Recent content by normivey

I made this kit last year and was disappointed because the spices were so strong. Didn't drink much of it. Even emptied several bottles over the summer because it still wasn't right. Found a few bombers in the back of the pantry, and now it's very good. Even shared it with the homebrew club, and...

They brewed beer for hundreds of years without sanitizers. In any case, you can't undo it. Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew.

I brewed this kit last summer. I had some fermentation issues (started slow and took about 3 weeks to reach final gravity), but I think I was fermenting too cool. I like the flavor, but it was a little more bitter than I expected.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree, the top-off water should have been sitting on top of the wort (I did not agitate until after I pulled my sample). Curious.

No. I pulled my sample just after adding my top off water. I didn't agitate my wort until just before I pitched my yeast. That probably explains it, though I would anticipate a lower reading with the top-off water sitting on top of the denser wort. Perhaps there was enough of a temperature...

I just brewed a Brewer's Best American Pale Ale kit. The kit calls for an OG of 1.051-1.055. Mine came in at about 1.08 at room temperature. I took the reading after topping off to 5 gallons. The only change I made to the recipe was that I tossed the sugar that was including for priming into the...

Thanks to everyone for all the help. I think this is my solution. The freezer compartment of the old fridge is large enough for our needs, and I'll use the chest freezer as my fermentation chamber. The fridge becomes a kegerator somewhere down the line. For now it will just hold lots of...

My wife got a new fridge for the kitchen, which means I get a new fermentation chamber. I'm looking at temperature controllers. From what I can tell, controllers work by essentially cutting power to the fridge when interior temperature is below the temperature setting. Does that mean the freezer...