Recent content by StrangeDog

Awesome job man - keep up the great work!

So somehow, I've been lucky enough to have friends and family that love to support my hobby and received a few gift certificates to my local home brew shop (Brew & Grow in Chicago) and to Midwest Brewing Supplies... My question to you all is - what should I get? Just to give you a bit more...

I basically ripped the previous stopper in half when removing the airlock... now the new one is too big and I can't get it to fit..

A quick story and a question for everyone - when trying to remove my airlock from the lid of a plastic fermentor I accidently ripped out the rubber stopper in the hole meaning I can't get an air-tight lock on the bucket anymore. I just bought a stopper along with everything else needed for my...

I love coming onto this forum and seeing the exact question I was going to ask already answered with several great options. I think I'm off to check on the drip pan right after this...

Hey all, If I've already scrubbed the bottles down with hot water to make sure there's no mold or anything in them - do I need to use a bottle brush to scrub them down again with StarSan just before bottling or would it be ok to just soak them all for a bit in StarSan then bottle them...

Well - the main problem is getting the wort to boil after adding the malt extract... the density of the syrup I'm guessing takes it longer to boil.

Yeah - I'm quickly learning that I could be dropping some major cash on this new hobby. So far it's been limited to the basics but every time I go online or to the shop I see new toys that would look great at my place. Thanks for your help all - I might look into the turkey fryer soon.

I've read a lot about people worrying about boil over when brewing.. but I have a problem of a different sort. I can't tell if my stove just kinda sucks, but it takes damn near forever for my wort to get to a boil and even when it finally does it's pretty weak. So it never really gets to a...

So I'm in the process of brewing my second batch of beer... and racked it to a secondary fermeter for the first time. Everything is going smoothly until now... My rubber stopper keeps sliding up out of the carboy I'm trying to put it in. I don't want to push it too far in so that I can't...

No - it's not about the foam. I was wondering how long I can use a batch? For example - I need to take a sample for a gravity reading. So can I make a 5 gallon batch of sanitizer for now and keep it til I need to sanitize the bottles in a few days? Will it "keep"?

Not exactly sure what a full boil or partial boil is.. I'm sure it's quite obvious but just want to make sure...

Is a chiller really needed if you can fit your brewpot into a sink and surround it with ice water? I did that for my first batch that's in the primary now? I also stirred it gently while it was cooling - is that a mistake?

Just got home and the bubbling has started.. so that's a good sign. I live in Logan Square

Hi there everyone, I'm Matthew and I just started my first batch last night (an IPA from a kit) and I'm naturally worried I ruined every step along the way but I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm very excited about this since I've wanted to start home brewing for a while now and...