Recent content by Brimania42

Yeah, so fermenting temp is definitely my first big lesson. When I picked my space I kinda looked around and said "This looks good." Anyway, after a day of fighting to get my temp down and stop a blowout (which I did), I've been in the mid 60s for 2 days. Here's the thing, now I'm getting...

So this wasn't something I considered all that carefully. I had a spot with a nice stable temp, but didn't really take into account the reaction in the fermenter. Long story long, I've been going all day with a beer temp of about 76 degrees (I've since mitigated this with a small ice bath)...

Yeah, it's very warm. 76ish. I'm going to take the water bath idea.

I'm right there with you. Playing around all morning trying to keep my fermenter from exploding.

So my cooling method consisted of a large pile of snow with a large cavity cut into the middle. I would poor a gallon of cold water into the cavity every 5 minutes or so. Obviously, it worked way better than I expected. I used a dry ale yeast and just sprinkled (no stirring). The current...

So I watched quite a few videos, and sought some advice from some forums, and I'm happy to report that I've got 5 gals of a supposed IPA in the fementer. There were only a couple of glitches. Believe it or not, I was able to cool my wort in less than 25 minutes. I was busy sanitizing stuff...

What I like about that is that the size of the "ice cube" can be calculated in terms of how much energy is required to melt it. Great idea.

I was actually curious about this parrothead. I know I want to fuss with my fermenter as little as possible for reasons of contamination. However, don't you also determine when the process is done by taking readings? Is there a trick to do this without thieving beer from my carboy?

Thanks guys. As I said, I'll probably just follow the recipe that comes with a kit for the first few batches. As far as my "outside" cooling process, I'm not just looking to the air. I'm gonna use a nice mound of snow, and some cold water. Great advise all around.

So my sink facilities are pretty small, and I'm not sophisticated enough to own a heat exchanger. As far as cooling my wort, is there such a thing as too fast? I ask because I'm considering using the -10 degree air on my deck to do the job. Can you shock wort to a disadvantage? My other...

Hi all, My name is Brian, and I'm from Plattsburgh, NY. As I am getting close to my first brew day, I thought it would be wise to find a community that could offer support and advice. So, here I am. I'm going to head over to the beginner forum to ask a couple of questions. I hope to hear...