Recent content by rescuedogrr2010

SURVEY'd!

in terms of recipe formulation, you pick your OG based off of style/experience and then brew to that selection. you check your actual OG, like you said, after all fermentables have been added along with top off water prior to pitching. this gives you an idea of how you did putting the...

love the surly volunteer army. granted they're alot of production work, but the idea that people come out to lend a hand around the place for a few packs of beer speaks highly of your beer and the employees working there. never heard of something so coordinated anywhere around me, but im sure...

you're right, that is terrible....terrible that i cant reach through the computer screen. nice work! have a cream ale in primary currently.

should be able to, but youll want to consider the correct amount. start a beer in mrmalty at 1020 and it should recommend only a fraction of say a 5 gram dry yeast packet to finish the beer off. Yeast by white and zainasheff is a pretty complete resource for all things yeast.

+1 for all the recommended online stores...esp brewmasters warehouse given your location. im up in NC and they get recipes to me standard shipping in a few days, plus their brewbuilder is wonderful and the fact that you can save your recipes there and simply re-order. living in the southeast...

thats a nice looking kettle. tommy likey!

like bluewolf said, you're going to lose some volume to evaporation and that is going to fluctuate based on how vigorous your boil is. to be sure you make 5 gallons (or 5+) in your fermenter you might want to have extra water prepared to add post boil. that would be a somewhat wasteful...

yes. has happened to me before with some liquid yeast not appreciating southern summer weather before. just grabbed a package of dry yeast, rehydrated, pitched and in a few weeks was enjoying delicious cream ale. of course, remember you just poured dead yeast in your wort...not a truckload so...

just pointing out that independent of boil gravity, a smaller boil results in lower hop utilization period. hasnt refuted the idea that boil gravity affects hop utilization, but certainly makes the point that boil volume DOES affect your hop utilization. amirite?

i would adjust the 10 min addition according to tinseth's hop utilization table. that is a late flavor/aroma addition aimed to allow some alpha acids to isomerize but mainly add aroma.

agreed with all the advice already given. my last batch spent a bit over three weeks in the fermenter and managed to condition into a very clear and tasty american pale ale. patience is a homebrewing virtue.

Leak in a bucket seal or bung. Gas is escaping without going through the airlock. Not ideal but it can happen. Still fermentation can continue for quite a while and simply thinking that since the vigorous bubbling has stopped that fermentation is complete is premature. My last batch was quiet...

agreed. leave it in the primary. unless you are intending to actually perform a secondary fermentation (adding fermentables), dry hop, or condition for MONTHS...primary is as far as your beer needs to go. work on that impatience and even leave it in there for another 2-3 weeks. you wont...

i wouldnt worry about that as long as you maintain sanitation. in some between-brew-day reading, i came across white labs' experiment measuring oxygen levels in wort (white and zainasheff, yeast, chapter 4 covers fermentation). they recommend 8-10 ppm dissolved oxygen as optimum. the...