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I never used a blow off tube because I have a 30L fermenter and the maxmium I brew is ~23L. that's decent headspace there. There was once, quite recently, I'm fermenting a weizenbock of OG 1.080. I used freshly harvested yeast from a previous batch I bottled the same day. Overnight, I get good...

I don't wash my yeast and they store well under beer in the fridge, in the dark. 3 months is somewhat long to order but there are many experienced brewers who have viable yeasts stored even longer. I'm curious about the skunk though. If the yeast turns out alive, i duno if the skunk will affect...

I don't think aging has got to do with colour. For me it is always about how complex the beer is and how much ABV we are dealing with. For an OG of 71, it borders on the high side. And with the spices in there I will expect it to have a rather complex taste profile. This will benefit from...

Maybe I was doing something not right with my yeasts since some of you have different experiences. For fresh yeast with starter, i get fermentation going over night and kaursen within 24hrs. Very short lag time, if any. For slurry that has been sitting in the fridge for ~1 month, visible...

ahhh that's gg to be problematic because i have constant condensations on my fermenter walls. it's hot and humid here and condensation is common in the fridge. Damn.

it's true that yeasts don't die off completely that quickly. However, the lag time between fresh yeast and yeasts stored beyond a few weeks(even with a big starter) is considerable and that indicates that the yeast is not in tip top condition. Just be aware of that. The yeasts can work but...

I have an even better idea which i love to use. Buy a pack of yeast, brew a smaller beer with it, a pale ale for eg. Harvest the yeast and use it for the next batch. Ideally you should bottle amd brew on the same day but a week apart is ok too. Don't just pitch on the yeast cake. Do some...

Be it big or a normal beer, you will need good viable yeasts in good numbers. So, not brewing a big beer is no reason to pitch your current batch of yeast that hasn't shown signs of good viability. Give the old yeast some time. Many good homebrewers make starters without stirplates and they...

After I started brewing for a while, I kinda avoided all commercial pale lagers like the plague. I was like.... "I can make better beer than these guys. wtf, why should I buy these commercial big boys?" After a few years of brewing and commercial pale lager bashing, my stance has softened...

It will need a much longer time to complete the job now that there is less yeast in the carboy. The instructions definitely suck and with a lager yeast I will give it at least 3 weeks in the primary. What's done is done, don't toss the beer out. Keep everything sanitized and wait for a few more...

No Q is stupid. Everyone starts from somewhere. To carbonate your good beer, there are 2 ways about it. First is the force carbonation. It is literally forcing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the beer and we can do that in a keg or the mini keg that you appear to be using. Simply ramp up the CO2...

My LHBS always hold sales to clear their old smack packs (~ 10 months) and with a 1.5L starter, I never have problems these old yeasts. There can be exceptions depending on how well the yeast is stored. Wait for yeast activity in the starter then decide. You wouldn't want to force the brew and...

For OGs higher than 65, I always do a starter even from a fresh vial. The only exception is when I just harvested the yeast from a previous batch. Underpitching seems to be the issue at hand though under aeration could make it worse. For now, perhaps you can pitch another vial of yeast. To be...

It's not crazy but yeasts' viability falls quickly beyond 2 weeks of storage. Sure you still use it with a starter to liven up the yeasts before pitching but with all the dead yeasts there, I can't help but wonder if it is a worthwhile risk to take. After all, most of us don't brew often enough...

It is weird because here in Singapore, kits are actually the cheapest to brew, both in terms of ingredient cost and equipment startup cost. It's like ~ $S 50 for a kit plus extract. The unhopped extract alone will cost that amount when I do non-kit extract brew. With pale malt at $S 7 per kg...

The fermentables in the enhancer will be fermented by the time you bottle and hence you need to prime when you bottle them. Since you will be filling your beer in a keg, do you intend to force carbonate? If not, you will need priming sugar.

I am not sure why squeezing will contribute to tannin extraction. Appears to be some old wife's (old brewers'?) tale. Tannins are soluble in high pH and high temperature. Not sure how squeezing contributes to either of that. *scratch head As attested by squeezers here, tannin extraction is a...

I usually do a partial mash with a partial boil + late extracts. Because my electrical induction heater stove is not very strong, I need to cover the pot when I boil 12 L (~ 3 gallons) of wort because it won't boil if I don't. The first 5 - 10 min of boiling needs very careful watching because...

Ahhh! right there! Forgot about the CO2 agitation. I do have a stick on thermometer on the fermenter but I never learnt how to use that because the sticker lits up on a range of temperature and I never know how to interpret that. This is the exact one I am using...

Comparatively speaking, water is a better conductor though it is still considered poor no? So even if we take the temperature of the walls of the fermenter, it is probably not ideal even though it is a vast improvement over taking the ambient temperature, I guess?