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I'd get away from those Brewhouse kits ASAP if you can. I started with those and thought they tasted watery and I couldn't get a head off them if you shook em up first. All grain is definitely the way to go. Get a cooler, corona mill, and turkey fryer and find a 55lb bag of base malt. It's...

I'd add 1007 to that list. Ferments down to 55F, with very clean finish. Use it for all my brews except the more specialized yeast.

Just put the hydrometer in the bucket. Why complicate things and waste good beer?

For every month old the smack pack is, you have to allow one day for the pack to swell. I had a 6 month old pack that I smacked a week early. By the time I brewed, it was swelled just fine. Despite the directions, a few hours are not enough time. If you pitch before swelling, you'll just...

I always thought they did. Anything that's denser than water in the solution should add to your gravity, shouldn't it?

I believe that the Sorbate inhibits further fermentation, making the addition of sweetner for less than dry wines safe in the bottle. If you're making dry wine without a sweetening addition after fermentation, you're probably safe.

The last wit I made I put 1/2 oz. in at flame out and it turned out really nice. Wouldn't change a thing. I probably wouldn't boil it, just like I wouldn't boil most herbs in a tea.

I'd doubt if a start would have made any difference. That mainly cuts lag time. Yeast multiply exponentially during fermentation. If you're using extract, chances are it's done. Depending on the brand of extract, it probably won't ferment to the same extent as an all-grain. The airlock...

Oh yeah, it's really sad. Thank God for home craftbrewing! Make sure you try out some nice hoppy APAs and IPAs(sierra nevada PA and Dogfish Head 60 min are awesome for hopheads, which I am)

If you're in Ontario, you'll find no microbrews except Anchor Liberty Ale. In other words, basically nothing. Here they even think draught beer is an actual distinct style of beer. Find a good microbrew store and you'll be amazed at the variety our gov't thinks we shouldn't get. I recommend...

Funny you don't see them drinking any Polygamy Porter on Big Love. :D

Sounds like a question for Hank Hill... :)

Are you deactivating the enzymes in your first runnings while waiting for the batch sparge? I had the same problem, I used to let it sit there in the kettle, but now I heat it up to deactivate while sparging. My FG's went from 1.007 to 1.011(@155F).

Moab's a great town and has some nice brewpubs, but it took me awhile to figure out why I wasn't getting drunk :drunk: I guess it means you can just drink more great beer!

Takes me about 5.5 hours total, but it would take a lot less time if I didn't keep overheating my mash and sparge water while doing something else... :eek:

I may be wrong, but isn't Mr. Beer a sort of poor-man's keg?

How much aeration did you give the wort before pitching? Big beers need big aeration. For a hot mash like that, doesn't sound like you're going to get it down any more.

I'd say it's done. A bubble every few minutes is probably not fermentation, just degassing. You could try to rouse the yeast by gently agitating the fermenter, or by giving it a gentle stir. If that doesn't start it up again, it's probably not going any lower.

Why bother with a carboy primary at all? It takes me under a minute to clean a bucket. A carboy? Not so much. IMO, a bucket is just as safe for the beer from a few days to a couple of weeks.

I'd put it in the fridge overnight and take it out in the morning before brewing. Starters, bah! :)