Recent content by jmd1971

That could possibly be it. There was maybe 1/2 gal left once the fermenter was filled. I think possibly my boil off rate was off. I haven't boiled on a stove in years & estimated 1 gal per hour boil off. I think it was probably closer to 1/2 per hour & that skewed my end results...

I just started trying 1 gallon BIAB batches of higher gravity beers & tried a scaled down DIPA recipe today. However, my OG came out WAY too low as expected by BeerSmith. Here's the recipe: Total Water Needed: 2.21 gal Grain absorption: .21 gal Boil off: 1 gal/hr 2.50 lb Pale Malt (2...

Edit: Most of the issue revolves around boiling & cleaning. How to boil & clean using two standard sized pots in a typical kitchen sink....

Question: I have been doing BIAB for the last 6 months (10 batches or so) & now that its cold as hell outside in New England, I was wondering how to pull this off indoors. My thought was to do the mash in a 7 gallon pot I have with as much water as possible, then split the wort into 3-gal...

+1 to bill above. The Brewers Cyrstals could have thinned the body too, giving it a more dry champagne-like mouthfeel

I have a keggle with ball valve & would always gets tons of break in my fermenter no matter what I tried when using the valve. I have since moved to the racking method & has worked perfectly & not difficult at all. Just insert gently & attach tot he side of the vessel with a racking cane clip...

Congrats - all the best!

What sort of beer? What yeast? From 30K feet, the sulphury smell is fairly common for certain yest strains....

Thanks for the input - it's started fermenting steadily with 1/2 of krausen since about midnight. Like you said, there's not much I can do now. Maybe I should have waited until today & gotten a fresh smack pack. Oh well - I guess we'll see in a month or so!

Thanks - yeah, I had already raised to 68-70 & swirled twice with no luck. I know starter are recommended & used to do them a few years back, but I'm too lazy so have been just pitching right from the smack pack. I guess it would've helped in this case. There is activity now after pitching...

Hi, after brewing an altbier on Sat & pitching Wyeast 2565 (Kolsch), I had no activity after ~36 hrs. To clarify, when I activated the smack pack, it never really inflated so I suspected something was off. However, as I was in a pinch I went ahead & pitched it anyway. The wort was on the cool...

To answer your original question though, 1.013 is not too low for an altbier FG. Per the BJCP guidelines, the FG range is FG: 1.010 – 1.015. You're currently right in the middle so probably not going to drop much more depending on the yeast strain, fermenting conditions, ingredients used, etc...

Just decant carefully when pouring & leave the sediment in the bottle....

You could but it would take quite some time. You really want to cool down to the 60's as quickly as you possibly can in order to picth the yeast & stave off any baddies taking hold. If you live in a snowy climate, you can always get a Rubbermaid tub, fill with snow & put your brew pot in there...

Or make your life a whole lot easier & BIAB. For a great primer, check this out: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/ I've done both methods over the years, but now only do BIAB for the ease & simplicity, while achieving the same quality results. Just something to...