Recent content by bibowski

I'm in Burlington, Ontario and have only been doing kit homebrews so far, with mixed results (all drinkable though thankfully!). I've just bought Coopers liquid malt extract cans (with yeast packets) from Better Bitters (the makers of Nickelbrook beer) and so far I've made 4 batches (just...

Sweet, I wasn't sure if the clay would hold me back from doing it. I compost as well, so that should provide some good mix for the dug out hole. I'll probably follow your suggestion and dig a hole and mix the dug out clay with compost and some soil and put it back in. I've heard from quite a...

I plan on growing hops this spring/summer but am VERY new to it and don't know where to start. I've heard a lot of people have luck using this JR Peters stuff for both hops and err... less legal green plants :-D Has anyone else had success with it? Or at least know of something else that...

How come?

Awesome. This is VERY helpful, thanks for all of the tips everyone.

I like the idea of cold crashing. I might have to try it this time around. Regarding the readings, how would you suggest taking them? I am using a 23L plastic tub with an airlock. I don't want to keep opening the lid every few days to risk oxidization, but is it ok if it's only for a couple...

Is 'Cold crashing' what it sounds like? I'm assuming you refrigerate it in the fermenter?

So I've been following the recipes on the Coopers kits pretty much to the letter, however I've managed to baffle almost everyone on here with the length of time that I let my primary fermentation go on for. It says 3 weeks, yet people say "Good lord, why so long?", or "10 days is more than...

Good to know! Thanks a LOT for the tip :-D

I'm going to be brewing a batch of the Coopers IPA kit tonight and I had a question about adding LME and Dextrose, or JUST Dextrose to the batch? It says to add 500g of DME and 300g of Dextrose on the can itself. I bought the kit from Better Bitters brewery (who is actually a commercial brewery...

So last night I went downstairs to watch tv and noticed something as I walked by my brew. Bubbles! Woot... Took a bit longer than expected, I guess due to the cold temps, but it looks like things are moving along!

Phew... thank god. Thanks for that :-D

:mug:

Hmm... I'm thinking I just wait 3 weeks and depending on what happens, I'll have a tub of garbage to chuck out, or I'll have something I can bottle. Thankfully the mix is only about $14, so I won't be out of pocket by too much.

I never took a gravity reading before I added the yeast :-S Chalk that down to me being quite new at this... and a bit impatient hehe. I didn't know if opening the fermentor would toss the entire process out the window. I will make sure I sanitize everything and then siphon out a small bit...