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how do you delete replys? I was too slow on the draw.

Cool. So I've got one fellow saying it won't affect the head, and another saying it will. Anyone want to jump in for the tie-breaker? (To answer your question, Lefty, I'm not brewing for competition, but a big part of my personal satisfaction with a stout is the creamy head.)

I wanted to brew up some espresso (16 oz or thereabouts) and throw it in my stout (either during secondary or at bottling). Will this kill the head? What precautions can I take?

Hey! Much obliged.

RDWHAHB =)

Naw, solids added or removed to the liquid isn't going to effect the gravity.

Right, it indicated that it had stopped fermenting. But at 1.020, you could safely assume that it had a bit more fermenting to go, because that's a bit high... so, to amend what I said earlier, your hydrometer reading, COUPLED with being in close proximity to your FG, is the only indication of...

Yeah, you got it. That's what I meant when I said that the stuff floating around isn't going to affect the reading. The hydrometer only measures the density of the liquid, so if you throw a rock in there, it'll have no effect on your reading.

Don't worry about timelines. Just go off hydrometer readings. Your hydrometer is the only thing that'll tell you for sure when fermentation is complete.

When you rack your beer, siphon or no, you're inevitably going to kick some yeast back up into suspension, and that's going to re-initiate some fermentation, which is what you're observing now. I don't think VISUAL evidence of oxidized beer exists -- it's more of a taste thing. And to put you...

The hydrometer is usually set to take accurate gravity readings at 60 degrees. You took your reading at 80 degrees, so the wort was a bit warm, which would make the solution a little less dense -- thus your low reading. If you adjusted for temperature, I think you'd find that your actual OG is...

Rdwhahb .

It's probably cool as is, but it absolutely wouldn't hurt to stir it up if you wanted to. Stirring isn't going to oxidize -- SPLASHING, on the other hand, might. Just stir without splashing and you're good.

You're right, it does produce more alcohol, but YES, the amount is absolutely negligible. Something like .001%

Just a larger straining bag, obviously, for the greater amount of grain. Get a bag that totally encompasses the kettle, and let the sides of the bag hang over the edge. The more you allow the grain to spread out in the kettle, the better. Have another pot ready with pre-heated sparge water.

I wouldn't worry. One of the two strains will dominate the other. The "battle for the throne" so to speak can sometimes result in some off-flavors, but some folks use multiple strains in the same batch to great effect. Yeah, once you smack the pack, you have to leave it at room temperature...

Your procedures will vary depending on the type of fruit you're using, but generally I add the fruit at flameout -- right when I kill the heat to the kettle after the full hour boil. Then I cover and let it sit for half and hour to 45 mins. If you add the fruit to the boil, you'll chance...

If you take a hydro reading when the wort temp is too high, the reading will appear LOWER, not HIGHER, as was the case here. But yeah, to echo, your beer's going to be fine. Just a bit more alcoholic, if those extra gravity units are fermentable.

Did you happen to accidentally throw your priming sugar into the boil as well? I don't think that would account for the 16 extra gravity units, but... What was the recipe?

Did you top off to the 5 gallon mark? (Assuming you didn't have a full 5-gallon boil.) If you didn't top off, that would explain the higher gravity reading. Another possibility is that you might not have mixed the wort with the top-off water thoroughly enough, and you pulled a sample that was...