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Thanks, Revvy. I didn't mean to imply in my post that the lack of expansion was the main culprit. I've had other smack packs give similar, anemic results and the beer turned out fine. But I've just "started" making starters, so my main concern was the minimal amount of yeast trub that I saw, at...

Okay, thanks. I only had enough spare DME to make another 1.5L of starter wort, so I did the best I could. I was scared to decant too much of the old liquid off lest I throw away all the yeast, so I left about 1L and added the fresh 1.5L to it. It looks like a lot of starter to pitch in...

On Wednesday night I brewed up a starter for a Pliny the Elder clone that I'm planning on brewing this weekend (OG = 1.074). Based on Jamil's calculator and the date of the yeast pack (Wyeast 1056, dated 4/20), I brewed a 3L starter and went with the "intermittent shaking" method. This is only...

Thanks for the info. Ballpark how much volume loss are we talking about here? Do I have to do anything to take the volume loss in account (or simply lower my expected # of bottles)?

Ah, thanks... I'm still learning. As someone with a chemical engineering background I have to unlearn one set of terminology and learn a new one when talking about beer. When I think of yeast collecting at the bottom of the container, my go-to terms are "precipitating" and "crashing out of...

I'm going to brew the extract recipe of AHS's Pliny the Elder clone this weekend, and would appreciate advice from anyone who has brewed this recipe before. I only have 3 batches under my belt, so this recipe might stretch my abilities a little. Here's my plan: Wednesday p.m.: Shipment...

Same here... I don't see why you can't be both. :mug: However, it definitely seems like heavily hopped beers get the most attention. Is there an equivalent to Pliny the Elder that is the go-to malt bomb?

Same here... I drink about a 12-oz beer a night, sometimes two, and brew a 5-gallon batch about once a month. The math is already not in my favor (50 bottles/batch gives me about 7 weeks of drinking), but I have to force myself to keep at the once/month level. Fortunately my wife does all the...

I'm sitting here an drinking a Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA and loving every minute of it (pun intended). It's funny, but I never like heavily hopped beers before I started homebrewing.... probably because I started out on the almost hop-less American lite beers and could never get past the...

I just brewed up AHS Hibiscus Ginger Saison with this yeast. OG was 1.068 so I made a 3L starter based on Jamil's calculator. After a week it was down to the target 1.012; I'll check it again in a couple of days but it should be finished. My taste from the hydrometer tube was amazing...

Brewers tend to be perfectionists (I count myself as one), as these forums can attest, so a lot of things that seem like major mistakes end up not being a big deal. Beer is pretty resilient, otherwise it wouldn't have been brewed for millenia. Hence the slogan RDWHAHB! I have three batches...

I haven't noticed the LME twang in my own brews yet, but when I think of twang I think of the taste difference between fruits canned in steel cans vs. plastic containers. Acidic fruits like mandarin oranges and pineapple in cans have especially strong metallic flavors. Is this same flavor I...

What type of yeast are you using? Wyeast 3724 (Belgian Saison) is notorious for getting stuck at 1.035 unless the temperature is pretty high (85+). But 3711 (French Saison) is much more forgiving and is generally known to be an aggressive fermentor. I'm going to use 3711 in AHS Hibiscus Ginger...

I just cracked a bottle of this last night. I did primary fermentation for two weeks and skipped the secondary. OG and FG were right on the mark at 1.051 and 1.005, respectively. I used 2/3 cup of table sugar to prime and carbed up the bottles at 74 degrees for 1 week. The result: a clean...

I've only bottled two batches so far so my experience is limited. But I saw this phenomenon occurring with my second batch. I twisted the bottles rapidly back and forth to dislodge the yeast/sediment and re-suspend it in the beer. After about 24 hours, all of the sediment had fallen to the...

I'm heating a small 7x7 foot room in my basement with a space heater right now for carbing/fermenting. It has a safety switch that turns it off in the event that it is knocked over. It has a thermostat that is a little finicky but once set it keeps the temperature pretty constant. Cost me...

Thanks everyone for the replies and recommendations on brew clubs. Hopefully I can make it to meeting soon. The CRABS group that meets in New Milford is closer to me than Pleasantville but both are pretty reasonable drives. Cheers!

Being a new homebrewer (extract-only so far), I'm amazed that all-grain brewing has such a huge cost advantage. I brew once/month and spend at least $30 on ingredients. I'm already planning on taking the leap to AG in the near future... Given your estimate, I should only have to spend $2-3 month...

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try this on my next batch. I've been struggling with keeping the steeping water at the 150-155 level for 30 minutes with my ancient electric stove. (I'm not going to try AG until I get this figured out). My very first batch I ended up holding the temp on target...

Yeah, me too. I had a couple of friends in college who homebrewed but the whole process seemed mysterious and inaccessible to me. (Their beer wasn't that great either). But after watching the Amber Waves show I saw how simple it was. It's funny how quickly this show becomes cringe-worthy though...