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Thanks for the feedback. I was probably more concerned about spilling a 1/3 of the vial than I was with the viability, but this morning the starter has a huge kreusen on it, so I'm thinking it'll be fine.

Hi All, I'm preparing to brew a Belgian Pale on Monday (1.052) so I was getting my starter ready tonight (WLP 550). I noticed when I got home from the LHBS that it had a "best by" date on it of 8/11/2011, which according to Mr. Malty means it was manufactured back in April and is at 40%...

Cool, free stuff \m/

It can be hard to get an accurate gravity reading when topping off because frequently the higher gravity wort you boiled may not be thoroughly mixed with the water. At this point, I would just let it ride. Your actual gravity may be closer to the target than you think.

The first time I bottled, I completely sealed the lid on the bottling bucket because I was paranoid about contamination. After a few bottles, it started drawing air bubbles up in through the bottling wand and racking tube that was connected to the spigot and it oxygenated the hell out of my...

Yes, I can recommend using http://www.stirstarters.com. Good customer service, fast shipping, and the stir plate works very well. I wouldn't think you would need a heated plate though unless you keep your house super cold. I think ambient temperatures in the 70's are the best for your starters.

I'm not sure I kept good notes on that but I think it was probably in the low 70's... maybe 72 or so.

I could totally be wrong about the diacetyl, but yeah, I agree about the stressed yeast. I had a hard enough time letting my first batch go two weeks, but lesson learned :p I tried to keep the water bath on my second batch in the mid to low 60's knowing that the actual fermentation temp was...

I'm sitting here drinking one of the bottles from my first batch. It's a partial mash Piloncillo Porter kit from AHS. It's been in the bottle about 5 weeks or so and I had it in primary for just over two weeks before I bottled. I've been aware of a strange flavor for a while, but I'm...

It took about a week from the time I placed my order.

I just got my stir plate from Dan at http://www.stirstarters.com in the mail today! He is super cool and has great customer service so I highly recommend him. I think a 2000ml flask is a good size. There may come a day when I wish i had a 5000ml, but I think the 2000ml will hold me for a...

If you dumped in all of your hop additions at the beginning of the boil, then I'm not sure there's anything you can do about it now. Your beer will be more bitter than the recipe called for and will be missing some hop aroma and flavor. However, you can still dry hop and maybe make up for some...

Heh, thanks all for the encouraging words. I'm sure everything will turn out fine. Based on what I've read on here, it almost always does! :rockin: astropunk, good luck with your AG batch this weekend. ButcherBrew, yeah, we should definitely grab a beer sometime and swap war stories...

I had my first all-grain brew day yester day and my second brew day overall. There were some things about the day that went great, in fact much better than expected. Others, well, not so much. I definitely learned a few more lessons that I will apply to my next attempt. After re-reading...

I guess... just be sure to take your... stick... into the hardware store with you to make sure it fits in the tray :p

I read a tip somewhere on here to get a wallpaper tray from the hardware store to use for sanitizing long items like a thief, racking cane, bottling wand, etc. I picked up one before testing the SG on my last batch and it worked very well.

Check out Revvy's Bottling tips for the homebrewer thread and you'll find some great information on this. Look for the post near the bottom of the first page titled Revvy's Blog, Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. It explains the process in great detail. Long story short, wait another...

I thought it was outstanding. In fact, I just got back from a trip to the bottle store over lunch to pick up a few more bottles. I drank the first bottle about a week and a half ago during my inaugural brew day, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. :p I tend to prefer my...

Congrats on getting your first batch underway. Check out this thread... lots of good information: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

Yes, the AHS kits are great. Very easy to follow instructions.