Recent content by MadCnty

Starsan is good ok... :P

IF you used a high fusal yeast you will get a high alcohol % which = wine Champlain (dry)... I am still picking yeast for flavor atm :) Its all trial and error, there is no science...

Ale temp should = yeast temp(its posted)... You are fine pitching at any temp thought... It may take a while to get going, but it will I promise... Yeast is good like that...

I really like Wyeast ESB 1968... A lot of folks will disagree, but if you ferment it on the warmer side (70-72) it leaves a nice clean fruity finish... Just fridge it after two weeks before bottling or kegging... If you ferment it at higher temp you will get banana esters, which can be a good...

Ok... I sorta brewed this recipe, as I had to change some of the grain bill because the LBHS did not carry the exact grains... I also subbed the hops for a straight up East Kent Goldings bill as I wanted a more "traditional" Irish beer, and I used my "go to" yeast which is 1968... I must say...

All I have done are wheats (so far), and even going all grain has not got rid of the "darkening" you have mentioned... They go from a nice yellow (1.5 weeks primary, 2 weeks bottle conditioning) to a dark brownish color (after another 1.5-2 weeks in the bottle)... I have no off flavors...

I agree with the Milwaukee's Best before mentioned... As a teen, some friends and I bought a case (cheap), and I could not even get one of them down...

Personally I hand wash my bottles (no dishwasher, hard water) with PBW before storing them... I then use a vinator to sanitize at bottling time with Star San, as it only take a minimal amount to do so when using the rinser...

Most folks wash their yeast, but when reusing mine I just pitch the whole cake in... I have only been doing one style of beer for the time being, till I can get some sort of keg system going... :o

I do not dry hop in a keg, but I do dry hop in primary (after hitting FG)... What I do is I use a hop bag (cheap and easy IMHO) soaked in sanitizer... I then fill with hops and a left over ss washer (from building my mash tun, and also sanitized) and drop it slowly into the beer... :mug:

I have seen that the sight glasses need a heat shield of some sort to keep this from happening... I know BobbyM sells them at his online store...

Boil MORE h2o in it first then wash good then should be gtg... I say more because the water line is very low IMHO... But make sure not to use that water for making your beer... ;) Boiling will kill anything alive so just make sure to clean good before use... P.S. The kettle looks fine (a little...

Not sure about the autoclave... But I have found that boiling in a flask is hard to do without it boiling over... I do the boil in a regular sauce pan then transfer to a sanitized flask for cooling/pitching... ;)

Personally I would not spend the extra $$$... JMHO Here is one that offers a lifetime warranty for $42.00... I made my own tho and total cost was $2.66 for the cigar box... ;)

Yes and no... As long as it has a current hydro test you are good to go for refills, and you can always just find a place that trades them in... That's what I do with my older propane tanks... Otherwise I just refill them (much cheaper, and my local hardware store gives you every 4th refill for...