Recent content by placated

No. The gas will escape from one side of the S allowing the water to displace it. No worries! Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

In probably 20 batches I've only needed a blow off once. That's when I used a carboy instead of a bucket. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Start with a erlenmeyer flask without the plate. Then you can just set it on your counter and swirl it from time to time. Brewers friend can estimate your pitching rates by swirling without a stir plate. Sounds like the better investment right now would be a couple good thermometers a...

I just let the unused ones sit on a towel on the counter and dry out. I've only had rust problems when you throw them back in the bag and seal it up. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

What I did was go with the "brewing basics kit" from Midwest. It gives you all the little piddly stuff you'll need like a capper and a hydrometer brushes bottling bucket etc. It's only 70$. Then if you want order yourself up a plastic Bigmouth. The Midwest kit comes with a bucket fermenter so if...

So I just got my latest Northern Brewer catalog and lo and behold - plastic Big Mouth Bubblers. They don't have handles but they have a harness available. 6.5 gal rig with harness 50$. Not too shabby. Might have to snag one. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Just a quick follow up on this. The beer turned out pretty fantastic. 2L starter - I let it ferment at 62 for about 3 days then hit it with a brewbelt on a xmas light timer for 2 hrs/on/off which kept the ferm temp around 67 for about a week. Then i let er rip with the brewbelt constant and...

Agree 100% but don't get that particular one. I've had 2 of those and they are glued so crooked on the base it makes it nearly impossible to get a good reading. There's one with a green base that's a little more quality. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

When I drank my first brew I had 3-4 days of what one would euphemistically call "cropdusting" the bowl. I think some tracts just need a few days to adjust to what I'm guessing is a higher dose of yeast than you'd get in a commercial brew. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

1 US05 packet is good for up to about 1.060 OG. You should never make a starter with dry yeast. Contrary to others I don't rehydrate US05, but I will rehydrate pretty much anything else. US05 is about as foolproof as it gets in yeasts so rehydrating it is just another step to muck up. If you are...

I just did a smack pack of the wyeast Belgian Ardennes and was in a similar situation. I gave it 48 hours then said screw it and threw it in the fridge. Had a nice sediment layer 6 hrs later and then I decanted and threw in a little warm wort to wake er up when I brewed. Took off like a rocket...

3 weeks is a solid duration if you aren't measuring gravity. You are really flying blind but by 3 weeks that yeast has probably done everything it's going to do. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Right around the corner in Robbinsdale! Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

I just bought a 2L from NB and I can't imagine having one any smaller. I like the OP just did my first yeast starter on the Ace of Spades kit. However I don't have a stir plate yet. I would just shake the flask periodically. Made a huge difference with this brew. The 1056 with a starter chewed...

I've discovered by accident that one of those really fine grit sanding blocks takes the residual label glue right off. As far as Oxyclean goes - a little goes a long way. If you are getting a haze you are probably using too much. Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew