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"lol" is as annoying as it gets....

Should I be overly concerned about yeast health and viability without using a stirplate? (pitching infected yeast into a batch would obviously be not good)

I'm going to start using specimen collection cups my wife can bring home from the hospital (she's a nurse). They are certified sterile and sealed. Just another idea.....

I was nervous about infection, but it smells like green beer, so I'm not too worried now. I added some fresh wort today (and the bottom 1/2 oz of a couple more Two Hearteds tonight for good measure). Is there any reason I can't keep adding some more fuel steadily (until I run out of room) to...

Hey guys, this is really cooking now. I gotta say making a starter is probably more fun than a batch. Thanks for the tips.

I think I'll add some wort and really get it going, add a couple hops, cold crash, decant and plan to pitch. Then I will have an excuse to brew a new batch.... Many thanks

Makes sense. One more question: in the pics you posted did you pitch from there (the starter in the pub glass, for example) or decant? I would like to hold off pitching for a couple weeks if I can. I was mostly just experimenting (didn't expect this to actually work). Thanks

So don't decant, just add fresh wort?

I didn't think photos would do much but it seems they do. I can see a yeast cake forming, and if I look really close that moldy gunk seems to be very tiny bubbles. So I'd say success! Without a stirplate, would you guys recommend I decant and repeat? If I manage to not screw this up...

So I'm now venturing into the yeast harvesting arena. I expected this to go horribly wrong.... I boiled a half cup of DME in 2 cups of water, cooled and then carefully added the sediment from 3 Bells Two-Hearted Ale bottles to a growler with a little yeast fuel. I then capped the growler...

Hold up, see BierMuncher's post (#2) on this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/cold-crash-then-add-gelatin-111273/ He argues the opposite. I see the logic in letting chill haze form before clearing with gelatin, but obviously I don't want a lava lamp carboy if the gelatin will...

Thanks. Did you cold crash too? The only way I can do that is my garage. And I'm worried about temperature swings there.

I'm contemplating adding gelatin to the IPA I have about ready for bottling in a Better Bottle. I'm wondering how I can add it through the bottleneck and get it evenly spread out across the beer surface area to drop uniformly. I don't want to stir or swirl for obvious oxygenation issues...

Great advice everyone. I'm thinking about brewing this soon. Now that you all have gone through it, any other tips you'd suggest? I'm planning on incorporating all of your recipe and racking tweaks into my plan.

As I thought, I have much to learn. As ambitious as I am about these things, perhaps I should perfect the art of extract brewing first. I have a supply of good LME locally, and logically should make many different types of beer that way first. But as MN says "just do it!" This may come...

Rather than starting a new thread, the preferred approach on the forum seems to be using existing threads. So I'm hoping some of you would like to add some more thoughts to this one. I've made I believe 6 batches thus far, all partial-mash and all have turned out pretty good (a couple...

I was just about to post this thread! So I'll add on as a rook (not an expert). Being a small-timer (one or two 5-gallon batches a month) would it be cost-effective for me to start building up a grain library? I'd grind them all at the store. The problems I see are (1) I'd need a scale at...

Stevo, can you expand on the importance of a ball valve? thanks