Recent content by royco

Big Ed, November, I use a Braumeister and don't have many problems except for Weiss and Wit beers using oats and/or wheat malt. Even then, can work around by removing the top sieve and stirring a couple times. This is a bit of a hassle. If you don't do this efficiency can drop. Dry buffalo...

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Good advice to test a batch. Actually when I managed to get some rice hulls once I washed them thoroughly first as they had a most terrible aroma. (This was on advice on the Braumeister forum.

Can one use roughly ground corn cobs instead of rice hulls to loosen the mash? We do not grow rice in this country and importing it is costly (like bringing in a container of bubblewrap!). Corn grows wild here.

Thanks Jon, I will do a test. When reading your reply I saw at the bottom of the page some other links to this question and the jury is out! There is some mention of hopping ratios needing some tweaking. Anyway, I have a 50L (around 12gal) batch of amber ale in secondary, ready for kegging, so...

I read somewhere that very small recipes need adjusting when upscaling, i.e. from 1gal to 12gal. Something to do with the hop or malt ratios. Any input on this? I have a 12gal setup and want to do 1gal BIAB to test recipes. Someone on the forum said "In theory, theory and practice are the...

I have the same 'going on holiday' issue and want to know if I can low carb an ale and leave it in the fridge at this low pressure and dial it up when I get back after a month, or is it not that simple? This way the keg would be a low pressure secondary.

Thanks Oceantendency, good idea. Will give it a bash

I'm smiling as I just had the identical experience (posted somewhere on this thread a few days ago). First time with US 05, quick-cooled wort to around your temperature, aerated the **** out of it and pitched the dry yeast. Next morning, nothing. That evening, same. After 48 hours hardly a...

Great feedback, thanks guys. Never heard of Fermcap-S. Definitely going to get me some. Also, thanks for the heads up re hop utilization. It just seemed logical that less water yields higher concentration of everything, which will then normalize after extra water addition. Logic doesn't always work!

Thanks RM-MN, ambient has dropped a few degrees, but will bottle my Pilsner today and free up the freezer so the ale can go in at around 64~68°F. Maybe too late. Strange thing; just when I thought not much was happening after 3 days, I took a gravity reading and the damned thing is at 1006! The...

Hi, I have a 45L fermenter and a 50L BK. Have just started AG and the first few batches have been 35L because I'm scared of boil-overs. For a 44L batch I would need a pre-boil volume of around 47L which is a no-no. Question: can I do a 40L boil (using full grain bill) and add boiling make-up...

Just brewed a 30L (around 33qt?) Amber Ale using dry Safale 05. Pitched 3 packs instead of 2 and ambient is 74°F. Expecting a nuclear blast I only used a 1" blow off hose, no bubbler. After 24 hours almost no activity. At 54 hours slight movement and small clumps of yeast starting to drop to the...

This thread is quite old but I hope it is still "alive". I recently bought a refractometer with ATC, Brix and SG scales. Calibrated to zero with distilled water. Checked gravity of a Pilsener 2 weeks into primary and got 1030 SG or around 7.6 Brix. A week later after all visible signs of...

Thank you bethebrew and RM-MN, and especially RM-MN for explaining so nicely how I have wasted my cash :) I was very happy with my pro series glass hydrometer but then "everyone" said refractometer was the way to go! Surely if it is not accurate, it should at least be consistently over or under...

BTW I did search the forum before asking this newbie question;) My first AG IPA brewed in the garage was utter chaos. Working alone, the odd cell phone crisis, A.D.D. kicking in etc. OG was 1055. Ferment went vigorously for 2 weeks. Now has slowed to 10 minutes between "burps". Took...