Recent content by Cytosol

I didn't actually use the same yeast that came with the kit; I used another one that the store sold me. That one, I found out needed to be floated in warm water beforehand. I guess I wasn't used to the cooper kits. The beer-in-a-bag kits I used before would ferment vigorously and immediately...

Thanks for putting my mind at ease, guys! I will let it sit and do it's thing; I did a really good job with this brew; spent a lot of time, made a nice orange / coriander extract to add to it! Lets hope it turns out well. I vow to never dump a batch unless I accidentally pour some sort of...

Thanks for the reply! I thought this yeast wouldn't be able to activate if it wasn't first put in warm water.. But maybe it just takes longer to get started then? The wort was around 25 degrees C, so I think it was a good temperature. Now my second question; did I wreck anything by...

Hi All, I have done about 5 brews with the beer-in-a-bag ingredients and had some pretty decent results. Yesterday I went out and purchased a Coopers Wheat Beer kit, which is a 1.5kg can of concentrate, along with yeast and got some malt extract and sugar and all that good stuff. The store...

Thanks for the suggestion, I think I will do that instead! I guess that way I won't have to deal with the bacteria on the rinds to contend with. Does anyone else have any experience with raw ingredients? Are these best to put in the primary fementation or secondary? And how to prepare them...

Hi all, I have had some success in making some beer batches from the Beer Baron kits (the ones where you buy the big bags of extract, mix in water and yeast and let sit for 2 weeks). I am going to purchase a mexican cerveza flavor next and wanted to try adding some fresh limes in during the...

Hi all, I have dabbled in making beer with the standard 'newbie' method. Buying an ingredient kit, adding the ingredients to the 23-liter carboy, letting it ferment for a month, and syphoning the results into individual bottles with the priming sugar. I have produced some pretty decent...

You got that right.. and the itchy, infected pustules burst forth with beautiful amber liquid that tastes like drops of heaven.. Man, I shouldn't be drinking this early in the day.

Thanks for the encouragement! I actually have a new cream ale brewing in my carboy as we speak.. One more week and it should be ready to bottle.. It appears that I will be making more beer faster than I can drink the old ones. I am not complaining! This is great!

So it has been about 6 weeks since a nieve young man decided to take on the world by brewing his own beer.. The odds against him, he pushed forth in search of his destiny.. I purchased a beer-in-a-bag kit by Barons Beer, threw the ingredients together, and hoped for the best. I followed the...

I visited my local shop and saw The Brew House kits.. I almost picked one up, and after checking them out on the web, they look like a great kit. They are $5 more expensive than the one I got, but I will try one of the brew house kits out next time! Thanks!

Great, thanks for the info.. I was very impressed with the smell when I added it to the carboy. When I checked the SG a few days ago, I tried a little bit of it just to see how it tasted.. It was great. As it is right now, I could have just added carbonation, chilled it and it would be a nice...

I started my first batch of beer about 4 weeks ago; it is currently in the carboy and will likely be ready for bottling next week. When I purchased my equipment, the dealer sold me a no-boil kit that consted of a primary fermentation bucket, a carboy, accessories, and a beer-in-a-bag kit by...

Thanks for the info, guys. I think it will be at least a few more batches before I move onto anything more advanced than the extract kits.. I think the RO/DI water should improve things quite a bit though. Even with an extract kit, is a yeast energizer usually recommended, and will it speed up...

I had a quick question about water to use in brewing.. I am brewing with one of those simple no-boil kits, but I heard that reverse osmosis water is not a good medium for yeast to grow in since essential elements have been removed from the water. I have a RO/DI filter I use for my reef...