Recent content by PhilM

Just kegged the beer that caused the buildup…it's really burnt/smoky tasting. First time I've ever scorched the wort. Brewed another batch the day before thanksgiving, and never set the throttle above 75%. Element had no buildup, just had to wipe it down.

It's not just touching the sidewall a little...more like it's a good 1/8" too long. A quarter inch is a large amount for a measurement to be off by. I'm just going to use the original element, and not run the power past 75% when I brew this afternoon. Hopefully that will prevent charring the...

Yep, that sounds like the same mineral sort of bite/flavor I get when I don't use the 5.2 buffer. dsaavedra, yes, I'm on mtecom. It's odd that the Metcom report and the Ward labs report show such a difference in magnesium content. But that was only tested when the well was drilled, so who...

True, but it shouldn't go up THAT much. Also, the numbers check out for the new, known-wattage element. Amazon will take the 4500W element back. I'll probably limp along with the current setup to use up the two pack of yeast I've got, and re-engineer a fix in the meantime. I doubt I'll have...

Doing the math on current draw for two of those elements made me realize something…The original element is 5500 watts. No wonder it was scorching, that's a lot of watts for so small an element. Wonder if High Gravity just made a whoops and sent me a 5500 watt element by mistake? The new...

Well it looks like I'm SOL. If I add enough washers, there isn't enough exposed thread to bite the weld less fitting. I suppose a welded fitting would work, but even if I found someone to take care of that there wouldn't be enough clearance to screw the element in. Hopefully Amazon takes...

Quick question: Got the new element in...and it's longer than the description on amazon says. As a result, it just touches the opposite side of my brew kettle when it's installed. How much clearance is needed around the heater element? I was thinking about using washers to back it off a bit...

On that note, should I add some gypsum to my starter? Right now all I add to that is wyeast yeast nutrient...I'd imagine that probably is plenty for a starter, but...

OK, just so I'm understanding all this right...fixing my brewing water could correct the stability issue?

St. Mary's County, MD. I'll pick up some gypsum and acid malt and try that instead of the 5.2 buffer. Won't be able to do that before I brew this weekend, so I'll still use the buffer this last time. It does something, it gets rid of that mineral taste. I should also add that beers brewed...

It's the local city water straight from the tap, and we don't have a softener. I'm in a condo, a reverse ozmosis system is out of the question for the time being. I could buy water, but that can be a pain. Guess that may be what I'm stuck with.

Drinking commercial beer from the same glassware, cleaned in the same way, I don't have any issues with head retention. Also, two of my all-grain beer haven't had that issue. I've got a black IPA on tap right now that has excellent head retention. Honestly, I could care less about haze and head...

I've brewed a few batches without the 5.2 pH buffer, they all had a distinct mineral taste. Not in the hoppy IPA way, much stronger than that. Wasn't that unpleasant, but definitely detracted from the beer. I sent my water in to Ward labs a while ago. Here's my water report: pH 8.3 Total...

I've never brewed all-grain any other way than BIAB. I've got an electric BIAB system from High Gravity, which keeps the temps within a degree of my target. A pump is used to recirculate the wort. Typically, I measure out my water, add it and and whatever amount of Five Star 5.2 pH buffer is...

Since I switched from extract brewing to all grain BIAB, I've noticed some issues with my beer. First is that the beer seems to have a very short shelf life, especially when it comes to malt flavors. I brewed a British-style bitter not too long ago, and after a week in the keg (three weeks...