Recent content by maltyPython

Not really as far as I can tell...maybe this is the right time to invest in an SS brewpot?! :)

I do not own one of these but I think I'll buy it soon! I mean $10 with the "buy it now" option! I have used the strips and they are useless. This maybe worth it! I bought my refractometer from ebay for $30 bucks and works perfect so I'll give it a shoot.

Did you rerack to secondary?

Adding some of the extract at the end is not good for 2 reasons: 1) you are not sure that you killed all harmful bugs that may take over your yeast, unless you boil thoroughly. And 2) you need to produce the "hot-break" From Palmer's web pages "A foam will start to rise and form a smooth...

I would leave an inch or two from the pot's walls. And maybe 2 or 3 inches inner coil from outer coil. I am no expert but I think that if you come too close to the pot's walls you are not maximizing the contact surface between wort and copper. Also, if you are going to stir the wort with a...

The water & sugar solution is recommended by Rajotte in his book. I know some use distilled water with good results but this far I never had a reason to experiment... bja what do you use for your main masters?

UPDATE: ok now I KNOW there is something very wrong with my yeast. I took a gravity reading the other night, and it was at 1.050 after 4/5 days of active fermentation... now what?! Just throw in some NEW yeast or throw away the whole thing? :(

I have recultured the yeast for 2 or 3 times at most...perhaps, last summer I moved and I lost the ability to store the masters in a cold fridge for about 2 weeks. That could have done some damage to my bank. In fact when I got my hands back on my yeast I was ready to throw the whole bank away...

kanzimonson: yes Pliny is about 8%ABV which with an 80% attenuation gives an OG of about 1.077. But I wanted more :D I was shooting for a 9%ABV :rockin: I did not use a vial. I hold a yeast bank and WLP001 is one of my strains. As I recently recultured WLP001 I wanted to make sure my starter...

Hi guys, I have had a really weird couple of batches lately...In particular I tried to clone the awesomest beer in the world (pliny the elder what else?!) and I got an OG of 1.075 which is about 10 points lower than I expected! Anyways, I had prepared a 2L stir-plate starter for the 6 Gal. of...

Is your attenuation satisfactory? If not -> repitch (but even if you do repitch no guarantee that you get better attenuation, since you may have lots of unfermentable sugars...)

Wow, when you said that the recommended temp for wy1332 was 65 to 75 I did not believe you -> went to the wyeast website and checked: it's true! By my experience, northwest produces a very particular flavor profile, that is VERY similar to phenolic off flavors but not quite as offensive and it...

Totally happy about reducing the time spent waiting for the boil to happen :):) I was just wondering if that could cause unexpected results. I can update the thread now that I have done separate hot breaks twice: and both times the beer came just as good as usual (delicious if you ask me, but I...

Hi all, I have question about conducting separate hot breaks. I'll be more specific: I have one 8gal pot that I use both for mashing and for the boil. I like using this pot because I have a screen installed in this pot and at the end of the boil I can simply open the valve in the bottom and...

Well, the fact that you used temp control rules out the most likely cause of off-flavors! From what you write it seems reasonable to guess that yeast is not to blame... Which kind and how much specialty grains did you use? I think that Crystal-type grains don't do too well with hoppy brews...