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I'm back at it after a 2 year hiatus. I have not seen any of my starters look quite like this before... It's Wyeast 3944 in a 1040 wort. Been on the stir plate for about 9 hrs

Going with a new recipe this year. Wish me luck. Just waiting for the pie pumpkins to hit stores. Type: All Grain Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Boil Size: 6.52 gal Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: MY ALL-GRAIN POT AND COOLER End of Boil Volume 5.98 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00...

Have you ever heard of "Pie Pumpkins"? Well, you probably should be using them. That's right, not all pumpkins are created equal. Pie pumpkins are any one of several varieties of pumpkin grown for eating rather than decorating. Pie pumpkins are smaller and more dense than decorative...

I have seen several questions lately regarding volume at various stages of brewing. I hope the following helps someone make sense of it all. It's long, but pretty thorough. I think it's comprehensive and easy to understand. If anyone has suggestions to make this better, I'm open to editing...

Forgive me if there is something I'm missing, I haven't slept well lately and I'm not thinking clearly. Why is it common practice for partial boilers to cool their wort, add top up water to an exact volume, and then check gravity? Why not cool, check gravity, then add water to top up to a...

Kenmore 8.8 CU chest freezer on sale from $449 to $299. Coupon Code SEARS50 gets you another $50 off, but you gotta add on more item to push the $299 over $300... I threw in some $1 thing and it worked fine. Paid $251 for it just now! I saw it in person and it's nice...

I still pour my wort into my fermenting bucket through a stainless strainer and aerate by pouring back and forth several times between my bottling bucket and a ferment. I never seem to have trouble getting enough oxygen and I like to filter out all the break material and such. I have a stainless...

Hearing Charlie Bamforth talk about how when it comes to storing finished beer, every 10 deg C that the temp rises, your beer ages twice as fast really has me thinking. He was saying something along the lines of flavor stability being preserved best really low like 40 deg F and everything 10 deg...

I have a two stage STC1000. I would like to be able to ferment two buckets at once and also store at least three or four boxes of beer to keep my storage of my home brew cold! I was thinking of either getting a chest freezer or building a chamber out of a dorm fridge. I think I'd prefer a chest...

Not sure if anyone does anything like this, but I realized after brewing yesterday, I want to measure the distance between the two of the gallons marks on my sight glass and transfer it to a small piece of wood or something. I'll graduate it in tenths and then I'll be able to hold it up between...

TIP*** I'm sure many of you have thought of this already, but if you have an air compressor, like for a pneumatic nailer, use this: And blow out the tubing from one end. Takes two minutes to clear the chiller 100% of water. You can also use it to blow dry the outside of equipment.

Who does this and how is it working out for you? I am starting to store my home brew a little longer than I have in the past... like darker beers for several months - not aging, just haven't gotten around to drinking them. I know the colder the better when storing it. I am coming into...

What do you think of this for a Northern brown... this is my first water adjustment. 11C. Northern English Brown Vital Statistics: OG: 1.040 – 1.052 IBUs: 20 – 30 FG: 1.008 – 1.013 SRM: 12 – 22 ABV: 4.2 – 5.4% My source water: PPM CA...

I have always heard that you need to wait 24+ hours after using campden tablets to treat water for chlorine... however, I notice in the video on youtube Brewing AG with John Palmer, he seems to add it to the water minutes before starting his brew day. Any thoughts?

I have been looking into mimicking some off flavors on the cheap - the $150 kit is too rich for my blood. I'm thinking: butter flavor for baking for diacetyl apple baking flavoring for acetaldehyde vinegar for acetic medicine for phenols canned corn juice for DMS I have yet to figure...

If you find yourself lacking something to use as a form to coil around, Home Depot and Lowes have concrete footing forms that they sell that work perfectly! They come in various sizes - 8" ones are only about $5. You can even return them afterwards if you like. Just a thought.

I heard somewhere - I think brewstrong perhaps - that you cannot drill through stainless without using a stainless steel bit or the metals will react and oxidize (battery). Is this a common problem or do you guys drill with carbide or hardened bits? I'm not feeling the $70 for a SS step bit.

I am going to buy a cardboard concrete form from home depot on my home to use to coil my 50' 3/8 OD chiller around. I really don't have anything that would be a good form and they are only about $5. They come in 8" and 10", which would you choose? I am leaning 10". My pot is 14" wide but I will...

A friend came to me with a question that I'm not sure how to answe for him. He's a newer brewer and he made a Belgian wheat that he said he missed his OG by 11 points. However, he fermented it anyway since it was late when he finished brewing and he thought it needed to get right into the...

What is the best way to handle the inside connection for the ball valve on a kettle? I can 90 elbow, 45 deg, hose barb, street elbow.... This is a boil kettle, not being used a MLT, rather, just a boil kettle. Also - I'm leaning toward thermowell rather than just direct install - any thoughts?