Recent content by Doug

Just wanted to chime in and say that I did this one a month ago, and the keg is quickly getting drained at this point. 1.058/1.012 were my gravities. I mashed at 150 for a thinner finish to let the hops do the talking. Compared to Zombie Dust, I prefer mine. * Color is spot on * hops smell...

I must have really been mean to my carboy - one day soaking with oxyclean and I still can't scrub away the remanents of a ring near the top. It sure is hard to get and sort of serious scrubbing done with a carboy brush though. I'll let it sit one more day... - doug

I had bought the oxyclean, and since no one is shouting at me not to use it, that's what I did. I couldn't believe the foaming with that stuff! I'll be scrubbing and rinsing tonight - I hope it worked! How do I know when I've rinsed enough? - doug

I've been too lazy with my cleaning. After all that work with bottling, I tend to let the drained carboy just soak in regular water for a bit. Maybe I'll throw in a bit of one step. Now I've got a problem - my last batch was fairly active in the secondary and even formed a bit of a krausen...

Just a quick update on this beer... the head did eventually _mostly_ fall, so I racked to the secondary after two weeks. It was still for a day or two, but then the temp dropped a couple degrees in my basement, and now I've got another foamy top, and bubbles every 10 seconds!! I think I am...

Ya, boiling definitely makes sense. I can't imagine it's changing my process much either. That's a good point about the fact that some bottles would be really carbonated if I wasn't stirring enough. That hasn't been the case for me, so maybe I will try using more sugar? I feel nervous about...

So, I'd like to hear opinions on general ways to ensure a happy level of carbonation. The last two batches I made never fully got to where I wanted them. I used 5 ounces of priming sugar boiled in one cup of water both times. Before that, I was just dumping the sugar in the bucket. Probably a...

Thanks for the advice. It's been 6 days now and it's still there. I'll wait it out for the rest of the weekend. - doug

Brew 5, questions 100 and 101: My friend and I just did a Happy Holiday Ale from Midwest Supplies. It went well, and it smells pretty good. It's been bubbling away for about 5 days now, but it's pretty much done now. However, it's still got quite the krausen bubbly top thing going on. This...

So, how do you know when to drop the temp back down? When you first bottle, you are supposed to keep it nice and warm, right? What would happen if you continued to age at the warm temps? What's the ideal temp for aging? My first two batches were gone before I could consider these kinds of...

Why would you want to get rid of such a smell? There's nothing better on a hot summer day... Well, maybe that's not true. As for the fermentation, I may not have the best nose, but I don't seem to smell it much at all. I put a garbage bag over the carboy, and when I take it off to check...

Well, It's been a full three weeks now, and a little over a week at the warmer temps. Throughout the week I've been testing, and it's been steadily carbonating up for me. I've gone through a few beers this way, but I figured it was a good experiment anyway. Still no head to speak of - only...

Not too complicated - here is what I have been doing, largely due to the advice found on this forum: About an hour before, I move my carboy to something off the ground. This helps gravity do its work when I rack. I let it sit so it can settle back down from the move. While it's settling, I...

I've only done 4 batches myself, but I've been doing secondary since the second. As far as I can tell, there seems to be two reasons for using a secondary - removing an extra layer of sludge to clear the beer, and getting the beer off the yeast cake. Apparently the yeast will impart off flavors...

Ok, I've moved it to the warmer level, and hopefully that will have an effect. I have always brewed at 68 or so. Should I be in a warmer area? It's probably layed out elsewhere, but what actually ARE the suggested temp ranges for ale in the following stages? Primary Secondary Bottle...