Recent content by Shaneoco1981

So, my cousin and I built a couple of fermentation chambers using chest freezers and temp controllers. I’m looking for ideas for heating the chest freezers for winter time. I live in Michigan where the temp can stay cold. The chest freezers will be in the garage where will be consistently...

No, they should be either be dissolved or be filtered out by a bazooka screen. I like to put my pumpkin in the mash though.

Looks like crap. Send to me to dispose of properly. ;-). Lol. Welcome to home brewing!

You don't steep in an all grain recipe. Don't chuck until you know for sure that it a) has an infection or b) is undrinkable. Steeping normally gives most of the color and some flavor. If you messed up the steeping aspect of your first brew, you will be fine. You have fermentation going on...

Why are you home brewing if you prefer BMC's (bud, miller, coors)? You can buy those cheaper then you can make them for and you will never be able to replicate them. The one thing that BMC has going for them is that they are able to replicate the beer that they produce. If you like lager's...

I am making a pumpkin porter this weekend and have heard of people using the pumpkin in the mash and others say add it to boil at 15 min left in boil. Not sure which way to go. Any advice would be appreciated.

Personally, I have a pump that I use to pump it back into the pot and use the thermometer on my pot to tell me what my temp is, and then pump it into my fermentation vessel. Before I had a pump, my system was built with 3/8 tubing. I built a small contraption to tell me my output temp. It is...

I would definitely recommend getting a bigger kettle and a turkey fryer to brew outside. Brewing can be very messy and brewing outside makes cleanup that much easier. Also, while an 8 gallon pot is sufficient for extract brewing, if you ever decide you want to jump to All Grain, you will need...

Why are you going with such odd ball weights for your hops, grain bill and final volume?

I always leave the lid off of my bottling bucket when I bottle. I have yet to oxidize my beer. "MMMMM BEER". As long as there was no splashing or sloshing the beer around, just a gentle stir to mix in the priming sugar, you should be fine.

I am doing a spiced pumpkin porter this weekend. My question is regarding the spices and more specifically, the amounts. I am using cinnamon, ginger (fresh), all spice, cloves and nutmeg. I am looking for a fairly heavy spice profile, similar to Alaskan Brewing Company's Pumpkin Porter. What...

Nashy, I agree with both of the above posters. I would start with a pre-assembled kit of a style that you like. Brewing, while very fun and enjoyable, can be tricky and it would be a shame to see your first brew be undrinkable. I would also goto your LHBS (Local Home Brew Store) and find a...

Do you know what ingredients were used and the amount? If so, a computer program such as beer smith would give you a very accurate estimate of what the OG would be, especially if it is an extract brew which it sounds like it is.

They have done a redesign on the twistable valve. The tube on the end is now longer so the amount that you can twist to get right to the top of the yeast cake is much greater. Before the redesign came out, they added a piece of tubing to accomplish the same thing the redesign did. I also love...

I would need the amount and ingredients to get you a pretty descent guesstimate of your OG. If your airlock though was full of beer, then fermentation did happen and is happening. I would make sure air can escape from your fermentation chamber before a possible bung rocket occurs.