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Right now I'm doing about 3.5 gallons and topping it up to 5. I really need to invest in a real brew kettle instead of this stockpot I'm using (It's a 5 gallon pot and I need a bit of headroom with it) P.S. I hate doing this but does anyone have any last minute thoughts on this...

Extract kits for now. I might try a partial mash after a few more brews.

On occasion I've had brews where I've topped a 5 gallon batch up to 5 gallons right after chilling and the SG is higher than the listed SG range. Normally I wouldn't do anything about it but last brew I somehow managed to get 1.050 for my SG when the target range was 1.042-1.046. I decided to...

I'm about to do the Midwest Lemon Coriander Weiss extract kit and I have an odd situation. The recipe calls for 3/4 oz Saaz for bittering (60 min boil) and an additional 1 oz Saaz aroma. Instead of sending me 2oz Saaz they sent me 1oz Saaz and 1oz Challenger hops. I've never worked with...

So growing hops this year was kinda last minute (got two cascades for $2.50) and they were planted way late (1st week of June). Right now one of my bines is growing 2-3 inches a day. It's looking like they will outgrow my temporary rigging somewhat soon. While I'm still working on my...

So I'm on my second stage of a 2 stage starter and I've not gotten anywhere near the activity that I had during my first stage. I'm pretty sure that it's because it was a bit chilly last night and the kitchen temp was down to 65F when I woke up this morning (it's normally a steady 70F). I...

Good points. I figured I was over thinking it. It looks like I'll have to 2 stage it with a 1.5L starter followed by a 1L starter (Since I don't have a stirplate, I'll be doing intermittent shaking). Does that sound about right?

So I've not brewed in a while and I'm doing the Midwest Octane IPA (OG 1.064-1.068). Today I picked up a wyeast smack pack of the British Ale 1098. Unfortunately, its production date was July 20 and Mr. Malty is telling me that's about 47% viability and I'm gonna need to make a starter...

I'll keep the fermcap in mind for later but I don't have any of that now. I keep using a long sterilized spoon to stir/knockdown the foam and it's doing ok but not great and I'm barely keeping up with it. I know people use a spray bottle to deal with boil-overs but I don't have any sterilized...

I'm in the process of making a 2 step starter for a Belgian Tripel and I'm on the 2nd part. Unlike the first round, this is massively foaming. It's a 1L starter in a 2L Erlenmeyer and the foam is up to the 1800ml part. How do I deal with the foaming?

Yeah but the problem is I only have a 1L flask and I don't have any 2L bottles around.

Ok, so I got my yeast today and I'm making my starter tonight. Since this is my first multi-step starter, could someone check my calculations? Using yeastcalc.com I came up with this: If I'm making a 5gal batch of beer that'll be OG 1.074 I should: 1. Make a 1L starter and let it go for 24...

So I've just ordered the Belgian Tripel kit from Midwest Supplies using the White Labs 550 Belgian Ale yeast. OG should be 1.072-1.076. I just used the calculator on Mr. Malty and it's telling me I'm going to need to make about a 3.28L starter (248 billion cells). I only have a 1L Erlenmeyer...

Ok, I knew that starters were mainly to get up to an optimal pitching rate but I thought it was also to maintain viability and a cold crash would decrease viability. It's been a long day... Now that I'm actually thinking about it, a cold crash on a well established culture won't make a huge...

Whoa, Ok... maybe I'm missing something here but isn't cold crashing a starter counterproductive? I thought that the point of a starter was to wake the yeast up and cold crashing will get it to go dormant and drop out of suspension. Anyone care to explain?

So I haven't gotten a chance to get Palmer's How to Brew but I saw on his site that he suggests waiting until after the hot break to add your hops (especially with pellet hops). I'm sure you could add them before or after and be just fine but I'm curious... Who here waits for the hot break...

Doesn't that cold crash defeat the purpose of making a starter since the yeast will go dormant?

Ok, so this is probably a really stupid question but here it goes. When it comes time to add your starter to your wort, do you empty your entire starter into it or do you get rid of most of the starter and just use the yeast cake at the bottom?

Yeah... sorry... been a long day. Just sayin... if you're gonna open it up, not talking isn't a bad idea.

Wow... ok... look dude. Contamination is introducing microbes into somewhere that they shouldn't be. Doesn't matter if it's beer or any other microbial or cellular culture. The only difference between beer and a lab situation is that beer is much more forgiving because a strong yeast culture...