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It's recommended because by transferring to a secondary you're suppose to end with a clearer end product leaving the big yeast cake behind and then having it settle some more. I've never found it necessary and have never been disappointed with the clarity of my beers. Unless I'm adding fruit...

If it's a high alcohol beer (7ish% or higher) it could still need some finishing out. But like David said the only way you can be sure is by taking a gravity reading. 14 days after pitching is usually a good rule of thumb, typically waiting longer will just make your beer taste better. Unless...

For free wrap it up in a couple extra blankets or towels. For a little bit of work you could create a insulated chamber or for less work but a little more money you could buy an aquarium heater which I believe work well but im not sure how high they go without a temp control. But I agree with...

Yea in retrospect the size of the pot wasn't really needed, seeing how if all you can boil is 3 gallons it wouldn't matter if the pot was 15 gallons big seeing as how you can only boil up to 3 gallons after taking grain amount into account. :p If you kept it at 3 gallons without any top off or...

What size is your pot though? Your stove might only be able to boil 3 gallons but do you have a 5, 8, 10, etc, gallon pot? If it's only a 5 gallon pot I imagine you can get about 6-8# of grains. (1.5quarts per pound, for 6 pounds is a bit over 2 gallons, with a little less than 1 gallon for...

Congrats! Have fun with it, the only thing I can tell you for your first batch is if you followed the instructions and something looks 'off' it probably isn't! Just let it ride and you'll be surprised with what you produce. Also, IMO sanitizing is probably one of the 2 most important things you...

I can't tell how wide it is but in my 7 footer I can fit 3 easily, and 4 with one on the hump after building a collar. It seems to be a good deal, I paid $199 for mine from hhgregg and that was the cheapest I found at that time.

I like to get the most out of my batches so I typically top it off with more water. But at the same time to avoid diluting my beer I'll calculate how much I displace and take that into account in terms of gravity for my next brew. It also depends how much you're missing your volumes by to how...

You try to do something nice and **** like this happens....but who's to say if you hadn't started giving him money in the first place he wouldn't have gotten more physical.

If you keg you could try doing some dry hopping with some nice aromatic hops. I agree about cream ales not being exciting, so by adding something might make it a little more exciting like vanilla or some spices. If you bottle then just give them out to your friends who enjoy lighter beers, you...

I completely agree with Perry. I've done partials for a while now and while the topping off does help (as well as become heavy, took me 4-5 batches to be able to avoid spilling) even with the topping off of refrigerated/ almost frozen water it took me at least 40 mins or so with the use of ice...

That's what I would recommend, taking the gravity is one of the last things I do before actually transferring to a fermentor. Upon doing a little research, hydrometers are either calibrated for 68 or 60 degrees (F). http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ It seems like yours is...

There's a couple of things that could attribute to this that I can think of... 1) the water temp. You said you took a reading pre-boil and I'm assuming post mash then the temp would definitely be a factor. Hydrometers are calibrated to be used at 68 degrees (I could be a couple of degrees off...

You can use either, the main reason many people don't use 5 gallon carboys is because it doesn't give head space for krausen. So either a blowoff is required or going into they carboy with less than 5 gallons. A 5 gallon carboy would be good for a secondary, since at that point you don't have...

A guy at a table next to me at a craft beer pub asks the waiter "what do you recommend for a guy who likes drinking ales and lagers?" I could tell the waiter was trying pretty hard to keep a straight face especially after I started snickering softly lol.

If you're using a different yeast the unusually quick fermentation could be attributed to that. The only sure way to make sure the beer is done fermenting is by taking a gravity reading. If your gravity is where it is suppose to be I would give it at least a week if you're trying to turn it over...

I find the flavorings to be a little on the artificial tasting side. I used a 3# can of peach puree in a 5 gallon recipe and it came out really well for my peach ale. Peach on the nose and a taste of peach without being too overbearing. I've also had (haven't actually made) homebrews made...

I would have probably done a starter for a couple of days versus just one. If they held it for a long period of time I doubt they kept it cold as it is suppose to be kept. I've only used wlp002 once but I actually had a fairly average (3-5) fermentation using it. You could try rousing the...

Get some PBW, fill up your bucket with some warm water and leave it soaking with the PBW for a day or two, then rinse out with warm water again. I've noticed pending what was in the bucket fermenting either it'll clean off fairly or its a pain.

There shouldn't be since the wine yeast is more overpowering, but if you go to brew a beer in it now you might have the issue of the wine yeast overtaking the beer yeast. Just be sure to clean it out very well with a day or two soaking with whatever cleaner you use. Also from what I believe, for...