Recent content by emccarthy25

ok, thanks. This was the first time using that sanitizer. :) Now, the sour smell I got from my beer...I realize it's impossible for you guys to diagnose over the internet, but does this beer normally have that smell, or is this another symptom of using the star-san?

On the 25th of June I brewed Ed Worts House Pale Ale, which I had to make some adjustments to his recipe in order to account for my equipment. Here's the recipe I used: Please note that I had to settle on a partial grain, mini-mash setup as my boil kettle is only 5 gallons, and I cant get much...

I'm no chemist, but as far as I know, when doing this method, I don't think the water chemistry is too critical. Basically as far as the process goes, bring the appropriate amount of water upto 152 degrees F(plus a few degrees perhaps to compensate for temp loss when adding the grains). Turn...

I know you said you aren't set up forr all grain, but you might consider doing a mini mash with some two row and vienna malt and using extracts for the remainder of your fermentables. If you are already steeping grains, its only a half step up to do this. Perhaps some more knowledgable posters...

I cut my pieces today by scoring and snapping the foam. While the cuts were clean enough, they didn't end up perfectly perpendicular to the face. If I wasn't such an impatient man, I would have used a table saw over at the inlaws, but it is what it is. Should be fine, though, sine I have a...

did some searching and found some info about hot knives. While I can certainly see the benefit to using one, it looks like you would lose quite a bit of the foam with each cut. Since I will be following the plans online as closely as possible, that means I'll need almost the entire 4' x 8'...

Thanks for the tip. I hadn't heard of the hot knife tool...I'll look into one. I was thinking of lining all the foam with something like linoleum(the stuff on a roll rather than adhesive tile) but I'm not sure if I can get a thin, non textured type of material like that. TBH, I had not...

I've decided to build the 38DD Mother of a Fermentation Chiller. While I have a fairly good idea how I'm going to build it, I wanted to know if anyone has/is using one of these and had any tips for small improvements over the original design and any short comings I should be prepared for. I...

Another thing you can consider is the use of fining agents after primary fermentation is done. There are many out there such as gelatin, isinglass and polyclar. I can't remember what its called, but there is something mentioned in Palmers How to Brew that works well in conjuction with...

One might add more yeast(a strsin that is good for the level of alcohol in thr beer). I have to ask, though - how can you be sure they are dead?

Hmm, I will have to look ito the dollar stores in my area. As far as sams club, there is one, but too far for it to be worthwhile to get a membership

I've been reading that oxyclean free is a commonly used(inexpensive) cleaner. Unfortunatly, I can't find the 'free' in my area. Would it be detrimental to use the regular oxyclean versatile(non-free)?

out of curiosity, would it be possible for the OP to create a hop tea with a small amount of DME on his stove, and add the tea to his brew? A long enough boil would get the bitterness needed. Just a thought

unfortunatly I have built a fermentation chamber yet, but that's planned to be built before summer hits, else I will be stuck with 2 gallon batches. Once I have that together, assuming I can get it reasonably air tight, I'll work on lagers. Until then, though I'm 'stuck' with ales

I may have to try one. Since I started brewing, I've only purchased ales, as I don't have the ability to ferment a lager at the moment(basically I've been trying beers that I may want to brew myself). I'll be sure to look around for it though. Thanks for the suggestion :mug: