Recent content by mrsducky

But very glad to hear it looks more like yeast!

Hard to describe really - porter ranged from “this is okay” to “kind of weird”. Pumpkin was kind of vinegary, and without carbonation that was a weird combo. I’d love to get one of those “off flavor” kits so I can give better descriptions :)

Don’t call me Roger! Thanks, all. Sounds like a good plan moving forward [emoji482]

@RM-MN no hydrometer around since we traveled for the holiday, unfortunately. If those are yeast rafts, are they normal for bottle carbonated beer? Or can they be avoided? @JonM just dropping them straight into the sanitized bottle with my bare hands. Also was using a used package of them. I...

Yeah - I did it because the last few batches tasted pretty yeasty. Maybe there are other ways to compensate for that, though.

Secondary - yes a second fermenter. And it wasn’t a full gallon so I’m sure there was a lot more headspace than needed. All fermenters are glass. Cleaning: oxyclean, hot water soak for 20-30 mins; sanitizing is starsan. Soak for 5-10 mins. Bottles I use a bottle brush first to get solids out...

Here is the gunk I found in my bottles after they were done carbonating. I would have titled this “infection in secondary” because I saw what I’m fairly certain is the same hunk beginning there, but my bottles aren’t gushing like the typical description of an infected beer. In fact, one has no...

Cider finished at 1.000 on the nose. Really clean taste - the juice was nothing special so I wasn't expecting a revelation but it was fine, and the leftover yeast smelled sweet in the fermenter. Would use it again. I carbed this batch with corn sugar; next batch I'll try again but sweeten. I...

Hey thanks, both -- I will let them go a bit longer. So do you think that also accounts for the light body? Or could that be more of a result of using DME/ from a kit? Thanks

Glass on the right was maybe 5-10s after I poured it. No head retention at all. Also wasn't as cloudy as I was expecting it to be - more like a plain wheat beer, maybe? Or maybe I need to swirl a little more. Was a bit afraid of bottle bombs - first time using sugar drops. OG 1.050 FG ~1.008...

Update - day 2, bubbled up quite nicely and looked a lot like a freshly poured soda (small bubbles rising from the liquid). Day three, morning - bubbling has leveled off, still steady and definitely fermenting, but not pushing sanitizer out of the airlock anymore. Also -- ETA I was expecting to...

Hi! First cider brew, and using safcider. I saw a few people had asked about it, so hoping to add another datapoint. 1 gall store brand juice Safcider yeast Yeast nutrient (1 tsp) Acid blend Nothing fancy for the first time. Rehydrated the yeast in a pint of boiled warm water with nutrient...

I just brewed my first beer! Hooray! I did a Peanut Butter Brown Ale extract kit from Brewers Best (this flavor, only for one gallon) Mistakes I would like to learn how to fix next time: - off, yeasty-bitter taste at the end of each sip. - waaaaaay over carbonated! More notes...

New to brewing and to the site, but have already learned a lot! Currently fermenting a Peanut Butter Brown Ale (or at least that's what the kit claims it will be). Started on Saturday, looking forward to checking out its progress at the end of this week. I wanted to get into homebrewing as a...