Recent content by DieKatzchen

that calculator is by volume. I assume I factor in the volume of water I dissolve the sugar in? edit: I see, you mean weight of sugar.

So I'm at the final step, Bottle-Conditioning. The kit comes with a pre-measured sachet of sugar, but my batch didn't come to 5 gallons. More like 4.5. Do I need to recalculate or is it a case of "close enough." I don't care about potency of the fizzy, as long as I don't get any bottle-bombs.

It's in a carboy, so can't test that way. And the tube it came in is one of those two-part tubes that aren't deep enough. I'm pretty sure the basement has been a consistent temperature the whole time. And it hasn't been three weeks, it's been in secondary for about 5 weeks.

I have a batch of English Bitter (First brew!). After brewing it I realized I didn't have a test jar or wine thief for my hydrometer. Then I was out of town longer than I thought and added like two or three weeks to my brew time. Do I still need to figure out a way to test for doneness or can...

It is a kit. An English Bitter by Better Homebrew. Unfortunately I messed up the wort, added too much water, so I don't even know what the FG should be. I plan on waiting a while and then taking readings 3 days apart to make sure it's done to avoid bottle-bombs. Then I'm going to store them...

But you didn't have any trouble getting the hydrometer out? That's my only fear. Mine leaks super slow, hopefully it will work. I tried that but for some reason the hydrometer came in two tubes that fit together, neither of which was deep enough.

Would be my dream job, but the nearest one is two counties away. May try the idea with just leaving it in the carboy. Any feedback on just using my autosiphon to suck up some brew and dropping the hydrometer in the pump tube?

You don't understand. I don't mean "I don't have the budget for it" I mean I have $3 to my name and I'm not sure when I'll get more. My employment status is "househusband, with the occasional odd job." I guess I could ask SWMBO to buy me one, but I like to pay for my hobbies myself. It's a...

I should point out that I am dead broke. I have an autosiphon though. Would that make a decent wine thief stand-in?

Does anybody have any suggestions for what to use as a hydrometer test jar? It was simple enough in primary, I just put the (sanitized) hydrometer in the bucket. But that won't work in the carboy, I'd never get it out again!

I wouldn't get a brand new CO2 tank. From what I understand most places that sell gasses don't actually refill your tank while you wait, that would take too long. They just exchange your empty for a full tank. So the first time you bought a refill, bye-bye brand new tank.

It's about time to rack to my secondary and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for sanitizing a carboy. I was thinking of putting a gallon of Easy Clean in it, picking it up, and (carefully!) swirling it around for a few minutes. I'm not sure I can pull it off, though. It might be a bit...

Thank you. I'm not absolutely sure there's no leak, it's a brand new 5 gallon bucket from, again, Brewers Best. The kind with graduation marks on the side, which I like. I planned on racking it to a carboy after primary, how long would you say I should wait before cracking the seal on the...

The package says "Windsor British-style Beer Yeast" The directions said to cool it to 70 but I got it down from boiling to 80 really fast and then it stubbornly stuck at 80 until we decided to just go with it. The SG was 1.030, accidentally added a touch too much water. It was supposed to be...

I brewed my first beer on Tuesday afternoon, pitched the yeast, and put it in the basement. Wednesday afternoon the airlock was bubbling merrily away. But today I went to look and it's not noticeably moving at all. I know it's supposed to calm down after the initial fermentation, but isn't...