Recent content by Zorbarose

after reading info on how bacteria can "ride" the air, I wouldn't think an ice bath is ok. Even though the airlock will keep it safe from contaminents, i'd be nervous about bacteria riding the air and getting in when the lock is removed for a hydrometer reading. But I'm wondering if i'd be...

Hey guys- I'm brewing a Leffe Blonde clone, but making it with not so much body; you might say a Leffe Blonde Pilsner. So I've got two yeasts going, one ale and one lager. it's been fermenting for a week at 63. to get it colder, i put a bag of ice cubes next to the primary with a fan...

after you pitch the lager yeast, should you get the primary down to 55 or 60 asap, or wait till you see some fermenting at 70, and then bring the temp down to 55 or 60?

So how is mashing different than mini-mashing? I'm a little confused there. If recipes are generally for 5 gallons, where and when does your amount get to that level? I'm such a beginner.

Hey Brad- Here's the recipe and how i did it. 7lbs amber malt; 1.5 crystal 75, .25 peated malt; .5 dark munich; .25 carafa II, 1 flaked barley; .5 golden promise. 1 oz pearle; 1 oz tettnanger; edinburgh ale yeast bring 4 gal to 155. put grain bag with all grain in wort and steep for 1...

I just stared using the Beersmith program. Great program. After I listed the grains and malt for my scottish ale, the OG recipe estimate (1.069) is about 0.020 more than the style OG and what I got (1.050). Why is that? Did I not sparge enough? I am only doing a partial mash if that makes a...

I'm using the QBrew program for my caclulations. It says my OG should be 1.064, and my final should be 1.016. I got 1.054 as my OG. It looks like i'm going to have a FG of 1.018. I'm sure the calculations are off cause not all of the exact grains i used are listed in the data base to choose...

Do i have to wait till the hydrometer reads a final gravity to move to the secondary? or should i let the last stages of fermentation finish in there to come to a final gravity? i know the rule 1-2-3; 1 week in primary, 2 in secondary, 3 in bottles.

I'm interested in brewing some heritage beers; beers either from the Ukrain or with grain that is characteristic of Russia. Any ideas? How about Hungarian?

I want to make sure i'm brewing right. I boil 4 gallons, do the whole grain, extract, hop thing. take if off the burner (using a Bayou Classic outdoor propane burner). Put in ice bath. Because this is all about a 5 gal standard, I pour in 1 gal of cold water. wait maybe 15 min, then...

OK - From all of the input, I'm guessing that I'm doing partial mashing because the grains that go into the recipe are all bought individually (for example, when i did my scottish ale, i used carafa II, dark munich, golden promise, peated, and 1 pound of crystal 75). Then the remainder after...

I'm confused with some of the terminology. I'll explain what I do, if you can give me the terminology. At the brew store, the grain (that ends up in the grain bag to be steeped at 155 degrees) is run through a "grinding" type of machine that "cracks" the grain and mixes all of it. Then I...

If I have plenty of krausen but no bubbles escaping in overflow, could there be CO2 getting trapped in the carboy causing ill fated beer?

I have a 5 gallon carboy with krausen filling the neck morning after the brew. But I'm not having any bubbles in the overflow jar. Is that OK? Could my orange cap have too much of an air leak and that's where the CO2 is escaping to? Later