Recent content by john from dc

well, this isn't a complete answer to your question but henry's law is a start. for a given solute (co2) and liquid, the ratio between pressure and co2 concentration is constant at a given temperature. as for calculating that constant, there seem to be a few different methods but all that i've...

determining an explicit equation would be difficult, but here are a few considerations: geometry is almost certainly a concern. diffusion can only happen where the gases are in contact. you'd also probably want to account for the co2 that escapes the beer while it's being transferred. i...

this is pretty much what i do with all my big beers. start low when ester and fusels are more likely to be created, and finish high to get those last couple points of attenuation. i don't have any experience with that particular yeast but it's worked for me with several belgian strains, s05...

i just had a tallboy of schlitz malt liquor at bike polo last night. it was delightful.

i'd say the most likely problem is a slow leak either at the regulator, the check valve, or the quick disconnect. happens all the time, i just found one last night as a matter of fact. as mentioned before if you spray your entire setup down with star san and check for bubbles you might spot...

i'm not sure if someone's asked this before, but after you soak in bleach, are you thoroughly rinsing the bottles? a soak in star san might not get rid of all the residual bleach and from what i understand, even a tiny amount of leftover bleach can be a big problem. for diagnostic purposes...

1.10 down to 1.026 is 74% attenuation. it could very well be done, especially if a large portion of the og was from extract.

the full boil/all grain/temp control setup will improve your beer and give you more control over the process. if the impetus is improving your beers and you're already able to crash cool (sounds like you are) then this'll have the most impact. the kegging setup will save you a ton of time...

if this was some of the recalled nottingham, i'd leave it out of the beer entirely if you have another yeast readily available. using yeast that you know to be suspect is taking a big chance, and you've said that you don't want to do that. for dry yeast you don't need to make a starter. you...

if i think back to the beers i've made that i'd consider "not great" or "bad," every single damn one of them was due to fermenting too hot. edit: these days i don't brew if i'm not going to be able or willing to keep the temp down in the right range.

i'm so glad my nottingham batch was bubbling this morning by the time i left, this thread could make a guy paranoid! for what it's worth, i'm one more dude who's never had problems in probably 30 batches with nottingham. as of late i haven't even been rehydrating it. i don't think i've...

both of my lhbses (myLHBS in falls church va and maryland homebrew in columbia maryland) have done right by me. myLHBS has a smaller space and correspondingly smaller stock but derek (the proprieter) has been super supportive and helpful once i got to know him. maryland homebrew has several...

what sorts of final gravities are you ending up with?

please let us know how it goes. i'm hoping to do a 2 week bike tour of belgium with my dad and my brother in the next couple years. saint sixtus and bruges would definitely be on the agenda.

i just tie a fine mesh grain bag on the end of my siphon tubing going from the mlt to the kettle. husks and sludge stay in the bag, wort goes in the kettle. it's worked great for me so far. edit: i do this because i too use a false bottom and even after vorlaufing a gallon or more some...