Search results

A helper that can cap all those bottles with no breaks... is better than no helper at all :mug: Good luck with the batches tomorrow!

Sweet mother...

This is a little bit of an older thread, but I was wondering this same thing. I'm looking to use the swamp cooler method, but how do you easily monitor the actual fermentation temperature if you have a wet t-shirt wrapped around it, and high water levels, which can ruin the temp stickers?

Congrats on your first brew! Here's to many more :mug:

Aerospace engineer

I'm curious, did your beer end up tasting like it was oxidized when you finally finished fermenting and re-bottled? Did you try to drink them fast?

Most of us get impatient, but waiting a minimum of two to three weeks is typically recommended to make sure fermentation is done. Waiting longer than that allows the yeast to continue clearing up the beer. The bad things can happen if you leave it for a really, really long time in the primary...

I only have a few batches under my belt, and up until now, I have not maintained/controlled fermentation temperatures (I know.. I've been bad). Especially with summer coming up, I am going to start using a 'swamp cooler' of sorts. My main question - what device is easiest to measure the temp...

Welcome, Brandon! This place is great for answering those questions, with lots of very helpful and experienced brewers here. Be sure to use the online resource www.howtobrew.com by John Palmer as well, if you haven't already. It's a great resource.

I haven't added fruit to beers in a secondary, so I'm not sure but a month on top of 5 lbs of frozen bananas sounds like a long time. But if you are really going for the banana taste I'm sure it'll turn out great. Sounds yummy :)

A good wheat beer would be my choice. But you can color me biased, as I've got a Wit in the fermenter now :)

The most I've ever really paid in the store is about $16 for a four-pack of Celebrator. About $4/beer is my limit in the store, unless it's a special occasion and I'm really looking to try something new/random. I traditionally pick up microbrew 6-packs for around $9.

Shiner Bock, Rolling Rock, Leffe Blonde.. or just about any random 6-packs that sound tasty. I'm always ready to fork over a few more dollars to get something with good taste to me.. no more 30-packs of BMCs.

I'm no expert, but I am sure you will have some off-flavors produced from those first 12 hours at high temp (especially depending on how high the temp got). But as long as you cooled it after 12ish hours and its been maintained since then, I wouldn't stress over it. I think some of the...

Lol, that does not sound too tasty. Thanks for all the info. Maybe I'll just use water out of my fridge which has a built-in filter on the next batch and see what happens. It'll probably be colder than my tap water anyway to help cool down the wort.

Thanks for the responses. I don't particularly like my tap water all that much. It is very hard water out here, primarily with high amounts of calcium and magnesium. Not sure how much chlorine and other things are in it. Maybe I'll consider pre-boiling a batch in the future and see how it...

So I'm still pretty new and have only done a few batches. I usually just follow the instructions, which say that after I'm done boiling my 3ish gallons of wort, "add top-off water to reach 5 gallons". I usually just add tap water. I was reading around and seem to realize that this is a big...

Congrats on your first beer :mug: Be sure to give it plenty of time in the bottles! But I recommend you sample one per week to learn about how the flavors change, and to help you understand that waiting is a virtue :) I haven't personally tried those kits.

You had me laughing at this... I'm sure we've all thought this at some point or another when things go bad :) Using a hollowed out, sanitized BIC pen as a makeshift 'adapter' of sorts between the airlock and tubing? That's freaking awesome. I'd guess you should be okay if it was well-sanitized.

Welcome back to homebrewing! It's one tough hobby to kick :mug: