Recent content by cerveteca

Interesting, 2-3 bubbles per minute just coming to room temp? I dropped it back in the lagering fridge, but bumped the temp to 60 so I could keep watch. If it stops in the next day, I'll go ahead and bottle, but will be sure to check gravity before doing so. Thanks.

I brewed a partial mash Oktoberfest from AHS with the 1% alcohol boost and was ready to bottle today (after ~10 days primary, 2 days protein rest, and four weeks lagering) and as the beer is on the counter coming to room temperature I noticed I'm getting activity in the airlock and bubbles are...

Just cracked open my first bottle after two weeks of bottle conditioning and was delightfully surprised. Turned out very well as far as I can tell, and hopefully after another week or two it will feel more fully carbonated throughout and not just in the head formation. Color turned out as...

Just an update, made the big (2.75 gal) starter Sunday night and by morning it was bubbling away like a champ. So, seems the yeast are all alive and doing their thing finally - glad I didn't just pitch that pack, who knows how long I'd have been waiting for who knows what to happen! Thanks for...

I do believe I have living yeast! The starter just began bubbling. How long before I transfer to the bigger starter?

Good call, I'll check the SG tonight (should be looking around 1.040?) and then what? Just make a bigger starter and add to the slurry of this or another same sized starter?

Made a small starter last night, been keeping it around 70-75 degrees. 12 hours later no signs of life. That normal, or do I just cut my losses, consider this yeast DOA and grudgingly go buy more?

Primary 2.5 weeks, secondary 3 weeks, bottles 5 weeks and beyond. Still have a few left I crack open on occasion and the results never change. Flat and sometimes very sweet, sometimes heavy alcohol, never consistent. Something definitely seems to have gone wrong somewhere.

The saga continues. I smacked the activator pack Sunday, but put it back in the fridge until I could get more DME to make the starter. Got the DME yesterday and took the pack out of the fridge and 14 hours later there are no signs of life - the bag hasn't even begun to expand. I've searched...

Definitely looking to plan better in the future and do the yeast washing bit, but would like to avoid that this time. Any other opinions on using a dry yeast instead? Is the one mentioned a good substitute? Guess at this point I'm going to weigh the cost of buying more yeast or more DME...

Care to give ideas of small lagers maybe to try with my bohemian yeast? I'm guessing a starter will still be necessary, but not 11 quarts worth?

Great info here and I'm definitely weighing my options at this point. Would like to salvage as much of the supplies/ingredients as I can. Really want to try the lager I set out to make, leaning toward maybe compensating by throwing in some dry yeasts to make up the difference, just don't have...

While this sounds ideal, remember you are speaking to a slow thinking, poor planning newb. Can you define slurry for me? Is this the mess at the bottom of the primary when you transfer to secondary? How does this work?

Ok, so let me make sure I'm getting this. I'm going to make a starter for my SA Winter Lager clone recipe that has a SG of 1.069. mrmalty.com says with one yeast pack I will need 2.78 gallons or 11.11 quarts of wort, so 11 cups of DME. should I just boil until fully mixed or is there a key to...

I'm in Ft. Worth, but I've always used bottled spring water when I brew, never tap. Researching now how best to make my starter and if I should do it today. The mrmalty.com site doesn't say how much DME to add to the water, is that a value I have to back into? Also, on the Wyeast site it...