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Ah, that makes much more sense now. "Fermometer", not "fermenter" as I originally read. Not to self, don't answer forums until I've had a cup of coffee in the morning!:D Could have to do with the summer weather? We've had a brutal one, so I wouldn't be surprised if the ice is melting too...

I get plenty of condensation on the outside of my fermenters. I haven't noticed any negative effect on my beers (lager or ale) as a result. That being said, I regularly check my seals and bungs for signs of mold and rot. If your seals go, then there's risk from the condensation spreading bugs, I...

From my own experiences: 1- There's some cushioning, but not much. The temps in my cool bag can easily reach ambient if I don't swap the ice out every 24 hours. In summer in Sydney, that can easily mean 26°C-30°C in the coolest room of house. This is OK (IMO) for storage post-fermentation, but...

It's going to pour rain this weekend. I got a brew in Wednesday evening after work, though, an Irish Red. Pipeline's full, so I'm quite happy for the time being. I might take stock in my brew room and order a few odds and ends online.

I always count my caps first to make sure I have exactly as many as I need plus some. Check your local supermarket. I found mine sells some homebrew supplies, including caps, in the drinks aisle next to the mixers. May save you in a pinch if this happens again.

I use both traditional tupperware and containers with snap-locks on the side: https://www.bigw.com.au/product/sistema-klip-it-containers-6-pack/p/WCC100000000251596/ The moths can get into just about anything, even less than a millimeter-wide gap, and lay larvae. They're annoying little...

We had a ton or rain all spring so the flies and moths have been horrendous all summer. Had a moth infestation in the kitchen cupboards - they got into just about all of the snap-locked plastic containers. Had to throw a lot of food stuff out. When I checked my grains, the 20L pails and had...

What kind of bottles are you using? All of the beers I have in my swing tops have very little head, but my crown seal bottles carb up fine. Also, how are you priming? Are you adding sugar to each bottle or are you batch priming? If batch priming, I usually wait at least an hour before beginning...

Mine looks a bit wonky at the bottom as well, but it still measures fine. As long as the correct amount of material (whatever it is in there) is still there, I wouldn't think it would skew your readings. As AZ said, check it in distilled water and a known amount of sugar. If it reads 1.000 in...

Total Fire Ban for us tomorrow due to the fact it's going to be 40°-some C. That means no propane burner for brewing. Bottle cleaning on Saturday and possibly bottling the Altbier I've had sitting around for a bit now. Hopefully, I can brew Sunday when it's a bit cooler.

Hi Jack, With no-chill, you usually wait until the wort cools naturally to pitching temp, usually 24 hours or so. My worts usually go from 70°C to around 25°C, give or take, overnight. Once it gets to the mid-20s, I pop the carboy into my cool bag and let it fall to 20°C before pitching my yeast.

Prost!:mug: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamalz

@CoreyD it's extremely useful. Living in Australia, we're constantly reminded about not wasting water. When I started brewing, I couldn't justify wasting 30L of water just to cool my wort. That's exactly why I went no-chill. I pour directly from my brew kettle into my fermenter. If you're going...

I've said before and I'll say again - brewing is like cooking: Extract is like store-bought, ready made meals. All the work is done for you, you just have to cook it. All-grain is cooking from scratch, which takes practice. Lots of practice. As others have said, start with a good recipe...

What porterpounder said. Make sure there's no visible scum and if there is, rinse out well. If your really want, fill your sink with hot water and soak the bottles for a bit before giving them a good rinse. FWIW, I use an organic, no perfume dish soap on some of my bottles and some brewing...

German Pils tomorrow. Last brew before schools go back and I have to attend professional development and teach.

This. Any way you can recycle water to use in your brewing and/or for cleaning is always a good move. I bought a bottle tree and washer attachment so all I need is 1L of hot water to clean out 12-18 bottles. Beats the amount of water I was probably using out of the tap! :off: US$0.70 is...

Most (if not all) homebrew-grade cleaners are non-corrosive and non-toxic. PBW, sodium percarbonate, star-san, they're all safe to use without protective clothing. If you have incredibly sensitive skin, maybe wear gloves, but none of these cleaners will do any harm. I'm allergic to just about...

If you can get your hands on sodium percarbonate, you'll be able to remove labels and clean your bottles with one good soaking. Take a look at this link, it's what I use. I generally soak my bottles in the sink with some hot water and a teaspoon of the cleaner. Labels come off after about 15...

If you're going to start with extract, you can use the 3 gallon pot and add top-up water to the fermenter. If you want to start with all-grain, you'll want at least a 6 gallon pot for 5 gallon batches. Do some research but don't be scared to just play around and find out what works best for you.