Recent content by claytontlewis

Just an update: I racked this to secondary. It come out to about 3% ABV. It is still really bitter, but I've had plenty of the really hoppy beers that have a similar profile. It isn't something I care for a lot but it is beer. Going to let it try to mellow out a bit in the secondary and see...

I had a lag time of about 24 hours and was afraid I had dead yeast, but it kicked up after that and has been burping almost nonstop since then. I do wonder if the change of grain types may have made a lower OG. Everything else seemed to go off without a hitch...well except when I spill some...

I just brewed this up last night. Only my second attempt at AG. I switched out the the pale for a Belgain Pale Malt, and the caravienne for caramunich. Overall it was fun and seemed to be going right, but my OG came out to about 1.044. That seems a bit low for what I was shooting for.

Is this even worth bottling? Should I just pour this out and start again or wait and see what my final gravity is? It tasted really bitter when I tried the hydrometer sample. Can you give me a link on how to do a cooler mash tun, or some details? I know the local homebrew store sells cooler...

Alright. It looks like I was aiming for an OG of 1.070 and in actuality I got a OG of 1.032. Its probably going to come out low on ABV, but since it was supposed to be 7.2% maybe I can still have a decent beer.

I don't honestly know yet. I got it down to about 65 and took a reading then pitched the yeast. I made mental note of my hydrometer reading but couldn't yet interpret it. I'll do some googling on that today and let you know once I can tell how to read it.

thank you so much!

Already 20 minutes into boil. =(

I didn't taste the wort, but it may have been under 160 for about 15 minutes. I hope it turns out ok. I have plenty of corn sugar and could add more than the 9.5 OZ it called for.

I guess I just brought the water temp up too fast. I couldn't get it down below 185, and it was only 150 when I added the grain.

I'm doing the brew. Just about to sparge and start the boil. I had a hard time keeping the mash at 155, so I ended up mashing at around 190. Hope this doesn't ruin it :(

I have a dry yeast that I'm planning to use. This was due to buying the ingredients while travelling for the holidays. The guy at the store thought dry was going to hold up better in the car.

How much water should I be using for the mash? I have been reading about it today and my initial assumption may be wrong. I was going to do 7.5 Gallons, remove the grain, bring it to a boil, and start hopping. From what I was reading today it seems like I need to do a much smaller mash and then...

It appears to be big enough to hold all of the grain fine. I guess I won't know for sure until I start the brew, which I'm planning on doing New Year's Eve night. What better way to start the year than with a batch of homebrew? Oh, I also bought a ball valve and kettle screen that I added to...

WOW! You guys are fast! I'm using this kit: 7.9 gallon plastic primary fermenter with a lid and stopper 5 gallon glass carboy secondary fermenter Universal stopper Two 3-piece airlocks Plastic Bucket Opener 6 feet of Siphon Hose (3/8" Thin Wall) Auto-Siphon (3/8") Auto-Siphon Clamp...