Recent content by Jphillips13

Use one of the online priming calculators. That way you can see how much you need for the carb level desired. The temperature the calculator asks for is the highest temp the beer has been. 4 gallons at 75 max temp. 2.5 volumes looks like 3.7oz table sugar or 4oz corn sugar.

I usually add small amounts of the cooled wort to the yeast when I'm ready to pitch. Add some...stir....add some more....stir. I'm usually within 10 degrees or so of wort temp. The plastic wrap should be fine no longer than it'll be in there. I use plastic wrap sprayed with starsan.

If it tasted like flat beer at day 12 you're probably good. Much worse things have happened to beer.....especially first batches. Let the bottles sit at 70 or a little higher for 2-3 weeks. Three weeks or more is best but I doubt many will wait that long on the first batch. Congrats you made...

Temperatures are most important in the first 3-5 days. If your heater malfunction occurred on days 6-8 then you may be ok. Fermentation should be mostly over by then. Some people ramp the beer temp to around 70 or so at the end, to encourage the yeast to finish. Did you taste it at bottling?

The temperature the calculators are asking for is the highest temp the beer reached after fermentation. If you let it rise to 70 to finish up, then use 70 as your temp for the calculator. That should get you an amount closer to what you're used to using.

If 1/4 NPT is too big then it's likely 1/8 NPT or BPT. Just guessing though. I'm pretty sure my regulators are 1/4 NPT. Picture of old and new gauge threads?

I think I have some disconnects around. I'll look tomorrow and let you know. How many you looking for?

Definitely chill below ambient. For the first 4-5 days of ferment I put the bucket in a bathtub full of water with a floating thermometer. In the summer I add frozen 2 liter bottles to keep water temp about 62ish. Winter months I use an aquarium heater turned as low as it will go.

I've had us05 do that with no ill effects. Not usually after 4 weeks though. If you swirl the bottle does it fall to the bottom?

Performance WAS too close to a traditional immersion chiller to worry about testing for solder leaching. Couldn't edit the post above for whatever reason.

I did try the coil I had with water. It cooled five gallons from boil to 70 or so in under 30 minutes. I ended up making a copper chiller from 3/8 tubing that has almost identical performance. The condenser coil, as owly mentioned, was a pain to clean. It also was difficult to stir with the...

Did the batch reach an expected final gravity? If so I doubt pitching dry is your problem. What size batch, how much priming sugar, and at what temp have the bottles been stored? Welcome to the hobby.

I've brewed this twice with locally sourced ingredients. It was fantastic both times with one packet of us05 but I did consider pitching two. Below 62 did get some peach on the first batch. It was somewhat hidden but not totally. Seemed to go away after two weeks in bottles though. Next time I...

I've used 05 in two 5 gal. batches of dead ringer. First one was at 60 and had the peach taste but it was gone by week 2 after bottling. Second batch I kept at 62 or so. It had no peach. Both batches started slow but attenuated very well. Both were maybe the best beers I've made in the year or...

Did you use a correction chart for refractometer readings? Once alcohol is present the readings will be skewed. Even with correction I've read a refractometer isn't best to use after fermentation. Check it with a hydrometer. I bet it's a lot lower than you think and is probably done. How does...