Recent content by Donner

In, please.

That is a pretty common burner for home brew I think. I've been using one for years for my 5.5 gal batches. In fact I just added another one to my new brew stand to heat my water in a 15 gal keg. It took me about an hour to get from ground temp to 164, but I wasn't pushing it as it was my first...

In!

I know this is an old thread, but i'm curious how the system is holding up and what changes you might make. I recently hurt my back (again), so the need to not move pots and water around has increased for me. On top of that, i'm somewhat space limited in my garage, so i love your small...

I don't think anyone is offended. I'm sure having total control is a plus. I just know that i can't sustain owning that much grain (i don't have the space and i don't brew often enough with my bicycling hobby). Plus, I can order from BMW on day one and have it here by day two, and for...

I've been using Ed and Brewmasters warehouse for the past four years. While thinking about my process i did contact ed to inquire about his crush. His response was immediate and has put me at ease. He even said he went so far as to go and double check that the mill hadn't walked and gone...

I am double batch sparging. I am stirring well, but i'm not sure my strike water has been hot enough. That has been my first thought about the past two brews. I think i should review my notebook some more and see what was working and what is different.

nope. I've thought about maybe it's the shops crush, but i've had such good luck before and this batch didn't appear to have many intact grains. The last batch i was more suspect of, but this one looked normal. I can certainly ask them about it.

Anyone ever have a period where suddenly you can't hit your gravity numbers? I'm consistently in the 75% range and then suddenly my last two brews have been lousy. I'm hitting my volumes, but my extraction has just been terrible. Last brew was 58% and today's was 51%. Again, i know...

I've been looking at kits online and two places indicate a scale for both oak and sweetness. For example, one pinot noir kit said oak 3, body 3, sweetness 0 I've been doing some reading, but haven't come across anything that explains the scale. Is this an indication of level, or a...

thanks. The other part of my confusion was because the oak is listed as 'optional'. Having never done this, i wasn't sure if there was a way of adjusting on the fly or not. I guess i'll just throw them all in and see what happens. thanks

I'm getting ready to make my first wine kit and have been reading up on the process in several places. Many said to oak the wine later in the process to taste, but in reading my kit instructions it seems to say to add the oak cubes on day 1 and let sit on the oak until fermentation stops and the...

if fermentation had already started then chances are you're okay. Beer is strong stuff and if your good yeast has taken hold then you're good.

can you post the whole recipe? It'd difficult to see what could cause the sweetness if you say you are hitting your numbers. As was said, mash temp changes body, but you'd think you'd have less sweetness if you were producing so many fermentables.

I agree. I used 1968 on my last batch and was aware of the possible 'butter bomb' going in. I kept it at 64° for the first few days and let it rise to 70° for the last three of the first week and it had dropped to 1.014 and no butter. Also, i'm usually a 'set it and forget it' kind of guy...