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I think it's more likely the lid wasn't quite airtight so the co2 was escaping without visible airlock activity but when you closed it you sealed it so the activity was visible in the airlock again.

I should have thought of that at the store. Unfortunately I won't have time to get back there before my planned brew session, and if I have to wait I'll just order some Simcoe. Maybe that's what I should do, simcoe is not easy to substitute for, but with two young kids I don't get to brew...

I've suddenly come upon some free time to brew this weekend, and a Pliny the Elder clone has been high on my list. I have all the ingredients except that my LHBS is out of Simcoe. I know I can't make a true clone without them, but I'm happy with something different "in the Pliny style" if...

I'll second this - I've only tries Nottingham twice, and neither actually worked, meaning that both times I eventually had to pitch (s-05 once and s-04 once) to save the day. So I don't know what I'd think of Notty that did its thing, it may be a great yeast, but the quality control problems...

I have been making starters with DME and they have been fermenting fine, even the second one when I need to step up to a big starter. Really, how badly can you mess up an extract batch unless you pitch at a temp that kills the yeast? That's part of what convinces me that it must be the mash...

Looking back over my process I think there are a few places where I could be going wrong. I use a rubbermaid cooler mash tun. My procedure is to heat water in by brew kettle until it reaches strike temps (calculated by brew software, usually around 15 degrees above my planned mash temp)...

I appreciate the suggestion - I think it is clear something is wrong with my mashing. I'm pretty sure it's not the hydrometer, so I think it must either be a temperature thing or something relating to water chemistry. Can anyone recommend a thermometer that responds quickly and accurately...

I don't think the basement varies so much, and I have not been seeing signs of early flocculation. I have been trying bringing the fermenter to warmer temps and swirling to re-suspend the yeast - wouldn't that work? Given how consistent it has been with a large range of...

We're moving to an old house that requires substantial renovation. Generally it's a pain and I'd recommend against it, but one plus for me is that I can get a brewery installed in the basement at little additional cost. I've decided to go electric as carbon monoxide in the house where my kids...

Okay, so I recently got back into brewing after a long time off. So far I've done 8 batches and all have had a problem with high final gravities. I think I've addressed all the obvious things - I double checked the hydrometer and thermometer, started mashing lower (around 148-150), pitch...

I have to agree, as I said in my e-mail to them. Replacement packs are not really going to fix the problem for anyone who loses a batch from the issue, so I would hope they would do everything in their power to prevent that from happening. Instead, when this first came up they were slow to...

Definitely write them - that's the same lot I had trouble with and they said they hadn't heard of any problems with it. They blamed it on "something" that must have happened to it in transit to me. Maybe if enough people tell them they'll believe it. They did send me some replacement...

I decided to just go ahead and hope for the best. I figure that since the temps were still not uniform in the mash after 60 minutes, there were probably parts with enzymes left in tact - so I just stirred as best I could and let it sit form another 30 minutes. I have no idea if it worked -...

I must not have mixed things well (a problem with little kids running around causing trouble), because after 90 min I measured the mash before sparging and it was at 175 - so I assume it started close to 180 based on my normal heat loss. I'm not sure what to do now - if I had any base malt...

This brings up something I've wondered about before - if I wanted to start off the fermentation simply by adding some actively fermenting wort from a primary to the newly cooled wort of another batch, how much is enough? In other words, how much yeast is likely suspended during fermentation? I...

I had a similar experience - my first two beers were s-04, the second was an imperial stout, pitched directly on the cake from the first. The explosion sounded like a gun shot, and the lid of the bucket (and some krausen) literally hit the ceiling. What a mess. The ambient temp was low...

Same problem here - just bought 5 packs to try it out. Pitched one and no activity after 3 days. I raised the temp and pitched a second, nothing a day later. Finally I gave up and pitched S-05 and it took off less than 12 hours later. We'll see if I managed to escape without off flavors...