Recent content by Chris1972

I've heard the same thing...I only do this with heavy gravity brews. After the first week I'll give it a good swirl. I don't shake it up but just enough to stir it up a little. Like someone above me said, there is no O2 left in the jug to ruin the beer and the C02 will just continue to bubble...

Most recipes say to leave it in the primary for at least a week. You can leave it in longer if you're still seing lots of activity. At least 4 - 5 bubbles a minute. Just don't let the beer sit on the trub for more than 24 days or so. After you see all the signs of complete fermentation rack...

I was thinking about doing a mead. Just wondering what is the average ABV?

I got a bunch of these to give my beer away to friends. Makes for good presentation. The good thing is that they always offer to return the bottles without me having to ask...I would ask. They go for $2 a bottle at "The Good Brewer" in Livermore, Ca. Hope this pic works... At the moment...

So far I've done 3 batches. An Irish Stout, American Wheat, and a heavy Belgian dubbel. All I do is shake the carboy for about 7 to 10 minutes. Hasn't failed yet. I did use a yeast starter on the Belian and it was the quickest to start fermenting.

This is good info. Thanks everyone. The last thing I want to do is rack prematurely. I'll check the activity this Saturday. That will have been 12 days in the primary. I'll do it when the bubbles are down to less than 1 per minute. right now it's at 4-5.

That's nothing...I'm working on a belgian Ale...OG just over 1.080. It's been in the primary for 9 days. Some people have told me that it should sit in the secondary for over a month....I have no patients. Any advise is welcome... BTW, my first brew was an Irish Stout from Seven bridges...

Hello all, I've got a batch of belgian ale in my primare fermenter. The O.G. is about 1.08ish. In the beginning of the firmentaion it was vigorous. I used a yeast starter and it just took off. Now, it's 9 days later and the bubbling has dropped to about 6 bubbles from the airlock per...

Well, I pitched my starter into my Belgium Ale last night....It's going completely crazy right now. The contents of my carboy are swirling like mad and the airlock is popping at least 45 times a minute. I hit the target OG that the recipe called for of 1.080....so the yeast has lots to consume!

Do I have to worry about the yeast in my starter getting killed off by the alcohol they're creating while eating the DME? Or is that not an issue here? Thanks!

So about 14hrs ago I began a yeast starter. I used a smack pack and pitched it into my DME solution after the pack expaned to a couple of inches. Anyway, I'm looking at it right now and the airlock is bubbling about once every 10 seconds. Seems healthy,...but....there's no foam. Shouldn't...