Recent content by millhouse46

Hey guys, I am planning my first sour beer and want to use Lactobacillus and I am wondering if I need to dedicate my plastic brewing equipment like ferm. bucket, siphon hoses etc. to this process? Is there a best practice to cleaning and sanitizing when it comes to Lacto? I am a big fan of...

Your right checking the gravity would be the best way to tell if anything has happened. I did shake the carboy and some bubbles rose to the top with a white crust around the bubble that stayed floating on the top. This seems to me like a visual sign of fermentation of some kind. But usually by...

Now that I think about it the vial has been in my fridge for a few months. I have been waiting to brew this one. That might have something to do with it. I chilled the wort to 70 and pitched the vial and put carboy in basement. It got down to about 61 F for about 24 hrs.(I wasn't expecting...

4 gal. OG 1.056

I brewed and Oud Bruin Thursday and pitched a vial of WLP 665. I have kept the temp in the low 70's but there is nothing going on in the carboy. No airlock movement no krausen or pelical. Any words of wisdom would be helpful.

Very cool! I didn't even think about reculturing the yeast until you mentioned it. It might be interesting to experiment and make a different "style" using the kolsch yeast.

That was the funny thing that had me worried. I had it on the sun and it wasn't swelling. Maybe it was to hot. On a good note when I got home from work today the krausan had formed on the top and it seemed to be making progress. Although it was not bubbling like I would have expected. Midnight...

Two_one_seven, I was thinking I may have under pitched. I didn't make a starter for it and I was having a little trouble getting cooled. I was under the gun time wise and pitched in high 70s.

I have an all grain Kolsch that has a OG of 1.040 and i used the Kolsch 2565 Wyeast smack pack. I smacked it early in the day and put it in a good spot and it never swelled like the other packs I have used. When I was ready to pitch the yeast, when I opened it, it smelled off like a sharp not...

Great response that was the info I was looking for. Thank you

I am going to bottle my first mead soon and was hoping to get some advice on the steps for still and carbonated versions of bottling. Sorry for such a broad and noob-y-ish question but I would rather get it right than go on assumptions. I have brewed plenty of batches of beer and a few wines...

This a two part question about a partial or mini mash extract beer. Part 1: I am using 12 oz. of crushed pale 2 row malt. Since it is a base malt does it need to be fully mashed for 45 min at a specific temp. or can i just steep it like a caramel malt for 20 min. at a specific temp. like...

I have brewed about a dozen beers and they have all been extract and partial mash kits or using someone else's recipe from a book or magazine. How much modification to a recipe does it take for me to give it my own name? Its not a huge deal but i have a small problem giving someone else's beer...

Hey jcbrewer. I noticed your labels in the thread for bottle cap labels and I really like the graphics that you came up with. It is better than just text in black and white. Did you do that using the template in Microsoft or did you use a different program to get those results? I have my own...

Great advice and insight. I do realize there is nothing I can do at this point but looking back I aerate the wort back and for between the brew pot and fermentor through a fine strainer and created a fine looking frothy concoction, but I did not aerate after adding the water like i have in the...