Recent content by SteveHeff

Perhaps I missed this somewhere in the thread, and I know the viability of dried yeast, but how old were your packets? It sounds like you covered most of your issues outside of the yeast. Pitched a single pack per 5 gallons of wort? I grasping at straw, here. Good luck with the future brews...

I can only offer what I've experienced with S04, although it may not add any real empirical information. When I first started brewing, S04 was my go to yeast due to its availability and general function in fermenting the kind of beers I enjoyed at the time. For my first 5-6 beers that I brewed...

Just as an example of where my water is currently and where I want to brew, I added 8g of CaCO3 (chalk) and 1g of Gypsum to get my dark lager profile at Ca-61, Mg-0, SO4-22, Na-150, Cl-150, HCO3-319...all in ppm. I just brewed this a few days ago and will add to the thread once I have it kegged...

My pre-treated water is terribly high in manganese as well as PFOAs. This water is dangerous to drink and my town has been working on remediation for several of the town wells. My next step is brewing with RO water, but until then I will continue to use my tap.

Hi gang. I've been posting around here for a few years and I finally got into adjusting my water chemistry. This has been a big goal of mine, both in understanding how water chemistry improves beer quality, and making sure I am putting the best beer I can make in the fridge. A few months...

You'll still have beer at the end of this. I don't believe that there is an actual problem here. Report back after you've had a few pints and then we'll chime in.

I have a yeast cake from a lager I fermented and transferred 4 days ago. I've been holding it at 40F still in the sanitized bucket I fermented in. How long can I hold this before I should consider dumping? Looking to brew tonight or tomorrow. Thanks in advance.

5 gallons nut brown 5 gallons Kolsch 10+ 1957 = 1967

Czech lager. Been in the kuhlschrank for the last 3 months.

It was never just one thing that vastly improved my beer quality. Every step of the process has some effect on the beer. Controlled fermentation temps, mash temps and pH, water profile, yeast starters, and oxygenating my wort have all played a role in improving the beer. I would say the best...

8818 + 5 gallons chocolate milk stout = 8823 gallons

8,359 + 5 gallons Czech Pilsner = 8,364.

5 gallons of Munich Dunkel 5 gallons of summer Kolsch'ish 5,854+10 = 5,864 gallons

That's high. Even 70F is high for Notty, even though it is the top end of the range. I'm not completely sold on dumping it, yet. Many of the byproducts of fermentation are not being completely manufactured until the yeast get passed the lag phase. Did you toss dry yeast on top of the wort or...

5 gallons of German Ale 5 gallons Lambic 4528 + 10 = 4538 gallons