Recent content by ekacnap

Awesome post, thanks! Can you walk us through your yeast management? I've always been curious about how breweries this big (or larger) handle their yeast? Things like storage, washing the yeast, etc...

Hmmm, it breaks my heart that not enough bottles is an excuse to not bring 2 whole gallons of delicious beer into this world. That being said, I don't think much bittering will be passed on. Most of the goods have probably been extracted from the hops already. I've never had/heard of an...

Have you tasted it?

I would guess number 1 with a hint of number 2. I usually base my dry hopping schedule around when I can keg and work backwards from that

There's nothing wrong with sampling to see how the flavor is developing. And it's your beer, so you can decide how big the sample is :)

I did the same thing on my first brew, even with an Amber Ale, and it turned out great. If for some reason the fermentation gets stuck throwing more yeast (rehydrated) can help get things going if you feel the need.

Yes, I thought they should have been sweeter too at those gravities, but I figured maybe the hops balanced it out if the readings were right. Thanks, I'll try to not use too much CM in the future, that's a good bit of knowledge to have.

That's probably it! I kind of just assumed it worked for both, but I guess I never checked for sure. Thanks so much for your help! I plugged some readings in and it looks much better. Not perfect, but I think the only thing between me and getting a low FG I'm looking for is making a starter...

I haven't calibrated my thermometer, so maybe that could be it. It seems pretty accurate though, the only way we've tested it was to leave it in water that we were bringing to a boil. It said 212 right when it started to boil. I tried using a little lower temp (154-152) on the black IPA I...

I do aerate, just by shaking for a few minutes before fermentation. I brewed a black IPA and used dry yeast a few weeks ago, which started at 1067 and ended at 1024. I just ordered a stir plate and flask, so hopefully making a starter will help too. I do all grain, my mash temps are usually...

Hello fellow homebrewers, I've got a problem. I'm having trouble hitting my final gravities. They're fermented in a basement that's usually 65-74 degrees. Could this be the cause of missing my final gravity by 10-20 points? I used to use just one smack pack but even after I switched to using...