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So, two days ago when I poured from the kegerator the first glass was half foam. The second glass was fine. On another note. Out if curiosity I turned the gas off to the keg. Came.back the next night and every glass poured fine, regardless of time it sat. So here are the specifics and...

I kegged a Bitter 4-5 weeks ago (first homebrew keg). I let it carb at 11-12psi for two weeks at 38 degrees. Its a minifridge kegorator. 2.5 feet roughly from tap to center of keg. And a standard faucet. The beer line is 3/16 with a resistance a little over one. I have 8 ft of line. Anyway...

I used a meter and cooled the sample to room temperature first. The meter was calibrated before brewing. I guess ill start trying the cacl to bring the ca levels up and work with the Cl to sulf ratio. Ill see where the ph goes, and if its still too high and the minerals are what I want ill go...

I'm all for experimentation. Should I start with 5.2 Or should I go directly to using the spreadsheets to calculate salt additions (for a better ratio of Cl and sulfates ) and acid additions since the salt alone won't bring the ph that far down?

Didn't use RO water. Just 100% tap water (filtered with activated carbon to get rid of the pool water). The grain bill was 60% pale and 40% wheat. I wasn't sure if adding salts, and using a percentage of distilled water, using an acid, or 5.2 should be used to bring the ph down?

I just brewed a weizen (two times) And had a mash ph of 5.9. It was a 1.25 qt/lb ratio. I'm in Baltimore and the current report from the water dept. Is. Alkalinity - 56 Ca - 26 Mg - 8 Na - 17 Sulfate - 20 Cl - 47 I used braukaiser's water calculator. It gave me an estimate of 5.6. Anyway I was...

I've noticed my strips on the side of the fermenter usually reads a combination 6 degrees. As the fridge comes on to bring down the temp the outside of the carboy cools faster than the interior so I'm getting a range on the strip. I'm not a 100% sure how the interior temperature of the...

Hah, yes one ladle at a time. I think I misunderstood when I watched brewtv's decoction episode. He added the decoction, I thought, one ladle at a time as to not overshoot his step temp. So I did that but I guess I lost a lot.of heat pretty quick. Hopefully the beer does come out alright..it...

I used beersmith for the calcs. But I will def try to pull over what is calculated to be needed. And ill add some wort from the main mash to keep the decoction consistency if it gets too thick. Or would adding water to the decoction for that purpose be a better decision?

Thanks, ill try adding like you prescribed. I guess next time ill pull a bit more than an needed to ensure I have enough to bring it to the next step.

By the description I had for the thickness of the decoction, do you think its possible it was too thick, preventing it from having enough thermal mass to raise the temp of the main mash. On top of letting them both cool while wedding it slowly?

Did the mash today and it was just a mess. Single infusions have become easy fir me, consistently hitting temps. This was another critter. So I pulled the 40% decoction. Brought that to 158. Held it there for 15 minutes while stirring. Then brought it to boiling for 20. Now I took the thickest...

Thanks for all of the advice. Ill see how it goes tomorrow on my first attempt. Hopefully it'll be an awesome hefe in a couple of weeks or so.

Sorry. No I'm pulling one decoction, boiling it (after a 15 minute sacc rest). And adding it back to the main mash to raise it from 112 to 147. Then step mashing the main mash from 147 to 158. Then step mashing that for mash-out. If I stuck with the cooler the step mash they would have to be...

I am planning on doing my first decoction mash tomorrow for a hefe. I'm starting at 112 at 0.75 qt/lb. Then pulling a 40% decoction to raise the mash to 147. Then raising to 158. Then again mashing out. Now is 0.75 qt/lb a little thick to be pulling from for a decoction? Or does that make...

Do you think the top cropped yeast can survive two week storage? And how would I calculate viability to gauge a proper size starter. Without a microscope. That is saying top cropped yeast has low glycogen reserves.

I am going to brew a hefe with 1068 next week. I'd like to reuse the yeast to brew a second hefe the following week or two. I think 1068 would be better being top cropped, but since I need to store the yeast for a week or two, would bottom cropping be acceptable for one generation (following...

Use a pitching calculator like www.mrmalty.com. The amount of yeast pitched depends on viability of the yeast, gravity of wort and the volume. The viability is estimated from the age of the yeast your using. Yes the yeast will produce CO2 that will fill the bucket. Its more dense so it'll...

How were your tasting notes for it? What kind of beer was it?

I mashed at 150 (single infusion). Is it normal to get the attenuation that high for that kind of mash? I guess besides allowing the fermentation temp to rise to 68 towards the end, what else could affect the high attenuation?