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My BlackBox arrived! I'll be giving this away as a gift though.

I would not have used the grains. It's also worth a call to wherever you bought from. Did you already brew without the grains? If so, options are more limited. If not, you could either use a different yeast to add some character, maybe 1968? Or, go get some more grains.

To me, hands down the best equipment improvements from a standard kit are 1) a chiller and 2) vinator. I would recommend the vinator and buy a kit with whatever you have left over.

Over 1 month into primary and all activity appears to have stopped. It's cleared up really well and a nice burgundy color. Hydro reading is 1.006, down from 1.084. Not bad for extract! Tasted young, but better than I thought for being this young and boozy. I'm really excited about this one and...

Looks like beer to me! The only thing I would say is that you've got a lot of extra things that you're adding to this one. I'm concerned that you won't get much out of the honey, especially after any residual flavor is covered up by the coriander and candied orange peel. Don't get me wrong, I...

I really don't understand what the issue is. I use flip-tops all the time and they are great. I have had bad seals on crown caps before, but not on flip-tops and I usually do about half of each beer in each type of bottle. I would really recommend the gaskets be the form fitting plastic ones...

I've got one. I use a milk crate to haul it around. It does burp if you squeeze the sides too much. My lid has leaked at one point or another during all of the beers I've made in it and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to stop that.

I know they can hold 10# of wet grain because I've done it with one. I haven't tried more so I'm not sure. It felt somewhat sturdy though.

I posted this question in the equipment forum and haven't gotten a response so I thought I'd bring it here. Bottom line question: If I have an airlock that holds pressure before it releases, will my yeast performance suffer? I recently got some silicone waterless airlocks and switched out...

Thanks I will check once it settles down. With the beer still visibly bubbling strongly, I will wait until visible activity slows or stops and it starts clearing up.

I just used fermcap s for the first time in a starter followed by a beer. 1 drop in a 2L starter and no problems. I added 10-12 drops in a 6 gallon boil and it made a big difference for boil overs. Do you all add more for fermentation or is the boil addition still enough to help in the fermenter?

Based on my calculations your recipe gives about 26 IBUs if you only boil 3 gallons and top off in the fermenter. If you do a full boil you'll get better hop utilization and get about 40 IBUs which is probably not true to NB's recipe. If it were me, I'd consider moving out the 30 minute hop...

Just an update on this beer. I brewed it on November 6th, fermentation started within 12 hours at 65. I moved it to a different spot after another 24 hours where it got up to 70 or 71. It fermented strong and is still fermenting quite a lot today, 12 days later. Yesterday I moved it again and...

Yep, it looks like the blowoff is in the beer. So, forming CO2 will push the beer surface down and out the blowoff just like a siphon! Anyways, Fermcap-S is your friend. I just did a 1.084 beer with a big starter and 10 drops of Fermcap-S and only got about 1 inch of krausen.

I've had fast turn arounds with wheat beers. Do a dark winter wheat at about 1.045.

NB had them really cheap a few weeks ago so I picked some up to try. Plus, they don't take up any space so I can fit my carboys in a tighter spot that I have. I decided to try one after about a week of fermenting with a typical airlock. The beer was still bubbling pretty strong. I got it on...

I've transitioned my equipment to all grain so that I don't have to go to a friend's to do AG anymore. Now, I need to use up all my extract ingredients. Since I had a lot of fresh LME around and lots of hops, last night I decided to use some up. I'd like some people's thoughts on what I did...

I'd imagine you could do almost anything. Try NB's Oud Bruin extract kit. Or, try a simple sweet stout. Keep the ibus very low. Be careful saving this "yeast" since it's got a specific ratio of yeast to bugs and after one batch that ratio will be different. Don't use a starter.

Well, so far everything from this purchase seems good. The PBW has been put to good use. I fired up the stir plate and have a big starter of 3711 going. I may try to use the new brew kettle and see how it works.

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the great responses. I would assume that even if the oxygen absorbing caps had gotten wet at some point, they'd still function and seal much like standard caps and it shouldn't be a problem. As far as the seller, it did not seem like a money thing, but more...