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Spread it out to about a 1/2 inch thick. It shouldn't be in the oven long enough for it to stick to the pan really. You're just looking to drive off some of the moisture and brown the top of the puree for a little extra caramelization.

I have a TD bank account just for this purpose. I think I have something like 77 dollars in the checking account. I go in, dump my change in their penny arcade, and take the slip to the teller to get the cash. No fees, 100% mine. All the rest of my banking is done by my out of town CU. I...

No, but it is the corporate lust for ever-increasing relentless profits. I typically don't give a place a chance in the OP's case. I'd just go in and close the account. I'll tell them why if they ask, but they already lost my business. Should have been doing it right and fairly in the first...

Lactose does add gravity, especially a lb of it. I'd assume you added the lactose after you took your OG reading? It does not ferment at all, but I'd still expect that grain bill to finish out at 1.020 or thereabouts. In any event, why are you transferring to a secondary at all? Complex...

Yeah, don't do that. I don't care if your temps were pefect. 3 day old beer almost always tastes like sewage. Yeast make a big mess of things in the first week and then they come back in like good little doozers and sweep up all their garbage. Your beer will be fine.

Thank god for my sun porch (more of a covered deck, really). Even with all the windows open and both doors, it gets a nice toasty warm 45-50 degrees in there during the boil!

Fair enough. I didn't mean to sound like it was a cluster-eff, just that it could have been better organized with better information to those of us standing around. It was still a great competition. They got about 50 more entries than last year - I just attribute it to intoxication after...

Yeah, I was kind of surprised at how disorganized it seemed to be, especially since this was the 6th year. They screwed up on the website. The schedule was posted in military time, and they said we were all welcome at 16:30 and that winners would be announced at 17:00. I got there promptly at...

Good point. I think I figured it out. OP - You're using your hydrometer wrong (I think). If you're measuring your gravity and it is at 1.040, that is the specific gravity of the solution. It only represents dissolved solids in the water. The alcohol scale on the hydrometer is the...

It's my understanding that you don't ferment root beer- well, not all the way. Your final gravity should be fairly close to your OG. All the yeast is doing is converting a small amount of the sugar into CO2. Once your sealed bottles are gassed up, they get cold crashed, or pasteurized to stop...

Count me so in. :)

I was in attendance.

Please don't be worried about returning your sample to your carboy. I started out doing 1 gallon batches and didn't want to lose wort either. I never had a problem or infection with any batch then or now. Just judging by your OCD in this thread, I'd assume your kitchen is like a clean room...

38.5

This was the first homebrew competition I've entered and I managed 3rd in the specialty category for my oaked vanilla whiskey porter 'Muddy Dumptruck'. I was pretty ecstatic about it overall. Also a little peeved that I didn't read the categories closely enough. I entered the 3 beers I had...

I also make 1 gallon at a time. I keep it in a 1 gallon glass carboy (aka the Carlo Rossi). I use my hop scale (a digital gram scale) and weigh out .2 ozs into a little glass bowl, add hot water, pour that into Carlo and top off. The solution lasts seemingly forever. I DO reuse it - if I...

I have this: Amazon.com: Winware Professional Aluminum 60 Quart Stockpot: Kitchen & Dining It's nearly 5mm thick. That is STURDY. It too will last forever, it's light weight, takes a valve and sight glass what else I want to put in it. Aluminum transfers heat really well, and cleanup is...

I would be more willing to bet that your pre-boil gravity was incorrect due to the wort not being homogenous. When you sparge, that wort in your boil kettle is layered by gravity and is not consistent throughout. Did you stir VERY well prior to taking that preboil gravity measurement?

You probably can't do anything about it now - Most conversion happens within 15 minutes. If you overshoot your temps, add a couple of ice cubes, or a quart or two of cold water to bring it down. Just remove that quart from your sparge water totals and you'll be fine.

Oh, yeah - WAIT longer. That trub will compact much more over another week or two. You could also cold crash it if you have the capability. That will help to settle a lot of things out too.