Recent content by mjn12

This is normal with a very vigorous ferment when you don't allow for blowoff. I'm assuming your fermenter had an airlock on it - one of the small clear plastic ones. With very vigorous ferments this may not let gas escape fast enough and you have to replace it with a blowoff tube. What...

By fairly complex I just meant that most people won't be doing it in their head. Taking a gravity reading is really just another way of saying "I want an excuse pull off some beer and taste it" around my place anyways.

+1 on wheats. Great for spring summer as sessions beers. Heffe's or american wheats are both delicious.

Sounds like an infection to me. If its limited to one bottle I wouldn't stress about it. Maybe some nasty bacteria rode a piece of dust right into the bottle as you were filling. Also, if you don't have one a bottle rinser provides some good peace of mind. I always rinse my bottle with one...

Also worth noting, you don't have to be 21 to buy beer ingredients or to make beer. Only to drink it (technically). This guy best be trollin'

Good tasting beer doesn't come from corn unless you ask BMC and some malt liquor manufacturers who loving stuffing corn in their beer. I'm pretty sure most of the people here wouldn't call it beer unless it has some malt and some hops in it. There are plenty of ingredient kits available for...

+1 on freezer w/ temp control. less than 150 bucks when it was all said and done and my beer has never been better. I've seen people build "extensions" with insulation foam for their minifridges so they can fit multiple fermenters. Someone on here has pictures of it but you'll have to dig...

Refractometers that I have seen at site like morebeer.com and such tend to be around $50 +. Also, its important to note that you CANT use the reading you get from the refractometer after there is alcohol present. At least not without using a fairly complex equation to correct for the...

Ha, gotcha. I was a little confused why you were pointing out the benefits of aeration and simultaneously worried about oxidation. Brew on.

Sour usually indicates infection - especially if its just restricted to a few bottles. I've had bottles that didn't get as clean as they should have and had a single bottle or too end up infected while the rest of the batch was fine. If you're seeing a ring around the top of the beer where...

Once the wort is cool the introduction of Oxygen is a good thing as long as it occurs before the yeast has started producing alochol. Aeration is bad when the wort is hot or when there is alcohol present but very good when the wort is cool and yeast is about to be pitched into it. Don't...

Yeah, it turned out to be a lot simpler than what I expected too. Also, this freezer must be OLD because doesn't actually have a defrost ANYTHING. Its just a thermostat and a compressor.

Got home, put a multimeter on the circuit, turns out that it wasn't even getting power. When the fridge fell it flattened the plug, we bent the stabs (not sure if thats what they call them on a plug, but its what they call them on a high voltage circuit breaker) back an d checked for a short...

The freezer clicked off on its own when the temp in the center was 50-some-odd degrees last night (the love controller was still trying to chill). I was assuming this was because the walls were at 30defF or less and there was a temperature gradient to the center. The love controller has not...

Since I'm stuck at work and can't go home to mess with it I figured I'd just see what you guys thought. I picked up a freezer earlier this week of craigs list. My buddy helping me haul it out of the sellers basement slipped when we were loading and the freezer fell onto its back from about...