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Good point....there's a good 24" of dead-air space above the grist when I mash. The brewer that I inherited this from (before he went commercial) routinely made 20 gallon batches; I'm a 5 gallon batch brewer. All-in-all, the whole decoction process was simple, and this style might really...

3 hour mash...hit 1.032 as my BG. Doing a 120 minute boil right now. My target OG is 1.038 to 1.041, so I might be good. I'm naming it "MacGyver's Scottish 70". Could be brilliant, could be garbage. I'll update you all in about 8 or 10 weeks.

For sure. Only my second all-grain batch and I'm going to MacGyver a Decoction. Here goes nothing. Thanks everyone.

I calibrated my digital thermometer before brewing. Grain and tun were at ambient temps...about 67 - 68. I'm stumped. Will I get any kind of conversion at all with mash temps this low???...I'm approaching 6 gallons of water in the mash right now. FUBAR

It's a hand-me-down 20 gallon plastic tun, which sits in an insulated plywood box. Maybe the dense foam insulation is pulling the heat out?? Anyway, should I keep adding water to try and rescue this, or consider it a lost cause?

How the fark am I loosing 30 degrees to the tun?? According to promash, for my 8.5 lbs of grain my strike water should be around 168, which it was. After dough-in my grain bed was at about 135. I've added 2 quarts of boiling water and I'm at 138. Do I keep adding water?? This is a Scottish BTW

Or better yet, make friends with your local brewmeister and get cultured yeast from the local craft brewery.

YIKES...not so sure about that decision. Git up off your arse, cool that wort, and pitch. Not the best idea to let a wort cool overnight w/o pitching your intended yeast. All kinds of hungry nasties are going to make their way towards your wort.

Airlocks are the #2 contributor to global warming. If it's still bubbling after a week, you could end up with a major fine from the EPA. I hear that California is going to mandate Catalytic Converters be installed on all airlocks manufactured after January 1 2011.

Unless you refrigerate your starter flask for a day or so before decanting, you'd probably end up pouring a lot of suspended yeast down the drain. Personally, I wouldn't decant w/o the cold-crash step, so I think you're wise to pitch the entire starter.

I'd like to 2nd the motion to go all-grain, or if not, at least go to full-wort boil. A 9 gallon brewpot and a propane burner (i.e. turkey fryer). Full wort boils will help your extract brewing a lot, but you'll also need an immersion chiller...worth it though. I think as a general...

Happy pitching!!!!

I think that he was being facetious....made me laugh anyway.

Geepers...1.012 in 4 days?? Nice attenuation! I hope you like your IPA's dry.

Give it a "turbo-swirl" for a good 20 - 30 seconds...it'll break free. That sediment can be seemingly stuck, but I promise it'll start to break up with enough vigorous swirling.

Don't feel bad for asking goodyO, it's a valid question. I know that Palmer's book says something about "worry about infection if your airlock is still bubbling after a week", but unfortunately you can't reliably use the airlock as an indicator of what's going on inside. The people on this...

The other big benefit of taking a gravity reading is that it gives you an opportunity to sneak a taste of your beer, thus setting your mind at ease, or conversely, letting you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that your beer has turned to piss & vinegar.

Yeah...what they said. I've got a IIPA in the carboy right now that's 9 days out and still bubbling. Airlocks lie, hydrometers don't.

I obviously over bleached (1/2 bottle), but I've got irrigation so I'll probably stick a hose in there and let it run for a full day (the death smell is totally gone now). Then I'll PBW it and rinse it again. No more uncovered carboys in storage; a piece of aluminum foil would have avoided...

It's sitting out in the yard right now with 1/2 a bottle of bleach and 6 gallons of water (it's glass BTW). I'll just primary tomorrow's batch in my 5 gallon carboy w/ a blow-off tube. With enough bleach cleanings, I'm guessing that it HAS to come clean. What stumps me is how the hell it got in...