Recent content by beerisking

So I'm making an imperial IPA this Sunday and was going to make my starter with some washed 1056 from a red rye I made about a month ago. I harvested the yeast using the procedure described in this forums stickie. It was my first time harvesting and the 4 pint jars have a nice slurry on the...

Not the greatest pic, but it may be the oils from the nibs that don't dissolve in the liquid. You should soak nibs in alcohol for several days/weeks prior to pitching. It will sterilize them and extract the flavors. Why were they floating? Mine sink when thrown in the fermenter.

Just kegged a chocolate porter in which I soaked 4oz nibs in enough bourbon to fully cover for 2 weeks ( I think this may have been more than enough time, but I don't think I would go less than a week for sure). Pitched everything into the secondary for 3 week gestation and then kegged. Flavor...

This is what I need to check. The leak is too slow to use star San,so I will start disassembling and see what I find. Thanks everyone.

Thanks everyone. It wasn't the guage for the tank level that changed. It was the guage for the pressure on the line (or tank if it was hooked up). Basically it was set to 25 psi for pressure testing the keg. Once I filled the keg up, I shut the valve coming off the regulator and going to the QD...

So I'm just getting into kegging and picked up 2 reconditioned kegs. After I cleaned therm and replaced the seals,I pressure checked them. All seemed to be good and the tanks help pressure for 24 hours. What I noticed was the co2 guage on the tank had dropped about 5 psi over the day...

Bump. Anyone have an answer?

So, I see a lot of talk about this model Igloo for keeper builds, but I can't find any info on the upper temperature range of this freezer when it is set in refrigerator mode. I would test mine, but it is being built out for now. I'm mostly wondering because I'm heading to the brew store this...

You could also try the dry hop on the keg stage during gassing. Just pack it loosely in a mesh bag with some weight,lower it with unflavored floss halfway down the keg,and seal it.

That works better for me as I always have that on hand and may have a packet that is nearing is best by date which would be good to dump in that when the time comes. How soon do you add it prior to bottling and do you add a whole packet? I don't think with this style I want the FG to dip too low...

It happens. I would try to get a blowoff tube on there (be as sterile as possible without getting anything into the carboy). I do my primary in a pail which usually helps since there is more head slave, but attach a blowoff tube if it is a big beer or a big volume and think there may be an issue...

Thanks,I will plan on doing that. And this will be bottle carbonated /conditioned, so yes to the champagne yeast at bottling time? Do I need to add the yeast and let it ferment for a week before bottling? I imagine I would have bottle bombs if I didn't.

So,I agree with using the cake from a smaller Stout,but unfortunately that wasn't an option . My brother is in town for the weekend and expressed interest in making a big bourbon aged stout that we will age till Christmas. I do have porter going in my secondary that I considered bottling early...

My normal starters are 1.040. I was thinking of trying a higher OG to condition the yeast for a high sugar/alcohol environment than normal and it also boosts the number of yeast cells compared to a lower OG starter,at least according to yeast calculator.co

I just whirlpool for 10-15 minutes, let settle for 20 minutes, then open the valve and drain through my CFC into the primary. Whatever trub gets through doesn't seem to be an issue for me, most is left in the kettle. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless most of the trub gets in, and even...