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You've received some good advice here. My only comment is that late extract additions can help prevent caramelization (caramelization of extract makes the extract unfermentable, and thus you end with a higher final gravity), but it's mainly useful when doing partial boils. Caramelization moreso...

No sense in irrelevant bashing. The poster's question asked if 6'' is sufficient. Some setups may prevent someone from filling water up to the wort level. And I would agree that filling it at least halfway up (but preferrably higher) should provide sufficient cooling. I am not sure if 6'' is...

6. Five of those were Mr. Beers though, which I think is only worth partial credit.

Maybe someone can chime in that thinks they have actually had autolysis before? fatnoah, I can't speak to you from personal experience as I've never left anything for extended times in the primary. But I know from John Palmer's book and others around here, that people have left them in the...

To be clear, I haven't purchased it yet so I don't know what the instructions say.

Relax, don't worry... and get ready to have a homebrew :) Usually, patience heals all things.

I've only done a few batches of extract kits. I want to brew an AHS Honey Blonde ale next, but even the basic extract kit comes with 0.5 lbs of base grains and 0.75 lbs of specialty grains. I used specialty grains in my last batch which was a nice touch. I was easily able to steep them in hot...

Thanks for the video gmcastil. I stir vigorously with a large spoon. But I'm starting to think I should start shaking my bucket as well.

If you liked the Ginger Man, I also recommend the Flying Saucer. There's one on Lamar Blvd. and 47th street (just north of the Univ. of Texas campus). It is similar to Ginger Man, in that they have around 200 beers you can try from all over the U.S. (and some imports too). It's a cool...

I guess I'm getting slightly confused now. Hasn't it been widely discussed on these forums that for extract brewing, 5-gallon boils is superior to partial boils because of the better hop utilization and reduced caramelization?

Sounds like you had quite the adventure getting that sucker temperature controlled :) Good for you though, making sure to control fermentation temps on your first batch. I did several batches before realizing how important it is. As long as your thermometer is water-proof, I think you can...

Looks like a nice rig :mug: It's going to put my tub-with-frozen-bottles swamp cooler to shame :)

I assume you racked to the secondary after one week in the primary. If you want to use a secondary, it's best to wait until fermentation is complete before racking to the secondary. I am guessing yours was *probably* complete after one week, but you can only tell from a hydrometer reading and...

+2 Agreed with the above posters. You can just skip the secondary altogether, which saves you time, work, and possibility of contamination. Give it 2-3 weeks in the primary, make sure fermentation is done (take a hydrometer reading if you have one), then bottle it up and let it sit for a few...

For the few batches I've done, I try to rapidly cool the wort to 80 or 90F, then add the cold water which finishes taking it down to 70F or so. I agree that the most important thing is just getting your final product to 70F relatively quickly for pitching yeast. That said, either method can...

You should follow what Pezman1 suggested, which sounds like the process you did the first time around. Boil water with the DME in it, let it cool, add to your bottling bucket, then siphon your beer into the bucket afterwards. Make sure your siphon is submerged and spraying such that a "swirling...

No, it will definitely not hurt anything to keep your beer in the fermenter for some extra time. Your fermentation will probably be done before the two weeks is up, but giving it extra time will only improve your beer, and will allow your yeast to clear up the beer. A lot of people here...

Hello, Tipsy! I can not speak to making gluten-free beer, as I have not done that before. I can tell you that I got started with homebrewing by using the Mr. Beer kit. They are sold somewhat frequently on Woot!, and it is a great deal. If you are thinking about brewing beer, and just want...

Good to see some more people from North Texas! I'm originally from Plano myself. Welcome to the obsession :mug:

I never thought much about it, but it does seem true that really cold beer masks the true flavor and aroma of a beer. It's funny how Coors advertises the Super Cold beers now.. indirectly stating that, yes, you don't want to smell or taste our beer's true flavors.