Recent content by Calder

Lactobacillus works slowly in the presence of alcohol. Don't worry about, but don't keep it ........ it is not going to 'mature'. Drink quick, and sanitize everything as best as possible. Don't get too anal about sanitizing, lacto bacteria is everywhere, so is probably in every batch you...

I have never mashed at 155 F. I'm usually around 150, or less, so I really don't know how temp affects attenuation. 60% attenuation seems low, and it could be due to high mash temp. How accurate is your thermometer, and where did you take the temperature (6.5 lbs of grain is a sizeable mash...

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!! If it is a high gravity brew, adding more O2 after about 6 hours will help, but once fermentation really takes off, O2 is the enemy of your beer.

Mash temp? What was the batch size. Seems a pretty efficient conversion to get 1.050 for a 5 US gallon batch. Since you are using metric units (I think most on here are in the US ..... but not all), you probably are doing a different size batch.

After 2 weeks they will be fine. Recommend placing in the freezer, or at least the fridge until you use them. Look on-line and you can find the HSI (Hop Stability Index) for the particular hops that you have. I think 50% is the highest there is (I've not seen any higher). 50% means the hops...

Over 30 years of brewing and I have not used O2 and have never had a problem where I thought O2 would help. Not saying O2 doesn't do anything, but I have never had the need. I guess I just don't know what I am missing with not using O2. I almost exclusively use liquid yeast, and 'shake' all...

So long as they basically dried within a week you are fine. I can't say I have seen mine turn noticeably brown, but there are a number that come off the vine with a lot of brown spots.

Agree with passedpawn, you have an infection. But I disagree with just tossing it. If it smells and tastes good (Now be very discerning with this judgement), package it and drink it quick. Lacto 'infection' will add a tart taste to the beer. In many beers it is pleasant, and aimed for, but...

Add the malto prior to carbing, so you know what you are working with. I suspect you will not get any conversion of the malto ............ but I really don't know.

Boiled + no yeast = No fermentation (assuming this is shortly after the boil, and not days). It is probably something from the kettle rising to the top, and not an active fermentation. Like others, I would be concerned the brew could have become infected prior to the boil. Have you tasted it...

Your good to let it go to room temp. No issues with heating rate. Beer is mostly done, so will not affect flavor, and unless your room temp is 100 F, you will not shock the yeast. It will probably be OK with 100 F. I raise my Belgians at a rate of a couple of degrees a day, starting about...

I assume your refrac vs hydro check was with a liquid without alcohol. Like water. You can still use a refrac for post fermentation, but you will need to use a calculator. there are lots on-line. Just remember this is not as accurate as a hydro sample, but generally pretty close (usually...

The question was mainly about dry yeasts, and from people's experience, is a 'well kept' 12 years old yeast an OK thing to pitch. Would/Could one pitch the pack and be reasonably confident it will work, or was my experience a rarity. Looks like 1 person had similar experience. Not seen any...

I brewed for the first time in 9 months today. Making a brew with my Homegrown hops harvested last week. Normally I brew every month and have fresh yeast or fresh slurry to use. But because I had not brewed for a long time I didn't have any fresh yeast. I found several old packs of yeast in...

I put mine in after I have taken the pot off the heat. Been doing it that way for years with no issues. Wort temp only drops a few degrees. If adding a couple of lbs of extract (I can't mash enough grains on my system for a big beer), I'll add the extract after I have taken the pot off the...