Recent content by BigusD

I use my well water to brew and clean and sanitize. (I mix 50-50 with RO for brewing water though. ) The sanitizer solution will kill whatever bacteria is in the water. Don't worry. I love my beer. You'll be fine. Brew on!

Unfortunately it's a porter. I'm going to call it the poopy porter since it's open in the bathroom.

Yes. I was having it in a water bath. Room temp is 65-67, and starting with fresh cold water seems like the way to keep temps down. Had to remove water tub to use for other purposes. Will have to invest in a dedicate fermentation unit. Thanks for the input!

Well... I should have cleaned and sanitized. Unfortunately I was already running around like a headless chicken. I just slapped it back in place. Ok. I've read enough and have now experienced enough. Blow off tube FTW. Still think it's worth giving it time...? Would be hard to poor this out...

So... This happened. Brewed yesterday, found like this after work today. Put the lid back on. Any chance this beer will still be good? (Airlock was still in place. Not sure how the whole lid blew off!)

Are you taking gravity readings? Sounds like fermentation issues to me. I'm thinking under fermentation would leave a sweet taste, and temp fluctuations/stress creates off flavors.

I had a stuck sparge. Couldn't get any liquid out at all. Didn't even start. Stirring didn't help. I blew into the tube. Bubbles. Let sit. Vorlauf. All good.

Beginner Brewer here. My ph meter is old though. 7years or better since last touch (prior to brew use). Stored in garage (hot and frozen). A Milwaukee. Buffer and cleaning Chems the same. Just broke it out to test my water (matched the ward labs test). Matched my buffer calibration Chems...

Thought I'd throw an update in here. I did my first brew using the adjustments discussed above. (This was just my second all grain brew). I tested PH hot and cold. Hot PH (meter straight into mash tun) was 5.0. When took a sample and let it cool, I got 5.3. So it seems like the...

Thanks for the input! I think I'm confirming that I understand this Bru'n Water workbook (sort of)... This really helps. I'll have to pick up some Gypsum and Lactic before my next brew. Very helpful! Thanks again

I appreciate the feedback. Yes, the water is quite hard. No doubt. So... I'm looking at the Bru'n Water spreadsheet. If I've got everything setup correctly, the sheet seems to indicate using 50% RO water and adding 1.25 ml/gal (or so based on actual mash makeup) of 88% Lactic acid should...

Below are my tap (well) water test results. I've entered these values in the Bru'n Water excel book. Based on this (if I understand correctly <<< which may be highly unlikely), it seems like if I use 50/50 RO and tap water, my strike water will be pretty close to good... (looking for a...

Thank you! Very helpful. ... Oops, double tap.

Thank you!

I understand how the tank pressure indicator is (almost) meaningless. ... It dropped to ~500 last night due to temp drop. Tank was 100% off. So... With the tank off, and regulator valves on, and with the kegs attached, the pressure held in the lines. I assume this means there is no leak...