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I am about to use my immersion chiller for the second time and have a question. The last time I used it, it took about 30 minutes to cool my wort to pitching temps. During that time, my kettle of wort was exposed to the elements of the outside air. I usually brew outside on my back patio. I had...

About to start a partial mash. 3.75 lbs of grain, and 6 lbs of LME. I plan on mashing with ~ 5 quarts water (1.33 qt/lb ratio). I have read that many people sparge with about 0.5 gal water per pound of grain.. this would only be 2 gallons of water for me. Can I just sparge my 3.75 lbs...

Hi all, This was just my second time making a starter, so still new to the business. I made it last night and prepare to pitch it tonight when I'm done with brew day. However, my yeast starter appears to have a ton of yeast caked to the bottom. It doesn't come back into suspension when I...

Had my second partial mash brew day yesterday. I can only do partial boils (~3.75 gallons), so instead of adding all my extract for the full boil, I prefer to save some liquid extract until around flame-out (I read about this practice on these forums, to prevent caramelization I believe). So I...

Did my first partial mash on Friday, everything went perfectly, other than taking 45 mins to cool my boil (I need a wort chiller). I aerated by shaking the carboy vigorously. Final step: pitch the liquid yeast. Of course I shook it up, opened it, and half of it spewed onto the floor.. maybe even...

Doing my first PM later today. I only have about 3.5 pounds of grain (mostly 2-row), and the rest is extract. I've read a lot on here about mash water-to-grain ratios, and a lot of people seem to do anywhere from 1.25 qt/lb to 2 qt/lb of grain for mash water (seems like 1.25 and 1.33 is common)...

I was thinking about buying a Better Bottle, because my plastic buckets are starting to develop some scratches that I'm worried about. However, I do partial boils for now. So I'll need to mix 3 gallons of wort with 2 gallons of top-off water in a Better Bottle. But I've been reading that shaking...

I bottled today using an auto-siphon, and on many occasions, I was just pumping air into my beer.. I don't know if this is a common problem, but I kept having issues getting a good solid siphon going. So, I probably pumped at least 20 times where air bubbles were injected into my beer in the...

Picture this: - You have one 5.5 gallon SS kettle - You also have one 2 gallon pot - You've been restricted to partial boils on the stove because of this - Your microwave is just above your stove, so an 8 to 10 gallon pot probably wouldn't even fit on the stove. Even so, a full boil would...

I've only done a few batches of extract kits. I want to brew an AHS Honey Blonde ale next, but even the basic extract kit comes with 0.5 lbs of base grains and 0.75 lbs of specialty grains. I used specialty grains in my last batch which was a nice touch. I was easily able to steep them in hot...

So I'm getting ready for bottling my first 5-gallon batch, and it'll be my first time using glass bottles (used PET bottles in the past). I am planning on cleaning some Sam Adams bottles to use for the first time. I don't have a bottle brush (as recommended in John Palmer's book) to clean the...

I only have a few batches under my belt, and up until now, I have not maintained/controlled fermentation temperatures (I know.. I've been bad). Especially with summer coming up, I am going to start using a 'swamp cooler' of sorts. My main question - what device is easiest to measure the temp...

So I'm still pretty new and have only done a few batches. I usually just follow the instructions, which say that after I'm done boiling my 3ish gallons of wort, "add top-off water to reach 5 gallons". I usually just add tap water. I was reading around and seem to realize that this is a big...

I am brewing a 5-gallon batch of an extract wheat beer (bought the kit from Austin Homebrew Supply). I followed instructions to a T, but my original gravity reading was 1.037 (actually 1.036 but adjusted based on the calibrated temperature of the hydrometer), while the instructions for the...

I decided to join the dark side. I have always loved beer and thought, what better than to start trying to brew my own? I am a complete newbie to the practice, so I picked up a cheap Mr. Beer kit hoping it would provide a decent introduction to the art. I plan on moving up in equipment...