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A bit pricey but I lager in a brew jacket with great success, zero effort. http://brewjacket.com

Using http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/ and http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ I still get 102% accounting for temperature. The only other thing I can think is that my grain weights are pre-milling, which may have messed up the calculation too.

Get long (8 ft+) serving lines. I got 3 footers for my first setup and had constant foam issues - took me like two years and a helpful LHBS guy to figure it out. I really like fittings that you can screw on and off, it makes cleaning the lines out so much easier. Its not really descriptive but...

I recently ran into the same thing with 820, but I made a 2.5 liter starter with two vials and pitched at 53, so it can definitely be a finnicky yeast. I had to raise to 58, rack to stir it up, and use a bunch more yeast to get it going.

I'll check on my thermometer being calibrated. I know my hydrometer must be jacked because I had 102% efficiency according to an online calculator, hah.

The difference was about 2 months of sitting in my fridge- I had four vials that had a use by date was 2/1/2016, so I may have had low viability by the time I made the AG version 2 months after the extract version. Other than that I don't know.

Thanks for the reassurance! I racked the AG lager right on to the yeast cake of the extract lager (same yeast) at 60F and within 20 minutes it was going nuts! Must have been bad yeast or I screwed up my starter.

I took a sample yesterday and while the gravity hadn't changed (maybe like... .003) it still tasted great. Definitely not fermented beer though! I'm transferring the beer on to the other yeast cake today, fingers crossed I don't have unfermentable wort somehow.

8 Pounds Vienna Malt 1 pound munich malt 8 oz crystal 80L 8 oz caramunich malt 1 oz Tettnang (40 minutes) 1 oz Hallertau (30 minutes) 120F protein rest for 30 153F for 45. Sparge 170. With a good OG it could still be unfermentable?

RESOLUTION: I racked the AG version of the beer right on to the yeast cake of another octoberfest (extract) that I kegged today (same yeast) and its already fermenting like crazy. Thanks for the help! First AG lager brewed one week ago and the gravity has not changed, looking for advice. OG...

Makes sense, thank you! I also realized this is the first time I've ever brewed in the morning- usually I'm pitching in the wee hours of the night and the craziest fermentation is happening in cooler temps.

Followup question- Now that I've decided to shelve this guy and buy a keg as a backup, what's the best way to salvage this given infinite time? I already kegged it- will it ever get better in a pressurized keg? Would the storage temperature make a big difference? What's the time frame in a keg...

Yikes. I've done every other beer I've ever done with an ambient of 67-68 and they've all come out perfect! I also did a belgian dark (with trappist yeast) which came out perfect in the same conditions. The Hefeweizen I did is also great, although banana flavor in that is a bit more forgivable.

Thanks! Yeah the ambient air temp was between 71 and 72, it didnt really occur to me to think that the temperature inside the fermenter would be hotter than that, but it makes sense. Avery was ordered, ah well- hopefully it will chill out in a few months and I'll have a 'free' beer waiting for me.

EDIT: Followup question- Now that I've decided to shelve this guy and buy a keg as a backup, what's the best way to salvage this given infinite time? I already kegged it- will it ever get better in a pressurized keg? Would the storage temperature make a big difference? What's the time frame in a...

Neeeeeeed

I'm kind of obsessed with calculating my exact costs per homebrew (that and I've been asked to commission a beer and want to know what to charge). One thing I've noticed is that my gas bills have gone way up since I've been brewing. I have a typical gas range stove- does anyone know what the...

On my first three batches: 1. Didn't use a blowoff tube, airlock + rubber stopper exploded, beer all over the kitchen, volcanoing everywhere. Beer was great (Amber Ale Kit) 2. Dropped the wyeast bag in the fermenter, unsanitized. I had only activated the pack like five minutes before because I...

Lookin' good!

Bottled this last night, I had a moment of panic when I saw big green splotches on some of the oranges in the fermenter, but I realized it was just hop chunks. FG 1.014, tasted awesome outta the bucket! Now to get the damn oranges out of the carboy....