Recent content by Pie_Man

Hey There - I believe they are stainless (model 630SS), but I am not 100% sure. The shank is definitely stainless. I can cover the shipping charge, if you are interested.

All Sold :)

It could be that fermentation was not active enough to blow off the sulfur (9C is a touch low for many lager strains). Or, perhaps fermentation finished too soon and did not fully complete. You may consider increasing the ferm temp a few degrees, at least towards the middle to end of...

Welcome to brewing. I have not used Mr. Beer myself, but it sounds like you are adding top off water to the wort, or in your case, topping off with earl grey tea. What you are describing can work.It's your first beer, have fun. A few things to keep in mind. Tea will probably add astringency...

Thank you, this helps. I use yeastcalculator. WIth the initial cell count from White Labs, I can now edit the "Initial Cell Count" variable in YC to more accurately determine my starter size. Example: The White Labs QC report for my vial stated a cell count of 2.8e9/ml (2.8 billion/ml). There...

152 would be fine. I don't have much experience with step mashes, so I am not sure how the step mash would compare to the single infusion. I doubt there will be much difference.

Do you recall how much priming sugar you added? I think the yeast remaining after fermentation and cold crashing should have been healthy enough to carbonate the beer despite the cooler ferm/carbonating temps.

I meant where you usually keep things (11psi). For my current keggings setup, I pour everything at about 2.4 volumes of CO2 and that works pretty well, so I was suggesting you use that as a starting point and adjust up from there. I would guess that if you're going to attempt to reach 3+ volumes...

I think you have two main options for highly carbonated beers although I could be wrong as I am still learning the fine art of kegging. Leave the PSI the same. I would try this first and see if you feel the need to increase the pressure from there (it's a lot easier to increase the pressure...

I think the use of crystal somewhat depends on the end beer the OP is looking for. I originally assumed it was an IPA with some Belgian yeast character. In which case I think a small amount of crystal is acceptable. But, I guess if you are going for a farmhouse/saison-style beer, but with...

Your yeast is not really that old. Using a two month old packet is pretty common. I recommend using yeastcalculator, it's a better tool imo and allows for stepped up starters, so you could make a 2L starter, crash the yeast, decant the wort, and then another ~2L and yeastcalc will do the math...

yeastcalculator.com is your friend. I pretty much always make a starter, although using 3711 you might get by without a starter. Also, some people like to underpitch their farmhouse/saison style beers (which I assume you are doing with 3711).

Not that I know of (probably not the answer you are looking for). My wing capper simply does not work well with a couple beer bottle types, so I avoid those. I don't have an issue with short bottles, like Sierra Nevada, but some other types give my capper issues. It could also be the type of...

Not necessarily. Most yeast strains are more versatile than you would think, or than their name implies. Many commercial breweries use one or two strains in all their beers. Outside of beers with prominent yeast derived flavors, like Hefes and many Belgian beers, you could use something like Cal...