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We went out and got a Brew Belt yesterday to help raise the temperature - got it up to about 71-72 and immediately noticed some airlock activity restarting. We grabbed an extra satchet of t-58 just in case it needs some yeast reintroduction but the guy at the LHBS was pretty confident (as you...

Short and sweet: BB Tripel kit. OG of 1.085- In the primary for 2 weeks stuck at 1.030 in the basement at 62-64. Raised temp to 68, dropped to 1.026 but stuck another 3 days now. Time to pitch more yeast or add sugar solution to primary? How do you tell whether its unfermented fermentables or...

Yeah, I was planning on adding a sparge to my brew process this time around. Those steeping guidelines seem consistent with the instructions (2.5g for 20 mins at 150-165). I'm going to log all my deviations from the instructions this time around and hopefully at the end make note of the...

Can you expand on the "steeping" temps discussion, if it is to say that deviation from kit instructions is needed?

Continuous or occassional?

Fair enough - is there any advantage to doing that gentle stirring? Obviously I guess it would promote cooling if you were using cold air to get the wort off the bottom of the kettle swished around, but in an ice bath, is any advantage seen from that stir? Would simply dropping a sanitized...

Brewer's Best Tripel kit appears to come with s-33 - would the recommendation be to instead get T-58 if using a dry yeast (I understand this is not ideal) for the Tripel? With a recommended OG in the 1.085 range, would 1 packet be enough (or if not, would 2 packets be overpitching)? Thanks...

Hmm, I definitely read somewhere about the dangers of messing with cooling wort, noting that I had definitely stirred my cooling wort in my previous batches and to make sure I didn't do that again. Yeah, here it is: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-9-3.html Is that not true?

RE: the use of the frozen bottle as a "paddle" - I thought that playing too much with cooling wort (over ~80 degrees) was a potential pitfall and cause of some oxidation? I was going to try to leave mine alone as much as possible on this next batch while in an icebath outside in the cold night...

20 minutes or less is a great goal for us on this next batch. Our most recent batch, we tried just utilizing the natural cold night temperatures and a snow pile and it took well over an hour - knew that was too long, but didn't realize HOW much over the proper time we were! Also, since you...

PDM, Its reassuring to hear someone having the same issues with the same kits, and to hear what you think the problem is! We're about to do our 4th BB kit batch, and the 2nd and 3rd BOTH have had that tangy taste to them. Up until yesterday, I just lurked on these boards - but decided to take...

Yeast- has been Nottingham (dry) for each. That's just what came with the kit. Hop Schedules- followed the kit instructions exactly on each. Would have to look back to recipes for exact procedures but did not deviate at all. On the flavor- I think it's an "off" because its showed up in 2 very...

Regarding the late addition of LME- does this apply to ALL fermentables (I.e. some belgian style kits that have candi sugar in addition to LME and DME)? Or should you always add the "other" fermentables in whole at the beginning of the boil as the kit recipes call for and just split the...

Yeah, like I said, I have a dedicated space in a finished basement so I can be pretty certain that won't be an issue. So its basically just a defense for warming month fermentation where sunlight into rooms could warm room temperature faster than AC units/fans cool it AND a defense for the...

In other words, the optimal process here is setting up your "chamber" (freezer) in a temperature controlled room of ~70 degrees and after chilling the wort to your fermentation temperature and sealing the primary, placing it in the "freezer" (which is really just a room temperature sealed...

Thanks for the response. If I understand this correctly, though, "reaching a proper temperature" would still require the freezer to have the capacity to be somewhat "warm", right? How does that work? I.e., I get my wort to ~66 degrees, I transfer to my primary and now put in my "chamber"...

BTW, I appreciate you taking the time to help me out here!! Any thoughts on potential oxidation issues as described in my original, tragically long-winded, narrative??? Thanks!!

Can you explain the concept of a "swamp cooler"? And the problem is that the first brew DIDNT have off flavors, and the last two (including the one fermented at the consistent 64) DID, which throws me off. While I think I can do better to control temperatures, I don't think I can attribute...

Hey all, definitely coming to realize that temp control could be an issue for myself - I have a pretty stable spot where I ferment (bathroom tub in finished basement hat has baseboard heating and thermostat temp control) but its not manipulate-able. I see a lot of talk of using chest...

I used the built in thermometer on the primary bucket that came with the whole Brewer's Best kit to monitor. The most recent (the stout) it was a consistent 64 throughout. The first two were closer to 70, but fairly stable. The problem is that I can keep it consistent (I use the tub in...