Recent content by mjs483

If you are prone to extremely dry skin (like me) you may want to wear gloves. I love star-san but it actually does dry my hands out pretty bad if I submerge my hands more than a couple times in a session. Most people don't seem to have as much of a problem though...

I haven't been using campden tablets when I use tap water (although lately I've been using distilled or bottled water). Are campden tablets necessary for extract brewing? My water report can be found here...

I'm not sure. I tried to read my water report a while back but got a little confused when I couldn't find exactly the parameters I was looking for. My water does tend to have a slight chlorine smell to it sometimes.

Hey thanks for the link, good stuff. It's possible my starters have not been aerated enough. I usually give them a decent shake but I don't go crazy with it. The good news is that last week I built a stir plate so my next starter will be stirred. You never put crap in your carboy in the first...

I've been using liquid. But I think I'll try dry on my next brew. Did a little bit of research and it seems like Briess Golden Light (and potentially other Briess products) is one of the more highly fermentable DME's out there. Also to those mentioning that boiling releases all of the dissolved...

I've been using liquid. But I think I'll try dry on my next brew. Did a little bit of research and it seems like Briess Golden Light (and potentially other Briess products) is one of the more highly fermentable DME's out there.

Grem: Lately I've been doing recipes from Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles. My attenuation seems to never quite hit the FG of the recipe. Always about 2 - 4 points above what it should be. I normally use Alexanders or Muntons light/pale extract from a local shop that has a pretty high turnover...

CreeDakota: The reason I was using distilled was just because from what I read in Brewing Classic Styles, it seemed like the most correct thing to do since all of the minerals I need are already present and concentrated in the extract. I figured if it could help me brew better beer I'd give it a...

So recently (last 3 or 4 batches) I switched from using tap water to using distilled water. I'm brewing with extract and in Jamil's "Brewing Classic Styles" he says that you can "brew with confidence" using distilled water for extract based beers. The reason being that the extract already has...

Nice analogy with the water and pipe. Thanks for all the replies too, that really sheds some light on this stuff. Can't wait to get this thing running this weekend :mug:

Ok, yeah it looks like the DC transformer I'm using has 22 awg according to the markings on the wire. It had a pretty long cord so I cut off some extra to use as my scrap wire. A couple of other things... I noticed that my transformer's output is 9V, 500mA and my PC fan is DC 12V, 0.2A (200mA)...

Ah ok. Well then I suppose the stranded 14 gauge I have will work.

I'm following the instructions on this thread for my stirplate build. One of the things needed is a small amount of scrap wire to connect the power switch to the potentiometer. My question is, what types and gauges of wire are suitable for this? I know I can probably just cut some extra wire...

Will do. Thanks for all the info!

Ok. Stuck a sanitized thief in there and pulled out a sample for tasting. Didn't taste bad at all actually. Tasted like a very light and somewhat malty beer. Even had a bit of carbonation. So now I need to decide what to do with it. I think I may try following the yeast washing instructions on...