Recent content by dr0506

Morning all, So I made a 1L starter last night in prep for brewing tomorrow. I can down this morning and gave it a quick swirl without much though. Just looked at again and there is stuff leaking out from my aluminum foil cover. HERE'S a pic: It smells like yeast but there is still some...

So is DMS dependent on the type of grains used then? I have boiled a few dubbels for 90 minutes for that exact reason, but does that process continue in a 120 minute boil?

Hey All, Just a very general question as to why some beers are boiled for 90 or even 120 minutes as opposed to 60. Is it to only develop a more complex hop flavor or does it correlate to having a higher OG? Or is the reason something totally different?

Rule #1 - RDWHAHB :) I would not dump the batch; it's very rare that a batch is beyond help/repair. If you can, sanitize and rack to another bucket (You can pick up some StarSan at your LHBS, very easy to use; 1oz per 5gal of water). Be careful not to splash too much when doing so. Depending...

If the cooler holds its temperature well, you should be fine to open the lid and give it a quick stir every ten minutes or so. Can you keep a thermometer in the mash to watch the temperature? As long as you don't drop more than a few degrees you should be fine.

Hey all! I've been gifted this nifty kit that claims it will allow me to catch some natural yeast from my area to use in a batch of homebrew: http://bootlegbiology.com/backyard-yeast-wrangling-tool-kit/ Therefore I am looking to make a grain bill that will be pretty mild so that I can...

I think you may have issue with your hop additions if you're trying to jam that much malt extract into such a small volume. If I remember what I've read about hop oils and alpha acids correctly, because you've got so many fermentables in the wort (cramming it all into 1.5 gallons instead of 3)...

I have the 10 gallon for my mash tun. Holds temperature like a champ (I have mashed for up to 75 minutes and haven't lost a single degree, assuming you pre-heat). Had a small issue finding a good-sized gasket when building my ball valve setup but I ultimately figured it out. Sent from my...

+1 on the rice hulls, assuming your mash tun can handle. They don't add any fermentables or flavors so use as much as you need to prevent a stuck mash Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

I think that was the key that I was missing... I only need to sparge with the difference in volume. I guess the way I was reading about it, it wasn't clear. Thanks for the advice! Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Got it and sorry about the math :cross:. I think what you are explaining is more or less what I was thinking; that ultimately the total of the two volumes should equal the boil volume. Thanks for the help!

Thanks Yooper, but I guess I am still not seeing the math... So let's say I am brewing a 2.5 gallon batch and mashing 9 pounds of grain. At 1.5 quarts per pound that gives me 3.4 gallons. I know that I will lose some liquor to the grain but then if I go by John Palmer's suggestions (1.5...

Hello All, So I am relatively new to all-grain brewing (wish I had switched sooner; I love the flexibility) and one concept that I have read about but am having trouble understanding fully is sparging. Let me give an example relative to me: I typically brew 2.5 or 5 gallon batches. When...

Thanks for the suggestion. I sort of went that route and found a stock pot that I am using to boiling all of the wort and then hopefully I can combine the results. Thanks for the advice!

Hey All, I've read some other threads on this topic but I've seemingly screwed up more than anyone else that has posted ;). When calculating my liquor volume for my mash today I totally spaced. I was aiming for 1 1/4 quarts per pound of grain but instead totally forgot to divide by four and...