Recent content by kellsean

I'd like to start a new brew sometime in the coming days, but my un-air-conditioned apartment is very hot; around 75 degrees. I'm wondering--what is the best type of ale to brew (or maybe what is the best yeast to use) when fermenting in such a hot environment? Any light you all can shed on...

Fermented 11 days. Last specific gravity reading was 1.015. I converted the amount of honey using the grams of sugar per ounce, so it worked out the same as if I had used 5 oz. dextrose, but I guess I messed up somewhere! I'll chill and recap... Thanks again.

So I bottled my nut brown into 24 22oz bottles 48 hours ago. I primed with about 2.5 oz of dextrose and 1/4 cup of honey. I was worried about uniformity, so I cracked 2 random bottles to see if they had the same carbonation thus far... Foam everywhere. These things are WAY over carbonated...

Sorry to butt in, but is it bad practice to just mix your sugar in when you prime? (as opposed to boiling it?)

I picked up some white labs English ale today, just in case. Popped open my bucket, dipped a sanitized ladle in there and had a taste--alcohol!! So I'm holding on to the new yeast for a rainy day, but I think it must be that my bucket lid wasn't tight enough--it's a paint bucket top I bought...

Thanks for the reassurance. If it's dead I *might* use the saflager. I read that it adds some fruity flavors but they can be masked by strong maltiness. Then again I could stop being lazy and pick up some yeast during my lunch break...

I know I still haven't quite crossed the 48-72 hour threshold--it's been about 60 hours--but I'm still afraid I may have dead yeast, and want to know what to do if I do, in fact, have a bucket full of wort and dead yeast. Will my beer be salvagable? What is the risk in pitching new yeast after...

So last night, I brewed some nut brown ale. I had to leave my apartment, but the wort was still at about 90 degrees. My smack-pack was expanding, so I know I had live yeast. I pitched it anyway. Now, ~25 hours later, I'm seeing no bubbling whatsoever, while my apfelwein chugs away happily...

The exact same thing happened to me brewing Apfelwein. I retrieved/resanitized it and it has not had any effect--that I can tell--thus far.

Great, I think I'll put together a water bath with a carboy full of water in and see what it takes to get the temp right. Thanks!

I could put it in a water bath. Would I just put a frozen water bottle in there and replace it daily (or whatever rate maintains 58-60)?

Right now I'm about to start a California Common, Anchor Steam clone... My apartment is about 67-70 degrees, and I'm wondering what the result will be if I brew this lager at ale temps. Will my beer still be good? Should I hold off until the spring and do an ale now? In other words, I...

Just stuck mine in the closet. 3561+5=3566

I have a pretty simple question about my fermenting temperature... My next brew will be my first time fermenting in my new apartment. It has old school steam/hot water radiators which cause a pretty serious variation in temperature. My question is, if the temperature in my apartment is...

Hi, everyone--Sean from Boston here. I've brewed cider and extract kits, but I'm looking to get a little more creative with all of your help. For starters, could anyone tell me a simple way to jazz up an extract kit and make it a little more "my own"? Thanks!