Recent content by San Jose State University

Hah. You're probably right. Anyways, I'm going to do it all. Taste it, then use it if all is well!!

Hi, I have some 6 month old DME and I was curious if I can still use it. The bag is not air tight at all, but closed. It was stored at room temp (varied between 70-100 deg F). I've read about off flavors from using old DME. Is it a risky move to use the stuff?

I live in CA, too, and have had to deal with this problem. You can decide if you want to deal with it the way I do. Wetting a T-Shirt and sticking it over the carboy, then setting a small fan to blow on it can lower the temperature about 15 deg F. The only thing is that you need to re-wet...

No, not in the fridge. You want the flavor to mature at room temp. Basically, you don't want to let your beer oxidize or get other bad flavors left over from fermentation, so you let it mature in the beer bottles. I used a Mr. Beer for a while, trust me don't leave it in there for four...

Hahahaha. That's funny last long as it's not a real pedophile. Thanks for the advice. I decided to finally just use the wet t-shirt. I transferred it to the secondary and oh boy did it smell/taste weird!! I'm using the white labs bavarian hefe yeast, so I think I know what it is: a...

So maybe just a wet t-shirt or something?

I've been fermenting at 74 deg F so far and it's been day three. The airlock doesn't smell good, but not like juicy fruit gum. I mention the gum because there are threads on this board that talk about hefe's getting this way at too high fermentation temps. Do you think mine will share the...

it's dead yeast cells + zinc. Zinc, apparently, is needed for strong cell walls that reproduce better and withstand ethanol's effects. Dead yeast cells are a much more efficient way of transferring them to the active ones. Hope that helps!

The green stuff has finally been determined to be, by me, HOPS. Haha, I've never used the hop pellets before, and added them during the last five minutes of the boil this time around. Thanks all for your help!!

Thanks all. I won't dump it. I'm looking up emergency plans just in case: I may siphon it to the secondary while trying to prevent the mold from transferring, too.

It the lag time was from 7 at night, and awoke at 10 in the morning to find it bubbling once every 2-3 secs. I used an oxygen stone and some pill for yeast the hbs guy sold me. So I'm relieved that's it's going. HOWEVER, now I'm worried because there is some green stuff floating in the...

Hey guys.... I was all excited to try out a bunch of new HB supplies I just bought, and followed a hefe recipe to the letter.... including the yeast instructions for my White Labs Bavarian hefeweizen yeast "take out of refrigerator for 3-6 hours, shake, and open carefully." Yeah... I...

Maybe this needs a new thread... but I'll try saving board space and ask here. I've seen a VERY easy method to mini-mash by using a nylon bag and just sticking it in a bottling bucket: http://morebeer.com/themes/morewinepro/mmpdfs/mb/MiniMashBrewing.pdf But everyone on this site seems to...

I swear, the people are awesome at this site. I've been scouring the internet trying to find a solution as good as this to no avail until now. THANKS! Maybe one day I'll learn something unique so that I can contribute too... haha

Thank you for your advice. I'd like to try the cooler method, since SS is awfully expensive. JP's How to Brew gives a brief description of how to build one... does anyone know of any detailed resources to build one with a cylindrical cooler? edit: I see pictures like this...