Recent content by realestatecat

4 days ago I brewed an IPA and kept a sample in my hydrometer and its been sitting in the window sill this whole time. I noticed a bit of bubbling and now I have full-on fermentation and a nice krausen on the top. I'm guessing this is wild yeast...is it? If it is, how could I safely...

...really, no one knows?

I am working on an all grain batch and I was wondering when I check the pH??? Thanks!

I have to say Smack Pack. It's very easy to tell if the yeast is active and every batch I've done has been smack on!

Just remember next time to briefly lower the temp when you add hops. The addition of hops to the boiling water is a pretty serious chemical reaction and I've noticed that if I just back off the heat temporarily I never have boil overs. Solution #2...get a bigger pot :P (obviously not an...

I just got a bunch of BJCP cards on an IPA I entered into a local homebrew contest. Quite a few of them mentioned 'grapefruit'. I used mostly Magnum, Warrior and Cascade. My guess is the grapefruit came from the Cascade.

^^^ Definitely...there's a reason I have a recipe called 'Pop Top'

Does anyone know if perhaps during the liquid malting process that the temps could have been to high? I know that when doing all grain, I've mashed too high and had a pretty sweet turnout.

^^^^ agreed!

Congrats on the first. They only get better with time and so will you!

If you're using tap water and it generally tastes good, you should be fine...just let it sit in buckets to let the chlorine evaporate out overnight or so. As for metallic, I've never had it taste that way, but my guess might be that your getting an off flavor from your yeast fermenting at...

I would go with the whole 'protein thing'. That makes the most sense to me.

Hey all, So, I decided to brew a batch today and came up with a question: Is it better to hit your OG and come up short on volume, OR is it better to miss your OG and hit your volume? I know that it would be ideal to hit both, but if that is obviously not an option.... Thanks

Genius! You gotta love Mother Nature!

I was just getting done bottling up some beer and now that my secondary is ready, I was going to rack my famous 3:33 IPA. I was going to dry hop with 2 oz of Cascade whole hops but was wondering about how sanitary they are. I didn't buy them from a LHBS. How do I proceed?