Recent content by rfelsch

Found another LHBS That carries wyeast 1388. The starter must is pasteurized and I just smacked the pack. I guess I am back in business. :) Thanks for the help!

Ughh. Fortunately I pitched only two hours ago so I guess I can go pasteurize my starter and still use it when the 1388 arrives.

Getting ready to start my first batch of BOMM. I have been fermenting honey must like crazy for 3 months, but my wife and I have nothing to drink yet. everything has been high gravity with D47. Going to need some aging. I went to my LHBS to purchase yeast and potassium carbonate. They do...

I know that there is no cold crash warranty, I am just concerned that If I don't slow it down, it is going to keep going to 17% and beyond and end up completely dry. I figure the yeast population is so large and so strong, even with a bunch of drunken soldiers in their, the alcohol is not...

I am fermenting in 14 gallon demijohns and no walk in cooler yet. :) I did not have any yeast settled out yet last night so I figured racking would be fruitless. Now that it is getting chilled, the yeast is settling out. I will rack it now that some yeast is settling then put it back outside...

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and put them outside last night with wet rags on the carboys. It is getting down to 37-41 degrees at night here in Portland Oregon. Highs will reach 50. I can see the yeast is settling out this morning. I will probably let them chill overnight again...

For future batches, it would be helpful to know if cold crashing and racking is a viable way to keep the yeast from fermenting far past their rated alcohol tolerance.

I have already gone past my target gravity. On this batch I will have to decide if I would rather enjoy it dryer than I had originally planned, or embrace back sweetening.

I am trying to avoid adding more honey late in the fermentation because I have been told the back sweetened honey will not taste the same as if all the honey had been added up front. Additionally, Ken Schramm advises against it in "The Compleat Meadmaker"

I may have pampered my yeast too much. I am using D47. SG 1.128. I was hoping to end up with a semi-sweet mead. All of my calculations were based on the yeast not exceeding 14% abv however I am currently over 16% and SG has dropped to 1.008. i am trying to avoid sulfates and back...

Thanks for the response Yooper. The reason I am still degassing late stage is to knock the foam down on one of my batches. I started it 2/24 with OG of 1.136 is now at 1.024, 15.2% abv, still fermenting and producing large bubble foam that is bubbling into the airlock overnight. The Other...

Any input on degassing throughout late stage primary when the oxygen exposure is limited by the carboy / airlock combination?

I appreciate the explanation. My yeast seem to be pretty happy with the degassing efforts. All things being the same, it seems like degassing is going to push the D47 alcohol tolerance more than 2.5% higher than the similar batches that were not degassed. Even though I was shooting for...

BTW I am not opening the airlock and letting oxygen in when i degass. I am simply swirling the carboy until the airlock calms down. I am aerating daily for the first couple days using oxygen and a .5 micron wand. After that I do not open the airlock except to draw a quick sample for testing.

Is it wrong to continue degassing late in the fermentation if I am doing primary in a carboy with an airlock?