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Old thread, but it helped! I've been researching refractometers and found that some are inaccurate. Was deciding whether to spend the $60+ at morebeer when I saw this thread. Bobby got my business as one homebrewer to another. Thanks brotha!

I wanted to add an update to this: I had the LHBS do a double crush on the grain, and then when I added water for the batch sparge, I drained off the extra gallon of loss BEFORE stirring for the 10 min batch sparge time. I then proceeded as usual, 90 min boil and with beersmith set at...

That makes sense. How long do you think they will keep that way? Also, there is only a little bit of yeast in there, maybe the size of your thumbnail. Will that be enough to use in a regular starter?

I've been searching, but haven't found anything specific, so here goes. I made a starter last batch, and then sanitized some white labs vials that I had and poured some of the slurry into them. They've been in the fridge door for a few weeks now. There is a layer of yeast in the...

Some good info, thanks! I seem to lose 2 gallons in my mash tun every time, and that's tipping it to get it all out on first runnings. I'll check Beersmith for the settings too.

Hi all, I've been using my system for over a year now, and have noticed that I almost always come out about 4 points below target on each brew. For instance, beersmith says the amber ale is 1.059, and I usually hit 1.054. Pretty consistently. Here's my setup: Igloo Ice Cube 15...

What he's missing is that (/ = divide by) so 60/50 is 60 dvided by 50.

The blend is California ale and V (I think) with some lager yeast. Folks have done bocks sans lager with good results using a clean yeast, so that's what I'm after. From the site: WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend Our most popular yeast strain is WLP001, California Ale Yeast. This blend...

I'm hacking out a dopplebock recipe that I'll be using an ale yeast for. Most likely wlp060 american ale blend. Should get me what I want. What do you all think of this recipe? 14# Munic Malt 2# Caramunich malt 2 oz Chocolate malt 1.5 oz Hallertau hops @ 60 mins. (est IBU...

The process is style dependent, that is to say that the process makes the style. Fermnent in 2-3 days, with a short primary, rack to 2nd and add the krausen and keg for cask conditioning. Alternately 2nd in a carboy and then prime your bottles. They also mention that the beer is filtered...

The wife and I have been at this for a couple of years now, and even won some medals at comps. So we must be doing something right. What we did is to get one of those little C02 keg chargers, shown here. The cartridges are $3 apiece and last for quite a few blasts. We rack to...

I just did a wee heavy. For a 5 gallon batch, I took 1 Gal and boiled that down to just a hair over 1 pint (75% reduction). What I ended up doing was let the mash sit while I reduced. Ended up with a 2.5 hr mash (some folks mash overnight with no issues) and put the syrup in the beginning...

Well, I brewed this on Sunday. I let the mash sit while I carmelized 1 gallon down by 75%, then boiled 7 gallons for 2 hrs. Came in just over my target gravity. This thing smells great while it's fermenting! Looking forward to a tasty beer.

I haven't nailed down the mash temp yet, I think I've seen 154 commonly used. I was thinking a 90 min boil. So do you think I can get away with it on my rig?

I'd have to look at beersmith again, but it's set to 1.33 qt/lb of grain. So those numbers aren't exact. I know my system and let's assume these numbers are close enough. EDIT: Beersmith shows 24qt which is 6 gallons. What I need to know, is if boiling 7-7.5 gals for a 5 gallon batch...

I've been formulating a wee heavy recipe, and have been researching a bunch. I still have 1 question about boil volume and time, hopefully someone can help. I have a 5 gallon AG rig, 15 gallon mash tun, so it goes like this: Mash with 6 gallons (17+ lbs grain) First runnings...

Are the judges BJCP certified, or are there nationally recognized awards?

Ok cool. PBW works great. As for the hot water, it's summer in AZ. 105 during the day at least :)

It's all in the gravity. If, as you say, it's been the same for 3 days now, then it's done fermenting. You can leave it in primary to allow the yeast to clean up after themselves ( I usually leave it for 2 weeks in primary). A little bit of Krausen can be normal.

Hi all, I have a sanke keg that I'm cleaning out for blending 10 gals of mead and have a weird issue. I soaked it in some water and BLC mix, maybe 4-5 oz to the 15 gallons and didn't get back to it for a week. I drained it and now there are what appear to by crystals (sand like) stuck to...