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I've found that when I add the hops directly to the wort they clog up my strainer when I try pouring into the fermenter, so that's why I started using the nylon bag. Waiting to take them out after the wort has cooled sounds like a good idea, but I'd be afraid of contaminating it by touching the...

I'm an extract brewer and am up to my 6th batch now. Every part of the process seems to go fairly smooth now except when it comes time to remove the hops from the wort after a 60min boil. I use one of those nylon mesh bags for steeping grains and for hop additions as well. It's very fine...

Update: A couple weeks ago I took the corny out of the fridge and let it gas out for a week at room temperature. Then I hydrated a couple packets of dry yeast, pitched it, and used a gas line into sanitizer as an airlock. It did start bubbling, but I wasn't sure if that was just more co2...

I drink a lot of Carlo Rossi chardonnay. I've been saving the jugs thinking I'd use them for something but I'm sure I have more than I'll ever need. So I've got close to 20 jugs. Come out to Chicago and I'll give ya some :-)

Thanks for the advice guys. At the time of fermentation I didn't realize you had to be checking gravity before moving it to secondary. I racked it after 7 days simply because that is what the instructions from midwest said. I won't make this mistake again. Chad - I am wondering that too. I...

I guess I can give that a shot. I have nothing to lose at this point. So frustrating. This is only my second batch and my first batch was on the sweet side as well but not this bad.

Days 10 and 11 of secondary both had readings of 1.024 so I assumed it was done. Yes this was an extract. Thanks for the response. Do you think there is anything I can do with this beer?

I tried brewing midwest's octane IPA, which is supposed to have an OG of 1.064-1.068 and an FG of 1.012-1.018. Had the brew 7 days in the primary fermenter and about 11 days in secondary. There was about a 24 hour lag before noticeable fermentation started. When I took it out of primary it...

Fellow New Lenox homebrewer here :-)

Problem solved:

Smart thinkin! I've been looking for a reason to get rid of that horrible carpet :)

This is only my 3rd batch, it's a double IPA. Just wondering if this sort of craziness is typical:

+20 (10 IPA, 5 Double IPA, 5 Porter) =9066

If you like scottish ales maybe you should give a Nut Brown Ale a try. I feel the two styles have similar qualities.

I use 3 piece for primary and S-shape for secondary. I don't think an S-shape could handle this kind of action:

Nevermind, I found the answer to my question in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/when-transfer-primary-secondary-42838/ So I guess I transferred to secondary to early. I'll just let the thing sit a while longer and I'll start taking gravity readings again when it's done bubbling.

I gotchya, but I'm only following that guideline because I have no other way of knowing when a good time to transfer from primary to secondary is. I go from secondary to bottle after gravity readings stop dropping right. But how do I know when primary is done, the gravity will still be...

How did the scottish 80 turn our? Or are you still waiting on it? I'm a newbie as well but I'd suggest just pick a style of ale that you enjoy and are familiar with. In my case I love IPAs and drink them quite regularly so my first 3 batches were different types of IPA. These three were...

3 weeks in primary? Then how long do you leave them in secondary? Shouldn't fermentation be complete for most styles after 3 weeks? Midwest supplies recommends 1 week in primary, 1 week in secondary. Why is that?

Yeah that's another thing I've been wondering, when exactly should you transfer to secondary? This is only my 3rd batch and for each I've just transferred after 7 days. I couldn't find anything online suggesting an indication on when a good time to transfer would be.