Recent content by akinsgre

The second try worked fine. I don't have a scale, so I used 2/3C DME to 800ML of water. Probably off by a bit. Then I pitched the yeast at 78F instead of 89F. Within 8 hours it was obvious that there was some yeast growth and this morning I had a nice,big Krausen on the starter...

Thanks everyone. I haven't digested all the answers yet. But.. I bought some dry yeast to pitch in the wort and hope that gets my beer going. Then I bought another tube to try a starter again. The tube I bought yesterday was new from the store, but I didn't check the date. The tube I...

I didn't.. I assumed that since I use 1 vial for 5 gallons that I could get close enough. I'll checkout the calculator; does anyone have a rough estimate how many times the yeast would multiple with the small starter I created? Would it double, triple.. less than double?

Thanks What is the "no-chill"?

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum.. but I'm just not sure what I did wrong. My yeast starter isn't starting... can anyone help me find what I did wrong? White Labs 001 California yeast Mixed 2 cups water and a 1/2 cup DME in a flask; boiled and let cool to 89F. Then I put the yeast...

I just checked and it's at 69 and still not fermenting anymore. I don't want to raise it too high and risk esters. I think I'll try to hit 72 and check the gravity again. I hear what you are saying about the high mash temp. I did that because the last stout I did was too thin. that was...

Thanks everyone. I'll take a stab at warming it up and repitch if that doesn't work.

I'm afraid I stopped fermentation in my Stout before it was done and am wondering if it's worth pitching again to be sure; or whether there is anything else I can/should do. Last week I brewed a Stout and it "bubbled" for about 3 days. On the fourth day, I accidentally dropped the temp to...

I'm getting ready to brew a Stout and am paying attention to pH for the first time. The thing I'm most confused about is whether mash water pH should be measured before grains are added, or after the mash is complete. The tap water, which I've been using for about a year and with which...

Thanks again. I didn't correct and did measure straight from the mash tun. So, I was probably at at least 130F Giving me much better numbers than I originally thought. I'll the appendix and pay much closer attention during my next bash.

Thanks Calder. The wort size was 7 gallons (the batch size for the brew, after boil, was 5 gal) I wasn't sure which number to use. I guess 7 gallons makes sense since we're measuring the density of the wort before it's boiled. I didn't correct for temp. The John Palmer book didn't mention...

Sorry I should have mentioned that I mashed for 60 minutes my temp started around 160 and was at 156 by the end of the mash. Sparged with 170

I just made a batch and measured Wort Gravity so I can could calculate my efficiency. From my calculation, it looks like 40% - 56% (Ugh) Would you all look at my numbers to see if you can spot anything I did wrong? 5 gallon batch started with 7 gallons of water (I'm not sure which to use)...

I've seen a lot of posts on this, but want to clarify something. http://www.brewing-tips.com/gelatin-finings/ says to use 1.5 grams of gelatin. This thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/gelatin-fining-138118/ says a Tablespoon Are these numbers equal for Gelatin? Can anyone confirm...

Thanks. I created a starter and it's healthy. My wort is at 72degF now. Sounds like I'll probably be safe pitching now and just putting in my fridge allowing fermentation to start as the temp drops.