Recent content by Opus_X

So you guys are talking about stirring vigorously and not just swirling with the IC itself?

to get the wort under 80 in the shortest amount of time? With an ambient temp 80+? Lid on/ cracked while chilling? Slow/ fast water flow? Swirl the chiller in the cooling wort? I appreciate the input.

You are right. It is a 3/8" elbow. I hadn't thought of that. I talked to the guys at Midwest today. This might have been just one of those things as my set up appears to be common. I think the grain bag idea as a precaution/ test is a good idea that I might try next time. I'm also...

The tubing is pretty sturdy. I can't collapse it be squeezing it by hand and it was tough to cut to size. This is what I'm using: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/mash-tun-false-bottom-adapter-stainless.html I would be surprised if that is it but I should probably test it by filling the...

I attempted my first all grain batch yesterday and it turned out to be a disaster. I ended up with a stuck sparge and nothing I tried fixed the problem. When I started to vorlauf the flow was at a trickle and I was able to collect about a cup or so, then nothing. I tried to blow back...

I recently did a porter that I added some coffee and cocao nibs to. For the coffee I cold-brewed 1 cup of coffee in 3 cups of water for 24 hours. (I used a starbucks mild coffee because I didn't want the roastiness from a bolder coffee- I just wanted coffee flavor) I added that coffee...

I'm brewing a porter with a little coffee and cocao nibs. I also plan to add a vanilla bean. If I want just a hint of vanilla, will 1 bean in the secondary for 1 week be enough?

PM sent.

I'm also in south Forsyth County, exit 13 off 400. Seems to be several home brewers within a few miles of me. I'm relatively new at this and would like to get together for a group brew. It would acclerate my learning curve. I'd also be interested in a club if you form one.

Thank you. The grain displacement is the piece of information I was missing.

I'm working towards going all grain and this looks like a good place to start. I intend to mash in a 10 gallon rubbermaid cooler, the orange round "Gatorade" kind. My questions is- is a 10 gallon cooler large enough to hold 10-12 pounds of grain and enough water to produce about 6.25...

Thanks for the suggestions. I usually rack from the spigot which has a racking cane inside the bottle above the yeast cake. I would like to keep doing it that way so I will probably need to find a different way to control the temp.

I've come to the realization that I'm fermenting my ales at too high a temp. I've seen suggestions about using a swamp bucket/ tub to set the carboy in, and to supplement the water in the bucket/ tub with frozen bottled water. My question is, is that ok if my carboy is a better bottle with a...

I brewed this yesterday. This is what I did: 5 gallon batch/ 3 gallon boil 4 pounds pale ale LME 3 pounds golden light DME 1.8 pounds 2 row caramel 40 1.5 oz Amarillo pellets at 60 minutes 1.5 oz Amarillo pellets at 20 minutes 1 oz Amarillo pellets at 5 minutes 1 oz Amarillo pellets...

I brewed my second batch yesterday, an American IPA, and I have a question about the grains I used. I used a specialty grain, Crystal Malt 40L. I think I intended to use a base grain 2 row. Is there a difference or am I just confusing the two? If there is a difference, what is it and how...