70+% efficiency focus on consistency and other issues rather than eeking out another point or two of gravity. Grain is cheap! GT

The how usually isn't the problem after a long break. It is the where, as in where the h$%^ is the fill_in_the_blank! Have fun GT

This is one of the challenges of brewing light colored extract beers. Remember the extract is already boiled wort so it has some colour, boiling it more will add to that colour. Use the lightest DME you can get and as Yooper said add it at the end of the boil. GT

I do a variation on ajf's recommendation. I "wake up" the yeast in the pack. I leave it 3, 4 5 days, whatever it takes to swell the pack, then pitch it into a liter starter. I'm lazy... GT

The first days of active fermentation are the most critical. Once the krausen falls and activity slows you can move your beer to a less tightly controlled temperature environment with little ill effect. The caveat would be big beers where you would probably want to keep it well controlled until...

Drop the e. Silicon the element, not the goopy sealant/adhesive (although that does contain silicon) GT

Before worrying about those other issues I would place the blame right here. We have all done this at some point when brewing. You need to stir things really, really well before taking a gravity reading. GT

Munich Helles chilling as I type this. GT