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Please post more. I cant ferment under pressure in my plastic pail, but I sure envy your setup!! :D

I'm getting 7.XX brews (following a schedule similar to yours) with my Blichmann burner going 5.5G batches. A 20# propane fill is $9 here now, so I cant imagine getting much more bang for my buck than this.

You may be ok since my opinion is the caps may take some time to take hold since you did this w/o a starter. I'd probably not think all is failing until 48 hrs later. If you try the yogurt method on top on the caps, you probably wont hurt anything just for insurance.

Dave, just an update to ask your help (and others) if my fermentation looks like it is on track. I pitched WLP775 into a 70F must that was an OG of 1.057. From what I've read, this OG is right about what we'd expect from fresh pressed and nicely ripe apples. After reading Dave's post, I...

Thanks, Dave. Off gassing has not yet begun (pitched two hours ago) so I went ahead and dropped the controller down to 68F. Your advice makes good sense and the temp of 68F is still in the range WLP suggests. I typically like to stay near the low end of the range anyway, so this makes sense...

Ready to pitch my fresh pressed apple juice with WLP775. Juice had sulfites added at the orchard and has off gassed 48 hours. I will be adding a bit of yeast nutrient, pectin enzyme and setting the temp controller to 70F. My biggest question involves racking. I'll be using a conical with a...

Good question. Next time I build a starter I'll try that check again. In the meantime, I also may take something like apple juice and test the float against the digital and see what I get.

Bought a MA871 Milwaukee Digital refractometer maybe 9 months ago. I started by checking against my floating hydrometer by doing a distilled water check and the floater read 1.000. I also put a drop on the digital unit and calibrated to read zero which is just the touch of a button. I then...

Stainless is quite inert so hearing this is surprising. Sounds like you may be producing fusel alcohols somehow but this is just a guess. Are you temp controlling your vessel? I use SS and I see no differences over plastic pails or glass carboys...except durability and ease of cleaning.

Lordy please make this my lucky day! I'm in!!

As Morrey points out, there are basic BIAB functions needing attention before you dial in your grist size. Once you get your BIAB system all figured out with a brew or two under your belt, you'll be able to get your grind down soon enough. I have my own mill so you can adjust the grind to suit...

Very interesting observation. Looking at the way your ice is lasting longer, I'll bet you may only have to replace every 24 hours once you near fermentation end. Would you be so kind to report this back?

Thanks for all the ideas to be entertained. I have a question for those who pump glycol thru cooling coils. Once the fermentation is over and chiller is shutdown, how you push the glycol back into the reservoir that would otherwise stay in the coils? This sounds pretty neat, actually, and...

I have two 7G FTSs Brew buckets going trying to keep wort cool (mid-60's ferm temp) as the summer heat approaches. I have a heavy duty Grizzly cooler/reservoir with ice water and frozen ice bottles struggling to keep cool. My ambient temps avg in the upper 80's by day, or upper 60's by night...

Great tip!

I just tapped a Cream Ale (Cream of Three Crops by BierMuncher) using US-05. The beer was designed to be around 1.040 but I got good efficiency and hit 1.050. Then the 05 surprised me and finished lower than I expected at 1.003. Results were a light refreshing summer beer that will kick butt...

I use a prism refractomer, a floating hydrometer and a Milwaukee digital refractometer. I did some calibrations to ensure they were all together before using. All temps taken were at 60F where the hydrometer was calibrated. I started by reading distilled water. My hydrometer read dead on...

Yes, I hated to sound like I was bragging, but the tank seems possibly still half full after beer #4. I am tracking the use carefully so I'll post my total number when the tank finally kicks.

I use a Blichmann Hellfire with leg extensions. I do 5.5G single infusion mashes around 150F and do rolling boils for 60 min as an average. I have completed 4 beers on one 20# propane tank and probably will have gas left over after I do beer number 5 this weekend. This thing sips propane and...

Yeah I saw a poll (regarding flaws or qualities in beers) the other day that showed "cloudy" was the least concern among flaws by home brewers. Taste was first as expected but cloudy didn't even make a dimple in the numbers. Someone said that this trait makes me feel it is genuinely hand...