Recent content by steven85

Hi all, I just had a quick question regarding the yeast I harvested last weekend. I harvested yeast from an American Stout, I got enough for several more batches of beer. My question is, I've heard you shouldn't try using yeast harvested from a darker beer to make a lighter one. That being said...

American Wheat 6.5 lb White Wheat 4.5 lb American 2-row Mash for 90 minutes at 152F Mash out at 170, rest for 10 minutes Batch sparge with 170F water, rest 10 minutes between each sparge Beersmith 2.0 estimated OG 1.063 at 75% efficiency I took pH readings the entire time. Beginning of mash...

I have some gypsum, would a tsp help bring it down to the right pH? And would a mash at 5.8 affect efficiency?

I'm actually mashing right now, pH strips are saying the mash water is 5.8-6.0. Beersmith is saying it should be closer to 5.0. Would this cause any efficiency issues?

Can pH effect mash efficiency? I've been getting horrible efficiency for the last 5 brews or so (under 60%), and I've tried different sparging techniques (fly and batch) and well as a 90 minute mash. My temp remains fairly constant at 152F for the duration of the mash. I'm running out of ideas...

ok, I think I'll pick one on of them up, thanks guys!

*find a way*

hmm ok, i guess the question I should ask is: what do I need to buy in order to keep a fridge at a constant temp of around 68F, and how do I do it? Sorry, I'm just not sure what I need, and I'm trying to find a keep way to ferment my beers cool in southern california :) Any links would be...

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone had any good links on how to install a ranco temperature controller(or anything that would serve as a temp controller) on a refrigerator. I'm trying to modify an older fridge into a temperature controlled environment to put my carboys in during fermentation...

my mt is direct fire, so raise everything to 184, drain, then add 170f water to sparge? Beersmith calculated my last brew at 48%, pretty low if you ask me.... I follow the batch sparge directions in beersmith, 2.25g twice, but im not getting good efficiency. so mash out at 180F instead, then add...

Thats how I've been doing it, filling the mash tun with 2.25g of 168F water two additional times after first runnings, to get a 6g preboil volume. I actually had a similar question for anyone else posting: can you use the same water twice (drain the 2.25g from the mt then recirculate again...

Unfortunately, I need the pump because that is what pumps my water through the chiller. Being in Southern California, tap water is about 80F. So I fill a 5g bucket with tons of ice, salt, and water and recirculate that through through. I'm not too concerned about the cold break, since it is a...

The pump for my whirlpool/immersion chiller broke, and I don't have a way to cool down my wort except for an ice bath in the kitchen sink. I'm brewing an American Hefeweizen tomorrow, and my question is, should I do a 90 minute boil instead of a 60 minute boil to drive off more DMS precursors? I...

yeah, thats another thing I think I'll try, add a smaller amount of yeast at bottling.

haha, I need to move to kegging, your right :) oh well, i'll keep thinking of other things that can be causing this. thanks for everyone input!