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Do you use yeast nutrients? I brewed an IPA with WLP001 last month and an IPA with US-05. In two weeks I got 85% attenuation from each. There are other variables which people here pointed out but try yeast nutrients in your next brew. A 1.5oz container of nutrients costs around $3 and will...

You can do two sparges with batch sparging but you can do only one if you want. You also don't have to drain your runnings slowly. Open the valve all the way. It's much simpler than fly sparging. There are plenty of threads here that explain the difference.

Krausen is forming nicely in both halves. The wine yeast portion is on the left. So far the smell coming out of the airlock is very tropical fruity from the wine yeast but I'm not getting much from the ale yeast half. Fermentation started less than 12 hours after inoculation so I'm really...

I was weary too about using 190 degree sparge water. However, when you mash out you're using boiling water, right? All it does when sparging with 190 degree water is bring up the temp of your grain bed to the 170 range. When I brewed yesterday I mashed at 148 and after 80 minutes (I was...

Just a quick update. Brew day went really well. I hit my targeted efficiency of 75% so my OG was right at 1.062 and I got 6 gallons of wort exactly after the boil. This was my fourth AG batch after over a year of extract so I'm pretty pumped about finally getting good efficiency (I've been in...

I'll add that I also checked my thermostat and hydrometer after I experienced low efficiency. My thermostat was off by 5 degrees and my hydrometer is low by three points. Now it check my thermostat before every brew.

I recently switched to AG as well and was experiencing low efficiency. People suggested the crush to me too. So when I went to my local store I asked the guy to double mill my grains. He told me it wasn't the crush and I should sparge with 190 degree water (I normally sparge with 170 degree). So...

Sounds like a plan! I'll post a few photos when fermentation gets underway. Just heating up my strike water now.

I'll let the gallon I add brett to ferment for at least three months or until I get stable gravity and the right flavor profile. It should be fine then to add priming sugar like a normal "clean" beer.

I already bought the candi sugar so I think I'm going to stick with it. If I heard correctly in the podcast with Shea, wine yeast can't consume complex sugars. I want the wine yeast to attenuate as much as possible so I figured adding the candi sugar should help it get the gravity lower. Plus...

I am going to harvest some WLP001 from my starter but since my primary fermentation will be in two separate carboys I shouldn't run into a problem with the wine yeast killing the ale yeast. When I blend them I do expect the wine yeast to kill but at that point I'll just be looking for taste...

So I'm going to give wine yeast a try today. I've been thinking about it since this thread started and my curiosity has the best of me now. My plan is to brew a Belgian witbier and follow Shea's advice - splitting the 6 gallon batch in two - fermenting one half with wine yeast and the other...

Pilsner 96% Torrified Wheat 4% Mash at 152 F 1oz Citra (Mash) 1oz Centennial (First Wort) .4oz Magnum (90 min) .4oz Warrior (90 min) .4oz Crystal (15 min) .5oz Amarillo (10 min) .7oz Simcoe (5 min) 1oz Citra (2 min) 1.7oz Centennial (FO) Dry Hop 2oz Citra 2oz Centennial I...

21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon, just not good IMO.

Don't dump! I have a Rodenbach Grand Cru clone going that's almost a year old now. Between months 5 and 9 it had this really weird synthetic flavor, almost like band aid. I sampled it a few weeks ago and the synthetic flavor is almost entirely gone and it tastes pretty damn good! I don't know...

Great thread! I'm subscribed now and will be following along.

I recently switched to all grain and haven't had great brewhouse efficiency, three batches all around 65%. Here's what equipment I use: 8 gallon kettle with false bottom and spigot 8 gallon kettle for boil 5 gallon kettle for heating sparge water I batch sparge and each of the three...

I brewed this yesterday with basically the same recipe listed above. I ended up using only 1/4 pound of honey malt and I used WLP 566 instead of Wyeast 3724. The only snag was I missed my target gravity of 1.060, which would have given me 70% efficiency. My wort came in at 1.056, my third all...

My mind is like swiss cheese so everything I do, starting on brew day through bottling, gets written in my brew log, which I made a template for on the computer and print out for a 3 ring binder. I log ingredients, dates, temps, water amounts, gravity, SRM, IBU, ABV and every brewing acronym...

When do you know diacetyl is at it's peak? I know it's a buttery flavor so do you simply keep tasting your beer during the first few days of primary fermentation? Sorry for the noob question but I'm really fascinated by brett and want to learn more. Have you posted the recipe for your...