Search results

1) Treat honey like corn sugar when bottling. You wouldn't just throw the corn sugar in the bucket - you'd first dissolve it in water. Do the same for honey, but don't use boiling water, just really hot water (about 190F), and stir very well. This will help assure that your honey is well...

There is a sticky at the top of this forum for "easy partial mash brewing" . .. read that, and follow the steps, just consider that you'll be mashing ALL of your grain, not just a few lbs of it.

Kit instructions suck. That's all there is to it. However, the brewing ingredient list probably tells you how long to boil each hops for. As a general rule, (and this is VERY GENERAL), Bittering hops are boiled for 60 minutes. Flavor hops are boiled for 15-30 minutes. Aroma hops are...

OK, this comes from a misuse of what "secondary" vessels are for. Prior to transferring, you want to be at your Finished Gravity. Secondary "fermentation" really isn't about fermentation. It's about the yeast cleaning up off flavors, and giving our beer time to bulk age. It's not necessary...

Frankly, in order to give you any idea if what you're tasting is normal for this beer, we would need to see the full recipe and process. Can a crush that fine produce off flavors .. . sometimes, but as Foosier said, there's a lot of misinformation out there regarding tannins.

First off, welcome to the hobby. Glad you enjoyed your LBK, and you're moving up to 5 gallon "full" batches :) That being said, here are my thoughts: 1) I am a big fan of glass carboys. You will find many on here who are not (reference all of the "glass carboys vs better bottles"...

I cold rinse my PBW all the time, and I've never had a problem. Just rinse well. . . even to the point of what you feel may be excessive . . . I do that just to be sure :)

OK, I think this is where your issue is. . . I think you're not hitting FG before you bottle. THAT is why there is more sediment on the bottom of the bottles. . . and thus the overcarbonation. How long do your batches sit in the primary fermenter? At what temperature? Those are the...

Is that in Brix? If that's Brix, it's pretty close. .. I calc it out at about 6.6%.

Your LHBS might have a "cheat sheet" for kits they keep on hand. You can always call or email one of the larger outlets like Midwest or Northern Brewer to see what they have.

Did you sparge at all? When I use BIAB, I generally do a "batch sparge" in 160 - 165 degree water - since the wort you pull out of the initial mash is small compared to the usual boil volume, this is pretty easy. I use about 3 gallons for my batch sparge . .. it increases my efficiency...

I don't have that kegorator . . .however, I would suggest contacting either the equipment manufacturer or a licensed dealer. Generally, the locks on such equipment have a little number printed on the face of the lock, near the keyhole. If you give that number to the manufacturer or dealer...

AFAIK, there is no reason not to add it in the primary bucket. It will work just as well as it would in secondary. As far as the Oxygen thing goes, you won't get any more exposure to oxygen by opening the bucket and then closing it than you would for opening the bucket, transferring it to a...

Hi Saeroner, As with Roastquake, your link did not work for me either. That being said, there are a lot of options out there for great brewing kits. Personally, I recommend starting at a Local Home Brew Store (LHBS) near you. It's always good to support the local economy, and the shop owner...

Camping has it right . .. while there WILL be a slight increase in ABV, it will most likely be too small to measure. Also, rinsing the barrel risks adding contaminants. . . i'd simply rack into it and have a go at it. You won't notice any extra alcohol. The other thing to keep in mind is...

D'oh! This is BAD. VERY BAD. You do not have the facilities to properly dispose of the mess you've made. I highly recommend shipping this beer to me for proper disposal . . .

The actual instructions tend to be pretty generic, but the sheet that comes with the kit has additional information that makes it more passable.

We'd need to see the grain bill to know if you're properly balancing it with the hops. At first glance, that looks pretty decent. . . but just to be sure, post the grains :)

It WILL ferment, but I don't know that a 1 gallon batch will allow for a proper C02 layer in a 5 gallon bucket. Thus you could end up with oxidation. I recommend using a smaller bucket . . . but a glass jug is best. Woozy, thanks for adding in those items. I knew as I was writing that I was...

Well, it seems your problem has worked out. As for what I was asking in #3, what I mean is, (a) What temperature did you mash the grains at? (b) did you hold it constant, or did you use multiple temperature stops? (c) How long did you mash the grains? (d) How did you test for...