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Yeah, but unfortunately I was thinking about a Better Bottle, which I think says you aren't supposed to shake it (at least not on its size)? Because this causes excess pressure on the seams. I'd get glass but I'm a klutz and will probably drop it :)

Full boils are always preferrable to partial boils. People that have the equipment (pot size, burner size) for full boils should do full boils. So you should do a full boil :) Instructions with the kits just assume most people are limited to partial boils (because that's probably true for...

I was thinking about buying a Better Bottle, because my plastic buckets are starting to develop some scratches that I'm worried about. However, I do partial boils for now. So I'll need to mix 3 gallons of wort with 2 gallons of top-off water in a Better Bottle. But I've been reading that shaking...

No one really commented on this, but you don't need to let the wort sit for two days before pitching yeast. You should just go ahead and pitch it once you've cooled the wort to the proper temperature. The flavors will develop plenty by letting the beer sit in the primary fermenter for 3-4 weeks.

Just get it back to the normal temperature range for the yeast and try to keep it there. Letting it drop to 55F probably isnt a huge deal, but it might slow down the fermentation process a bit. But I definitely wouldn't let this happen on a daily basis.

I would just wait and do what you're planning to do, which is not try another one for 7-10 days. You should hopefully see more improvement between now and then. By holding the bottle temps at 65F, the carbonating process might take slightly longer than it would at, say, 70-75F.

Is it generally just used for all-grain brewing?

For partial boils (in your case, 3 gallons), adding some of the extract at the end of the boil will only improve color and flavor. This is because you are reducing risk of any caramelization/Maillard reactions that TyTanium was talking about, which tend to happen if you have all of your extract...

I'd personally leave it on the yeast cake in the primary for 3 total weeks, and bottle when you get back. The beer should only improve between now and then by sitting in the primary for the extra time.

Did you boil for the length of time recommended by the instructions? And was your OG about what you were expecting to get? All-in-all, sounds like everything went pretty well. You can expect plenty of boil-off if you were boiling for a longer period of time, so starting with 6.5 gallons of...

Buckets are fine as long as you take care of them. I use buckets, and many people here do as well. The only problem with buckets is you have to be careful not to scratch the plastic on the inside, because scratches can harbor bacteria that can ruin your beer. The important thing is to clean...

I've never really heard about oxidation risks in the bottles. I would assume this isn't much to worry about if you only have a 0.5-1.5 inch headspace, and don't plan on saving them for extremely long time periods. Where did you read about this?

I definitely like to occasionally grab a 6'er of some random brews. I don't brew enough so I frequently buy beer to hold me over. I just bought a pack of Grolsch. Decent beer and adds to the collection of swingtops :)

A type of yeast?

Nicely done :mug:

Who can blame Alex for getting a little thirsty? :mug: But really, since you started with 2 gallons, and topped off with only 0.5 gallons, it would be virtually impossible to end with 2.5 gallons. You lost some water to boil-off, grain absorption, jalapenos, etc. It is best to make sure...

Welcome back to the obsession :mug: You need not explain - I started a couple years ago but took a little break as well. But now I'm back in full force. Hope your batch turns out great. Don't fret your next one, just relax and enjoy the process :) And be sure to search these forums or post...

Congrats on the first AG batch :mug: Only 3 points off your expected OG is pretty darn good for your first run. Haha, definitely a good idea on the bigger pot. Not having any room for mash temp control sounds like an upgrade was necessary :D

Hmm, I'll have to try that. I also noticed bits of debris in the black tip on the end of the siphon tube, not sure if that can affect things. I'll try clearing that out too.

If the recipe calls for 3.5 gallons and you're going to scale down to 3, I probably wouldn't mess with scaling the hops much.. I don't think your utilization change will be that drastic. But TarValon is correct, instead of boiling all of the extract required by the recipe, you could save some...