Recent content by rossrainey

I used canned pumpkin, the brand that yuri recommended, can't remember which one but it was 100% pumpking but I'm not sure about the preservatives. Edit - Brand is Libby's

I brewed Yuri's Thunderstruck Pumpkin ale last Friday and now find myself in an awkward situation. I had to leave town on Saturday so I assumed it would be alright and fermentation would take place. When I woke up saturday and checked for activity before I left, the airlock was not moving and...

I just bottle my first beer which is a spiced holiday ale. I have an autosiphon and that did a good job of keeping the spices out.

Carapils/dextrin help out with head retention too if you use it as a specialty grain. I've seen people use 1/2 lb. in a 5 gallon batch

Here's one I got.... Jacques Cousteau's Flacid Beige Polecat Pilsner Don't know if I'd drink this one.

I got a true brew kit too for my first kit. I haven't used the c-brite but I did buy some star san. I went ahead and spent the money on the 32 oz bottle. It costs a lot up front but I can usually get by making 2 gallon batches of star san and using that to sanitize everything I need. Bottom...

I checked my first batch yesterday because I hadn't seen any air lock activity in 4 or 5 days and the gravity was 1.020. I put the lid back on took out the air lock and covered with some sanitized wrap and shook the fermenter. Cleaned and sanitized the airlock and put it back in. This morning...

The pictures and item descriptions don't match up when I look at them. If you get this kit make sure it's got a bottle capper and bottle caps and not corks, unless you want to cork the beer. Also, just a few personal preferences - get an autosiphon instead of the plain racking cane and a 3...

So I brewed my first batch about 9 days ago. It was a AHS kit and was recommended to stay in the primary for 2 weeks before bottling so it has got some time till it should be bottled. Anyway, I decided to take a gravity reading to see where I was today. It is at 1.020 and started at 1.058...

So I finished brewing my 2nd batch today. This time I brewed a variation of Revvy's Old Bog Road Brown Ale. My first batch was the AHS our special holiday ale and now I have an interesting question. Both batches had crystal and chocolate, this one more than the first, grains for steeping and...

One last question. I'm brewing this with out the special roast, but my question is about the secondary fermentation. I know secondary is controversial, but is it necessary or can I primary for 4 weeks.

My LHBS does not carry special roast. I was hoping to brew this recipe this weekend following the extract recipe. Wondering if there are recommendations for special roast substitutions.

I'm brewing this kit right now, it's only been in the primary a few days at about 68 degrees now thanks to a cold spike in GA. Would it be wrong to rack to bottles after 2 weeks or so or would you not recommend this. It is my first batch so I'm anxious but just wondering what other people who...

I figured I was freaking out, just needed to check though. Thanks for the help. I added the water at the end because the instructions said to make the volume 5 to 5 1/4 gallons, so I though adding a little more water would decrease the gravity if I shot for the 5 1/4 gallon. As for better...

This is the last time I'm going to freak about my first beer until I actually have it bottled or tasted. The more I think about it, my gravity is worrying me. My OG was a supposed to be 1.050 for my first beer (according to AHS), but I'm worried mine might be too high. First reading after...