Recent content by Mr_T

I just got my first keg. I was going to try to transfer from my carboy to keg with a closed system. I read an article on this in BYO mag December issue. I am trying the first method they describe. Pushing beer with a couple PSI into the keg. I tried a test with some water in my carboy. Would...

Thanks much. Any ideas why this happened? Maybe in the future I'll try to get some whirlpool action going somehow.

After boiling I brought temp down to 170, added hops, and steeped at 170 for 45 minutes. Then I put my immersion chiller in and was able to very quickly cool and pitch. This is the first time I tried adding hops after the boil. I got no cold break whatsoever, never had this problem. Is this...

Oh I see, thanks :)

Thanks. So it says "current temperature of beer". So I take my beer out at 40˚F. If I siphon to bottling bucket containing sugar mixture, and bottle relatively shortly after that, I assume I base the sugar levels on the temp of the beer when added, not the higher temps the bottles will...

I got a cheap freezer so was able to try first lager yeast. Steam beer. I have cold crashed it 3 days at 40˚F. I was intending to bottle it tonight aiming for 2.8 carbonation level. Is the nomograph in Palmer book good or is there a better chart online somewhere? Do you base sugar...

BeerSmith just pushed an article to me about clearing beer and it said not to refrigerate beer that would be bottle conditioned since the yeast could die or it would reduce ability to condition. Is this really a concern?

Thanks all. Is pickling lime just CaCl? The primer first mentions dihydrate form, what the home brew store sells. Do I take this to mean the little white balls sold as calcium chloride are the dihydrate form, or is pickling lime different? And if so I wonder where to get it.

Wow, awesome, thanks so much!

My report is at the bottom. I am a noob. I have trial version of BeerSmith. I see there is a tool to match a given city's profile. I assume that means you just add minerals as prescribed at the beginning, and brew. In How to Brew I am a bit confused by the mash pH chapter. At first he says...

Thanks. I think I need to re-read that part of the book. Also, I downloaded trial of BeerSmith and I have the same confusion. I plugged in a recipe and specified my equipment. Then I went to 'Vols', where the amount of water is computed. Again, as it seemed to be suggested in "How to Brew", the...

I am just starting out. Brewed a couple of batches ad-hoc, now trying to learn. Reading how to brew. A dumb question, when calculating required water it is mentioned that the contraction of water when it cools off can be added in to the calculation. If you are measuring using tap water that...