Recent content by MurphysLawBrewer

Do you mash in that 5 gal polarware or is that your HLT?

I have a 3/8 50' copper chiller I made in my workshop, I also stir the wort with the chiller and the water coming out of the discharge hose is piping hot, when it cools down a little I stir some more. I've never kept track but I'm fairly certain it's around 8 minutes or so to cool 5 gallons...

I'd like to get a nice Belgian Wit bier bottled for summer, anyone have any ideas on how I can make this an extract recipe with some steeped grains? Is it possible to achieve the hallmark Hoegaarden color with an extract recipe? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Btw, I love the pic with the unraveled Teflon tape there xD I just highlights the frustration I'm sure you're experiencing.. If the tubing is 3/8s and it's still loose, go one size lower. You can heat it up (not with fire but with warm water) to make it more pliable and force the crap out...

This weekend I did a Pale Ale extract recipe with DME. I had more DME than needed and some extra hops as well so in order to use all the DME I had I raised my target batch from 5gal to 6gal. I have a 15 gal brew kettle, I've never had any threat of a boil over and normally start with 6.5...

Whoever sold that to you just put the wrong tubing on for whatever reason. If I were you I'd go out and get some 3/8ID and call it a day, it'll cost you $6-$8 but you'll have it, it'll work great and you won't have to deal with tape and whatnot.

You loaded the picture while I was writing the last post. It looks like your plastic tubing is 1/2ID and not 3/8ID, that would be the source of your issues. If the tubing is on there loosely without the clamp then you have one size too large

I agree, you probably sliced the hose a little if water is emanating from under the clamp. You should slide the tubing onto the copper about an inch to and inch and a half (to be overcautious) and then about half way up from the connection, put your clamp over your plastic tubing and the...

On my second batch of beer I pitched the yeast and was shaking the carboy like crazy aerate it with the stopper in the top, I accidentally pushed on the stopper a bit too much sending it tumbling into the beer. Naturally I freaked out, my first thought was I have to get this thing covered asap...

Did you raise the amount of hops and add a late addition hop? I would think that would help to ward off some of the sweetness, it's all in each persons preference though. I used to love Wit's and Hefeweizen's, then my taste moved towards amber, then pale ales, now I'm more of an APA IPA...

I racked it to the secondary today after letting it hang around 68-70 all night, pulled another point off the beer (or I had too many beers yesterday when I took my reading) and it's sitting right on 1.018 now. This is good enough for me, pulled another sample while dry hopping because.. well...

So, I pulled a sample today almost 1.02 on the dot, maybe 1.019. This makes the beer approx 9.8-9.9% ABV with an attenuation of around 78-79%, with an extract brew I'm pretty good with this. Though, it's a bit sweet and I would prefer to maybe drop off a few points down to 1.016 or so.. But...

I have a 15 gallon tall boy kettle, similar ratios just a bit larger and wider because of the extra 5 gal capacity. When I'm steeping grains and using leaf hops (the hops I press into a strainer to pull out the liquid) I generally start off with about 6.5 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch...

My recipe doesn't include a final gravity target. This is my second batch and I just want to make sure I know what my target should be when I pull a sample this weekend. Recipe: 12.5 lbs Briess Light LME .75 lbs Crystal 50L .25 lbs Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt .5 lbs Wheat Malt (grains steeped...

I don't have any pictures handy but I did have $150 to spend on a kettle and had a spare 3 piece ball valve and sight glass, I thought about a 10 gallon megapot and instead decided to spring for the 15 gallon Tall Boy (both were $150). I drilled the weldless valve and sight glass ports and...