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If I could get that consistently, I wouldn't necessarily complain. I usually get around 75% (with a variation of +/-2%) and am happy with that.

The point of making a starter is to get yeast to an active and healthy place to quickly start an active fermentation, and to get yeast to proper cell count for pitching. A starter only increases your cell count by about 30-40% which is what most vials/smack packs need just to have proper...

I think if you are looking to get better efficiency, there is a ton of information out there on things to try (crush, sparge, mash out temp, grain/water ratio, etc.) but I think, for the homebrewer, if you can get above 70% and can hit the same efficiency consistently, you are golden. In other...

I agree with carnevoodoo. Consistency and balance. Both of these go hand in hand because if your OG is off by a couple of points, it will throw off your balance and therefore give you a very different beer from batch to batch. Other than having to buy more grain per batch, low efficiency (or...

As you have probably found out, high temps and air have the greatest negative affect on your hops causing them to stale and lose bittering quality quickly. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, just do the best you can to squeeze all the air out of them. Then keep them in a freezer until ready to...

tmanlua, that's a bummer to have an accident like that as you are prepping for a brew day. However, here is how I would answer your questions: 1 - I would go get some more yeast. If you lost that much, it would take at least 2 step-up starters to get enough yeast to pitch in a beer of that...

Like others have said, you should probably be closer to a 50/50 (pale malt / wheat malt) ratio on your grains. Also, 21.7 IBU's is on the upper end of bitterness for this type of beer. Wheat beers, as a rule, are a little sweeter, with little hop bitterness and little to no hop flavor/aroma. I...

My guess is you will have minimal benefits from filling your fermenter with O2 first over just having regular air in there. Considering the cost of an O2 tank, I think just giving it a good shake when adding the yeast will do just fine. (This is what I do and have never had a problem). Then...

Do not aerate your beer during fermentation! A sanitary aeration technique (usually just a good shake of your fermenter will do the trick) done just as you are pitching is good, after that it is not good.

Hopefully you don't have any sanitation issues from the opened yeast packet prior to pitching. But if the krausen is there and you have bubbling from your airlock, you should be fine. You may have just lost some of the yeast or some died in the 'accident' and your yeast count was a little lower...

Portalgod, if you are not going to condition in a secondary fermenter then you are on the right track by covering it and leaving it alone for another 10-17 days (3-4 weeks total). You are correct that leaving it will finish fermenting and then let the yeast and any other sediment settle out to...

For what it's worth, I have gotten much more consistent results by getting my beer to serving temp before force carbing. CO2 doesn't get into the beer nearly as well at higher temps, so if you put beer in the keg, purge O2, connect the CO2 at about 12-15psi and let it chill for a couple of days...

I'm a little confused by your question, but I will tell you what I think based on what I hear you saying. Your 'Extract' (aka. syrup-like liquid) contains most of the sugars that will be turned into alcohol as well as the 'base' or fundamental flavor of the beer. The grains you will be...

Not to be redundant, but I agree with the 'if it ain't broke' philosophy. However, if you realize the purpose of a chiller (fast chilling = increase cold break = clearer beer, it also helps to minimize infection as bacteria doesn't thrive as well in cooler temps). And whirlpooling is simply a...

I think it can be a little confusing. I have brewed a number of batches with what seems to be becoming an extinct method of brewing. It was sometimes referred to as the 1-2-3 method. 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary and 3 weeks to condition. I have gotten fantastic results with this...

I agree with nealperkins and permo. I make a starter about 1/3 of the time and use harvested yeast every time and have never had a problem with a fermentation. That being said, the purpose for a starter is to make sure your yeast is viable, increase the number of yeast cells for proper pitching...

Andysam, I don't claim to be an expert on this, but from what I understand, during the boil you actually extract gasses (oxygen being one of them) from the wort because gasses are less able to stay in liquid the higher the temp. (This is why it is more difficult to carbonate kegs at room temp...

It might be too late to mention, usually once you are more than a couple of days into fermentation, you don't want to churn the wort as this aerates it (oxygenates) and that is not good for yeast once the sugars are in the process of being converted. Oxygen is necessary for initial yeast health...

This is a common occurance if you don't use a secondary. Any trub that gets disturbed while racking from primary to keg will eventually settle into the bottom of the keg and therefore come out in the first couple of pours. You should be able to tell because it smells and tastes of yeast (because...

I think you'll be fine, the only issue I see is that once the yeast start the initial multiplication stage, you don't want to introduce oxygen into the wort. So I would say after the point of boil, try to be careful to agitate the wort as little as possible. Other than that, I think you...