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Finally getting around to the vanilla bourbon porter. I am going to soak the vanilla beans in bourbon this evening and plan on adding to my brew after I rack over to the secondary. Do I just add the beans themselves or do I add the beans/bourbon or just the bourbon?

I opened my fermenter this evening and saw ZERO signs of fermentation. I visited my LHBS and it was suggested to pitch a new batch of yeast which I did tonight. This time I stirred the brew for 10 minutes. We'll see what happens. Thanks for all the advice and I will definitely get some...

I recently brewed a 5 gal Porter from a kit. My OG ended up at 1.044 vs a target of 1.051 - 1.055. From what I have read there are a few things I could have done to cause this (i.e. too much water added to the wort prior to pitch, covered boil, age of kit - purchased back in Nov). It has been...

Can you not dry hop to a primary if your intention is to leave the beer in the primary?

I have included pictures of my particular fridge. I thought about crimping the line but that could be tricky and actually cut the line open (not good). What if I installed a small fan (like a pc fan) near the freezer portion to keep the air moving around. Would this prevent the ice build up...

Did you bake the bacon? If so, what temperature and how long? Bacon or bourbon, choices....choices.

Chocolate bacon?????

I have a Sanyo mini-fridge as the cooling source for my ferm chamber. Any thoughts on how to keep the freezer portion from running? I do not see a control switch for just the freezer.

I am trying to decide if I should get a wort chiller. The last two times I have brewed I have been able to get 2.5 gal of wort to 70 degrees within 25-30 minutes with an ice bath and using 4 bags of ice. How long does a typical wort chiller take to have the wort reach 70 degrees? If 25-30...

Down for me too.

Thank you. I had read the vanilla / bourbon idea earlier and this confirms that it will be a good choice. How much bourbon should I use? It is important to note that a good bourbon is second to a good beer in my book (the ol' lady does not let me keep it around the house much any more though...

I will soon be brewing a Porter from a Brewer's Best kit. I would like to flavor this particular batch. To date I have not deviated from the few kits I have brewed and am an intermediate brewer at best. Any suggestions for spicing up my brew a bit?

I have read a lot about dry hop methods. It sounds to me a lot of it boils down to personal preference. It appears to me as if the all around easiest method would be to put the hops in a nylon bag. Are there any drawbacks to using the nylon bag? I plan on using pellet hops and will be using...

Good point. Are you better off using a glass carboy as your primary as opposed to a plastic bucket?

Is it necessary to transfer a stout for secondary fermentation or am I wasting my time? I have been told that with a stout it really isn't necessary and from everything I have read there is no true consensus.

What is the best size immersion wort chiller should I use for a 5 gal brew pot?

I went ahead and bottled anyway. Phoned my lhbs and they said the residual water should be no problem. The guy said the chlorine is what you need to worry about and that the temperature at which the d/w sanitizes at (above 150) is enough to get rid of the chlroine. We'll see how it turns out.

Any concerns of the bottles not being completely dry on the inside after d/w sanitation?

Thanks for your comments. Boiling the grains was a mistake and was not done on purpose (not thinking). I believe it was the priming sugar mixture that was on the bottom of the bottling bucket. I poured the priming mixture straight from my saucepan (still hot) into the bottling bucket and I do...

After doing some additional research and reading the "FAQ's" I realize that I am more than likely jumping the gun. Just a bit nervous because of various screw ups along the way and fully expecting a bad batch. I am going to give it some more time. I brewed on 8/14, bottled on 8/22 (too early...