Search results

Make sure you "pasteurize" the fruit as well. Washing by hand may not be enough to get all the wild yeast off them. Chop them up and put them in a wide shallow pan with water just high enough to cover them. Bring the water to 160 for 20 minutes. Let it cool then pour the whole lot into your...

1. Harvesting from secondary works, however you are genetically selecting yeast that doesn't flocculate well. But you are picking yeast that does attenuate well, so it depends on what you are going after. The vitality of the yeast wont be as great as getting yeast from kreusen for example, since...

Almost a year of brewing/development including two iterations I'm finally comfortable sharing this recipe. The rauch flavor was a bit heavy for me the first time around. I tuned it down and added a half pound of wheat for a heftier head and a bit more body. Tweak the rauch malt based on your...

My suggestion; start with something simple. You don't want to haze your brew day worrying about honey or peppers. All grain takes more attention to detail and focus, especially if its your first time. Start with a pale ale, IPA, stout, brown ale, etc. It doesn't sound flashy, but it will help...

Zeppelin, Ramones, Black Keys, White Stripes are my go-to...or hockey.

Don't get anything smaller than 2L. I was cheap and bought a one liter at first. Boiling in it is a babysitting session. I have a 2L now and I boil 1800mL in it no problem. Most yeast manufacturers like for you to shoot for 2L starters. If you worry about boilovers more than $$ grab a 3 or 4...

And to think, last night my car door was frozen shut under a sheet of ice!! I forget not everyone deals with the weather I get to!!

If it was me I would move it up to a warmer area. You want to avoid large temperature fluctuations, but you want it warmer than that to give it a chance to finish up (67-70). Wrap it in a big blanket and set it in your kitchen or some area without ton of heat vents that will promote temp swings...

Maybe we are just lucky but my relationship is the same. If i wanna drink a beer, smoke a cigar and piss of my back porch while I brew I can (although she'll probably roll her eyes at me...) If my girlfriend wants to go to yoga instead of watching a playoff game with me she can. If she demands...

Yea I usually throw in some grain or PBW whenever I buy kegs from them. I end up saving on shipping vs a lot of other sites.

I've messed around on ebay and CL looking for kegs when I first started looking. I dont even mess around anymore and always buy them from homebrewing.org. I've bought 6 kegs off there and I know they hold pressure and are of good quality. Might be 5 to 10 bucks more than ebay but hey its worth...

Yup, soak with some oxy clean and rinse with hot water.

If you brewed it last night if you don't see activity yet I wouldn't freak out. You definitely underpitched if your gravity was that high and you pitched one pack. Depending on the viability (age) of that pack you could have sorely underpitched your yeast. If you can get to the LHBS quickly I...

Along with keeping a good seal, it can depend on the volume of liquid in your airlock (depending on design). A 3-piece or S airlock with too much liquid will bubble like mad in the beginning when there is a ton of Co2 being generated. Later on it will bubble a lot less frequently, but the burps...

I've never had a big problem with hops when missing my OG. With 5 gallon batches the IBU difference is so minimal I never worry about it. In the chance that I'm significantly low I boil a bit longer. If you are high, cover your kettle a bit to minimize evaporation rate. Nothing wrong with a...

Get that temp up there as quick as you can. 66-68 will be the yeasts happy zone. Make sure the temps are not varying one way or another too much during this stage as it can adversely impact your beer. If you don't see activity within 24 hours of the temps being higher, consider repitching some...

Put some pressure on the keg and spray with soapy water. That will help you identify the leak. If the posts are leaking you may have to replace them. O-ring sets are pretty inexpensive and may help. Sometimes kegs may leak until they get some pressure on them. Once I have 10lbs in there it stops...

Grab a silicone hose, 6' or so. That way you can drain from your mashtun to boil kettle without agitating the wort. Most come with 1/2" barb fittings that a hose will slip right on.

My garage looks like a sauna with all the steam coming out. Hopefully my neighbors don't think I'm doing anything suspicious... Gotta love upstate NY!

Wow, I didnt know that about Rahr malt. Good info!!