Recent content by RealToast

Epilogue: I chilled a couple bottles today to taste the results. The verdict is in: taste was meh. Clear, dark red beer. Toasted taste, which was pleasant, but somewhat watery flavor. Some bitterness (not the good kind). And not nearly carbonated enough (not totally flat. Had a presentable...

Thanks! I had a total grain bill of about 12#. The first part was a malted, dark grain (about 3#). Instructions had me put it in the muslin sack and mash for an hour; steep for a half-hour; let drain; then discard the grain sack. It was here where I went awry. After discarding the dark grain...

Well. Those things must be important. No. I tossed the recipe and did not bother checking OG. My previous efforts (IPAs) have turned out excellent; perhaps in spite of my ignorance on the method/purpose of checking gravity. As a newbie, why should I check OG? If OG is not where it should be...

A couple of weekends ago I brewed a red ale using ingredients that I bought from my local brewmeister. Followed instructions to the T. It was not until I had the entire batch in the primary fermenter that I realized the instructions and recipe related not to whole grain (as I intended) but for...

Same. I keep a bottle brush under the sink for this very reason. Very small efforts to rinse and clean each time we enjoy the product. Pays dividends on bottling day.

After completing fermentation after 13 days (including dry hopping after fermentation was complete), I bottled 5 gallons of IPA on 12/4. I used the Nothern Brewer calculator to get the correct amount of primer in before bottling. They've been sitting inside at a consistent 74-deg since bottling...

I fill an extra, clean and sanitized fermentation bucket with clean water/StarSan solution and dunk as many clean bottles in the bucket as I can so that they're totally submerged (6 to 8 bottles). Pull a bottle out, dump all of its sani-water contents back into the bucket and simultaneously...

I don't know the beer temp. But the headspace is smaller than past batches; 5.5 gals in a 6.5 bucket. Or, about 3" of space. I'm good-to-go now. Airlock is still percolating, but slower. After initial alarm, I'm finding that keeping a fresh, sterile airlock at the ready and quick-changing as...

I'm considering this. Noob question: Does the tube act as an airlock, too? Or, is the outflow replaced by oxygen returned to the fermenter?

Kent88, Thanks for the quick reply! This is what I'm going to do. Picking up a new airlock right now. Will sanitize and switch out, as needed. My concern was mostly oxygen as I cleaned the existing airlock. But, with the clean, alternative airlock always at the ready, and the positive pressure...

I'm about 4 days into fermentation. 5.5gal of beer in a 6.5gal bucket. This morning, I noticed that sterile (Starsan/water) airlock water has become cloudy and there's a small amount of debris. Is this a concern? I'm thinking that all is fine, as long as the pressure doesn't overwhelm the...

Jobe, what was the verdict with that batch, so long ago? I came here with the same question. I left the yeast with the rest of my material in the back of my car all night; garaged at about 65(f) all night. It had been refrigerated at the shop. Seems like others say this is no big deal.

My pump system clogged with my first attempt with the Grainfather at the most inopportune time - when initializing the counter-flow cooling process. I was able to fix the issue by turning the pump off and disassembling ball valve, near the top of the tube from the pump. Inside the ball valve is...

I made my first beer on the stovetop in my kitchen, 5-gal. I had purchased gear that was needed from the brew shop and hardware store. As a first timer , the process was a bit messy and a bit unwieldy in my kitchen area. Weeks later I went to the brew shop to get what I needed for for my second...

Thank you, I just purchased! Much less expensive solution than some of the others I was considering. If anyone else is interested: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKD7CQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20