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Thanks for the quick reply - yes, was planning on having the rice hulls on hand to use. Not using my kettle for mash/Lauter - I have a 5 gal Igloo round cooler with a false bottom that I plan on using as combined Mash/Lauter (Combi-Tun?) Will use my Gigawort brew kettle initially as my...

Hi All! After several extract batches, and getting bored of its effect on my brew color and taste, I have decided to make the jump to All Grain. I'm going to start with 2.5 gal recipes for two reasons; first my only boiling vessel is a 4.4 gallon Gigawert electric brewpot, and second, I...

I’ve always use about a gallon of water to steep the grains in, assuming you are talking 8-16 oz of spec grains. Helps keep tannins out. Temp of steeping is most critical - keep under 170 for sure while steeping. Also, as others have said, be careful with hop utilization. Recipes and IBU’s...

You can hit the software predicted IBU’s by adding only a portion of the water when you add the initial DME/LME. The key is to keep the amount of water in proportion the extract/fermentables. The keeps the OG as designed and the IBU’s the same, as hop isomerization is dependent on amount of...

All - could use some input; here's the scenario: Brewed some IPA about 3 weeks ago, About the end of the second week, I added my pellet dry hops (threw them right into my SS brewbucket). After three days of dry hopping, took a final gravity reading of 1.012, which I was expecting. Time to...

Sorry, but I have to laugh; as there is someone else as “anal”ytical as myself! I actually have a bar chart schedule that I created to optimally schedule my beer production across my three fermenters, and I have a 7 page process SOP (standard operating procedure) that takes me step by step thru...

Frankly; not sure I would be worried about a difference of less than 3 tenths of a percent. It’s the same beer, I would be more concerned about how it tastes. Like they say “Relax, have a homebrew”!

One comment on the ibu calc you are getting. A lot of this has to do with hop utilization, which will change based on the specific gravity of the wort at the time you add the hops. You need to make sure that your initial partial boil amount is in proportion to your partial extract add. I...

Read “Brewing Classic Styles”, co-authored by John Palmer. Does exactly what the title says, discusses the classic styles, and presents recipes in extract, followed by all grain. Not a brewing instruction book, but very good information and keys to brewing good beers with extracts!

As with others, “How to Brew” and “Brewing Classic Styles” are the best first reads and benchmarks. As for what the forums provide, I would advise to “be careful”. Some “good sounding” advice you get on the forums isn’t exactly “good” advice, and really flys in the face of “how to brew” and...

Going to be starting on my first fruit beer (either an Apricot or Cherry Blonde) and plan on keeping everything in my prImary fermenter (SS Brewtech), not bothering with a secondary. My question has to do with how to add the fruit (purée in this case). Should I just add it directly into the...

The common practice now is the partial boil/extract method, where you use half the water and half (or less) the extract, then add the rest of extract malt right after flameout. Also, you add the 1st portion of extract before you start heating up. You can keep the same boil time( important for...

I do American wheat all the time, and use S05; in fact I have a small batch in a Brewtech right now. Mine finished bubbling in 3-4 days as well, but it is done with the growth phase. I would advise you be patient, and leave it in the bucket for a full 14 days. It doesn’t hurt anything, and...

Good advice; but to add another: You should probably split up your water in proportion to your extract split, in other words, partial volume, partial extract. Using the same proportion water (or close to it) as the extract will keep the hops utilization in line with expectations. If you boil...

One other thing. If you are using a stand, place the FF in the stand and then mark where you want to drill for the sample port. I didn’t do that and where I ended up with sample port didn’t allow it to sit level in the stand. Not a terrible situation but one that you can easily avoid!

I am going to start brewing my own recipes as well. I have the book “Brewing Classic Styles” and using that and Brewsmith software I figure it will be fun and not terribly difficult. Pick a style you want to brew, and use Brewsmith to keep you within the style guidelines, and you should do fine

OK - Santa brought me an immersion chiller, and I’m planning to use it this weekend. But I have a question when it comes to sterilizing it. Normally, for full volume extract boils, the standard instructions say to add the chiller to the wort boil about 10 minutes before flameout, and the...

I thought Beersmith has a “convert” function that does that for you?

I’m a split batch extract brewer (2.5 gal batches) at this point in time, so just about everything I got is targeted towards that. The haul from this Christmas includes: - 4.4 gal GigaWort electric brew pot - 3.5 gal SS Brewtech mini brew bucket - Silver Serpent immersion chiller - hop spider...

Like you, OP, I am the sole beer drinker in my house, and I like variety, so my standard batch size is 2.5 gal. I brew my 2.5 gal batches in a Northern Brewer GigaWort Electric (holds 4.4 gal), and I ferment in an SS Brewtech Mini, which nicely handles 3.5 gal. As backup, and mostly for...