Recent content by brewpastor1

Does anybody have any suggestions for an online brew supply store that has reasonable prices? My local brew supply is somewhat steep with a lot of their stuff, especially their kits. I've looked at a few, northern brewer being one of them. NB has some good stuff, there are a couple of kits that...

Why are screw off bottles different than pop off bottles? What's the difference between the pop and the screw?

I've also heard lots of people say that store bought beer bottles are not good to use for home brew. As in, go pick up a case, drink the case, and use the bottles for your own brew. Is this true or is recycling these bottles with my own brew gonna work out fine?

On Saturday I started a batch of cream ale (brewer's best) and fermented it. Started seeing bubbles working within 12 hours. Was feeling good. By the end of Sunday it had stopped bubbling in the airlock. I left it be, but a day later I got curious and popped the airlock off to check for the ring...

I brewed some apple cider and about two days ago (10 Aug) racked it into a secondary fermenter. It had a spec grav of about 1.00 (initially 1.080). I'm somewhat unclear as to where to go now. I would like to transfer this into quart mason jars and carbonate it, but I don't know if there is any...

Another question here...let's say your first ferment is in a bucket and you plan on a second fermentation, would there be any issues with syphoning the brew from one 5 gallon bucket into 5 1 gallon jugs? Just wondering if it should all be in one container or if splitting the batch into smaller...

What can be used to seal a crack in a bucket fermenter? It's paper thin and about 1/4 inch long and I'd like to seal it with something so it's air tight, but don't want anything toxic or let air in to infect the brew. Or is this something that is small enough that I shouldn't worry about it?

I hear and see lots of people ferment first either in a carboy or a bucket, and then the second ferment is in a carboy. Why is this? Does it really matter if your first and second fermentation is in a bucket? Do you really need to ferment in a carboy at all? Any thoughts please.