Recent content by Puffin

Thanks for the reply how1, when you followed the directions - did you keg or bottle? How long did your keg or bottles condition before you tried it? Get better with age?

Kit is from Midwest Supplies - You can see the ingredients on the box, and the instructions are posted as PDF as well. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/chocolate-covered-beavr-nutz.html

So I'm about to rack this beer to the secondary - the recipe says to 1) rack on top of the peanut butter powder (and 1/4 cup of cocoa powder), 2) 3 days later add the cocoa nibs 3) Age 7 days, then Keg or Bottle. I usually age in the secondary for everything - does anyone see any...

It SMELLED wonderful!!

A friend warned me to always use a blow off tube. I hadn't needed one, I didn't think, until today. Sunday afternoon I brewed Midwest's Chocolate Covered BEAVR Nuts extract kit. This kit comes with alot of grains, I hadn't had to sparge grains before this one. Came out around 1.085 OG...

So did this work? I can't a rolling boil on 4 gallons, I can get an okay boil if I put the lid on and cover about 80% of the top. I'm thinking of insulating but wondering if will make that big of a difference.

I've seen old threads talking about electric heat sticks from Northern Brewer and other vendors - again the threads are old and I can't find these products any more. They claim they have override switches to keep them on for a full boil, to override the thermostat built in. I want an...

Thanks, they worked out well. I went to the one in Auburn Hills because I happened to be there for work. They said they fill tanks in Ferndale, you have to drop it off and pick it up later. Even though I had a new 5lb tank from Midwest, I decided it was easier to just exchange it rather than...

I found a previous old thread on this, but no one listed a specific location/vendor. Where can I get a CO2 tank filled in SE Michigan? Ann Arbor/Howell/Dexter Area?

-70 degrees was at pitch, I noticed Monday night it was 72 (carboy has a stick on thermometer). -Yeah I thought maybe the lid popped open, so when I saw it this morning I lightly pressed on the lid to see if the fluid in the airlock moved with it, and it did. Lid still on. Thanks for the...

Also first time using Munton's.

Brewed for the first time with spring water (as opposed to my crappy chlorinated tap water), a Midwest Pumpkin Ale. Pitched 12g (2 Munton's packs) of dry yeast, re-hydrated in about a cup of spring water. SG 1.04X (hard to read, but mid 1.04's somewhere, as it should be). I pitched at 7pm...

Just an update - I just cracked open a bottle of brew that I made using the campden tablet for this batch, same taste. I guess I'm switching to spring water.

How do you do it Yoops? Other than lowering my concentration of campden, what else would I do better? The concentration of K-metabisulfites would be the same in the wort as it was in the re-hydration solution. My wort wasn't too hot when I pitched, it was sub 75. My comment about the...

To answer one of the above questions, yes I pre-boil the water used for top off in the fermenter. I boil it to make sure there's no bacteria in it. An update to my first use of campden tablet: I pitched yesterday around 3:30pm. Usually I've got pretty good bubble activity about 8-12 hours...