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Honestly, I would do 2.5 gallons instead of three. If you're going to be splitting 5 gallon kits, it wouldn't be worth the headache to me of having to make a beer six times in order to get the math right. If you just split in half, you can buy one kit and make the beer twice. I do it sometimes...

Yep, just divide by 2/3 for everything but the yeast, which can get slightly more complicated depending on which type you have. If you're using dry yeast, just pitch a half a packet and you'll be fine with anything but very high gravity beers. If you're using liquid yeast, you'll need to pitch...

BIAB is great, especially for smaller batches. I've been brewing this way for almost ten years now, and I love it. I do 2.5 gallon batches, which let's me do everything in one five gallon pot on my stove. If you are still looking for a kit, check out Bitter & Esters. It's a homebrew shop in...

I'd think it's pretty unlikely that your yeast is bad, if it successfully fermented your last batch and was just harvested a week ago. But you never know. How much yeast do you have? Enough to split it? You could pitch most of it into your wort tonight and then put the rest into a starter. The...

That sounds like a plan! Thank you so much! And I will try to drill this a few days before filling my first keg so I can have some patience to not turn it on immediately. :D

Thank you for the help! The skin does indeed get hot when it's running. There is a drain hole in the back just above the compressor, but it's too small to route a gas line, so I would have to widen it. That would be fine, except as you predict there is a plastic tube in the bottom section of...

I am finally making the switch to kegs, after getting frustrated with oxygen issues with my bottled batches. As part of this, I'm building a kegerator using this fridge: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-4-4-cu-ft-glass-door-compact-fridge-graphite/6407011.p?skuId=6407011 There are some...

One way you could try and simplify things for now is to not sparge. Some people do it with BIAB, and I've tried it, but it just seemed to make things messier and more complicated with little benefit to my process. Just a thought! On your enumerated questions, here are my suggestions: So it...

I use a mini fridge for fermentation temp control. Because it can only hold one carboy at a time, I frequently pull beers out once active fermentation is finished so I can ferment my next batch. I've never noticed an issue. My understanding and experience is that temperature generates off...

That's a very interesting way to use this! I do like a little clove but prefer more banana, so I'd be very happy to have more control. I'm also thinking of trying Bananza out in a brown ale after the holidays to try and go for a nutty banana bread feel. I used to get a good banana bread beer at...

Has anyone tried either of Omega's new yeasts, Bananza and Sundew? I got an email this morning from my HBS advertising some new recipe kits using these yeasts. They both sound really interesting. I was hoping to hear if anyone has experience with these yet before I pick which one to try. Here...

This is great advice. You want to keep the hydrometer tests to an absolute minimum. The more you open the fermenter, the more oxygen gets in, and the more quickly your beer will oxidate and lose those hoppy flavors. It's an even bigger concern if you'll be bottling (I assume you will), since you...

Somehow I forgot about lagering when talking about secondary vessels! My advice to not use a secondary is for ales that will only be in the fermentation vessel a few weeks. Secondaries are appropriate for things like lager and cider that sit around for much longer.

Couple of questions to help get you some answers. When you say second fermentation, do you mean putting the beer in a secondary vessel or are you referring to the fermentation for your second beer (a lager, it sounds like)? And with your bottles, am I right that you are seeing about 10% of the...

Yeah it's almost certainly down to the mash temp. Do you have anything in a fermenter right now? If so, you could try adding amylase enzyme and see if that does anything. It will break down the long-chain sugars you are probably creating with your mash temp. Otherwise, mash at 150 in your next...

I wouldn't say it will cause havoc. It actually should make your additions simpler because your grains would just be pale base malt, and that won't be pulling down the mash ph so much. But since you've already worked out your additions for a full mash, no reason not to go with that.

I know folks have gotten good results both with mashing everything together and with steeping the roast malt separately. Just make sure that you are adjusting your water accordingly. Your salt additions will need to be very different if you keep the roasted malt separate because they won't be...

If you ever do want to do a more traditional Norwegian beer with juniper, you can buy it here: 8 OZ Package Juniper Needles and Berries | Etsy Not the cheapest ingredient, but I'm thinking of doing a smaller batch Norwegian ale next year with it and some kveik.

I hear you on bottling NEIPAs, but I do want to stress for the OP that a NEIPA is different from other really hoppy beers. Sensitivity to oxygen is a sliding scale, of course. But in my experience, a west coast IPA is less oxygen sensitive than a NEIPA with the same (or fewer) IBUs. I would...

It sounds like everything is normal, actually. We know fermentation is happening because you saw some signs of active fermentation, and getting down to 1.020 shows the yeast is doing something. That's not an unusual gravity for three days in. What was the recipe's OG? Since you're doing...