Recent content by MooMan

I've found myself in this situation before due to poor planning, or shear laziness. Rather than use just the smack pack and most likely under pitch, I decided to brew anyway and let the final batch sit in the carboy until the yeast starter was ready. IMO, the final boiled wort is in a clean...

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I was able to find a small family run operation in Skokie who would fill my tanks. I wasn't too keen on the idea of doing an exchange program (the guys at Air gas were making me buy the tanks outright first, which would have been a $250 investment when I...

I recently moved from Denver to Chicago and am having a nightmare of a time finding a gas supplier to fill my two tanks (C02 & Nitro). Nothing about this was difficult in Denver, but apparently its not widely done in Chicago. Can anyone provide a gas vendor they use? Or possibly, explain how...

I have attempted to read this entire thread and have not seen any discussion on clarifying agents (i.e. Irish Moss, Whirlfloc Tablets). Will the use of either reduce the great yeasty cloud that is characteristic of this beer? I typically keg, but I'm also worried about all the yeast settling...

What was the boil volume? How many hops did you add. Typically, a normal house stovetop cannot get more that 3 gallons to a rolling boil. Even 3 gallons is a stretch. Also, the more hops you add, the "thicker" or more viscous the wort becomes. Don't throw it out. Let it go and see what happens.

I brewed it yesterday. The all grain took a lot longer than typical extract kits as usual but I believe it all went well. I hit my OG, but had to boil for 15 minutes longer to hit my evaporation target. The one issue I did hit was on mash volume. I was supposed to mash with 26.5L but with...

Last night I ordered the 115th Dream Hopbursted Imperial IPA (all grain) kit from Northern Brewer. I'm a little worried about this monster of a beer and was curious if anyone has attempted to brew it. At this point, my concerns are mainly around mashing and boil volumes. I read some mixed...

Interesting. So I would assume the formula for balancing the system would be equal regardless if using CO2 or Nitrogen.

How long of a line would you reccommend?

It has been on mixed gas the entire time. The ratio is 25% CO2 and 75% nitrogen. From what Ive read, mixed gas (specifically nitrogen) takes longer to absorb into liquid and requires a higher pressure. Also, I've read the nitro taps require a higher dispensing pressure. All that said, it still...

My recent RYePA I threw on nitro was in the keg and on pressure at 30psi for 2 weeks prior to tapping. Carbonation was perfect and cascaded beautifully. Since then, I have left it at 30 psi as researched. Now, I'm pulling 1/2 foam after cascade is complete. Help! Are my lines too short? They...

I found a recepie for ginger ale in the July-August issue of Brew Your Own. They call for a 1in piece of "dried Ginger" along with fresh greater Ginger. Is dried Ginger different from crystalized or candied Ginger? If so, What would be be the benefits of one over the other? M

I purchased a two, 5 gal tank keg system which came with a 5 lb C02 tank. Of the two times I've tried to use it, the C02 seems to go really fast. I dropped 200 psi just trying to carb my recent ginger ale (3 gal batch). Am I doing something wrong? What size tank do you use? Is a 5 lb...

I recently toured a brewery that applied a whirlpool to the wort directly following the boil prior to pitching to draw everything out of the wort before fermentation. Is this something that can be applied to the standard home brew process? Since I don't have enough cash lying around to...

Do I do this before of after siphoning the beer off the trub?