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Im dumb and keep forgetting your beer started out such high gravity :) I see people using 05 yeast for IPAs at 7, 8, 9% alc, so I doubt that's causing a stall. But I should take back my comment that 05 should be done by now, since your beer is so big. I would honestly wait a few more days...

If the gelatin was liquified/dissolved when going in, I think you are good. I don't believe there's any chemical reaction or anything special that happens when heating to the 150 degrees for fining--you are just trying to liquefy it. Perhaps when too cool it coagulates too quickly, I really...

Also go ahead and drink the sample you took. Does it taste sweet or more like finished beer? Just another thought as you double check things.

Take another reading if you can. That's quite odd. Make sure your hydrometer isnt touching the bottom of whatever vessel you are reading from (flask, tube, etc). If you have a second hydrometer, use that this time. You might also degas the sample by agitating or stirring out excess CO2...

I would wager yeast will sort of go to sleep before they start dying. I haven't used your yeast but just used some California lager the other day. I used it once at 50 degrees, harvested yeast again and refrigerated 1 day, then put into another batch. It was going again in less a day. I...

Not an expert here. But... I've heard people say that extracts are the same but I do think there can be some odd flavors, like less freshness and lightness to it. I've done a few wheat beers from extract and just a couple from all grain (40 or 60% of ther grain bill as white wheat), using hefe...

Hmm... a helles bock, to me, is essentially a strong, light colored, hoppy lager of German origin. In the states we would probably call our equivalent an India Pale Lager. You likely have a strong, light colored, hoppy ale that probably mixes German malts with American yeast. A german...

I wish I could like that comment twice! :)

Some folks are mentioning different temperature steps. My understanding is you can get extra efficiency by working through temperatures in a "step mash." There are enzymes that work at different temps, and while there is overlap (152 or thereabouts), high temps destroy the enzymes that work a...

Tracer bullet seems to have the right idea. I posted here about very bad efficiencies like you, sometimes sub 60% Biab. I now grind to flour in a blender, squeeze, then dunk in warm water and squeeze again. This has brought me to the 70-75% range, occasionally higher. I usually calculate the...

I frequently come in a bit high, it's notable to me but not outrageous when it occurs. Looking at my record book, I had one Krystalweizen hefe come in at 1.012-14 (must have been hard to read my hydrometer at the time). I follow the rule that identical readings 3-4 days apart(for ales) means...

I agree, krausen can be big or small. Some yeasts I've used for cider have almost none. When I was starting I went through the exact same issue, pitching more yeast bc I didn't see tons of activity. 95% of the time, yeast are happy to eat free sugar and party down. Gravity reading is the...

Thank you very much for that info!! This is the first I've heard of hop maceration. I think the best way to put it is I've simply hit that curve where Ive tried obvious things I'm interested to explore in my process. (Mash temp and time, water sources, variations on my core recipes, ferm temp...

Thanks for the tip! I think the real kicker for me is that kits I purchase also taste fairly meh. I can understand when I take a stab at ingredients on my own, but I'm probably 30+ batches in by now, half of them from kits, with consistent results somewhere around 5 to 7/10, no matter the...

Those links are great, thanks for pointing me in their direction! The idea of hitting the 170-180 range for pasteurization followed by hops mainly for flavor and aroma seems like an efficient route.

The rests are just periods where you hold the temp for a bit. It gives the enzymes time to do their thing before killing them off as you move to the next temperature range. They can serve more purposes than that (for instance, I think some grain bills may benefit from rests to unbundle proteins...

With that there robobrewer, do you need to worry about scorching things, like we do on a stove top? Probably not. In that case I suppose that your idea fits what I personally have in mind, and you can just tell the machine to do your bidding without any worries about flames burning grains in the...

I do small batches, 2.5 gallons usually. For me, a blender makes grain into flour pretty quickly. I might not recommend for bigger batches though.

I am just an inexperienced brewer, but I was chasing poor efficiency and found the following ideas helpful. - how i milled the grains was important for maximizing efficiency. - Time in the mash was less important than mash conditions. I found that 90 minutes in the mash could produce less...

That's a great suggestion because while i have done perries in the past this was maybe the second instance with this particular juice brand/product. It is Walmart pear for those interested and my standard source for pear has been the vintners jugs of pear concentrate. You can imagine my...