Search results

Yes, I did have a bowl of cider vinegar as a trap (caught 3 this time). The 3 things you list are definitely possible causes of infection. However, over the years I have reasonably ruled them out (no fruit, no dry hop, healthy pitch and anal retentive sanitation). Those causes also tend to...

Actually, fruit flies do carry acetobacter, which basically turns your beer to vinegar.

Argghh!!! I have always had an issue with fruit flies in my house. Over the years, I tend to lose about 1 brew a year to an aceto infection (knock on wood, never had a lacto infection). I've narrowed it down to a bottling issue, not fermenter. I use all the standard tricks. I seal around the...

Assuming the grains are a few ounces of crystal/roasted/carasomething, you have "extract with specialty grains". The fermentable wort is comprised solely of extract and you steep the specialty grains to help create additional flavor. These steeping grains don't add any fermentable sugar unless...

+^ You don't know the AA so just use them late/whirlpool/dry hop where there are negligible IBUs, anyway.

For ferm temp control, if the house is too warm do a search for "swamp cooler" - easy and fairly effective. If the house is too cool, put it in a closet with a small space heater and play with the temp control (check often) until it keeps the brew around 68-ish. Long term solution is to find a...

I used to bottle one 1L p!astic bottle as a test bottle. But now I just trust the yeast. Give them 2 weeks at 70F+ and they'll carb. Three weeks is better. Only once in ~100 brews have I had one that wouldn't carb and that was an 11.5% Belgian that the yeast crapped out on (a little champagne...

If you added 12L too much water, you could figure out how much extract (or just sugar) in 12L will give you 1.040. Give it a 10 min boil and add it to the fermenter. It will kick off a second round of fermentation and raise your effective OG without changing the flavor noticeably.

Good ol' Walmart.

Not sure how far upstate he will be but Ommegang in Cooperstown is a great place with some of my favorite brews. Also, Middle Ages and Empire in Syracuse.

Martin, thanks for the clarification. Years ago I was told by my former LHBS not to add lime directly to the mash liquor. Something about a pH spike or some evil reaction. He said to add after dough-in. Adding to the water before mash makes life a lot easier.

Hydrometer is cheap and easy and you need one for FG, anyway (refractometers aren't accurate once alcohol is present). Best reason to use a refractometer is if you are brewing small batches (1 or 2 gal) and don't want to waste wort on gravity samples. Otherwise, stick with a hydrometer.

Another possibility would be to use pickling lime to raise pH. It also adds calcium so keep an eye on that. You add it to your mash AFTER dough-in, NOT to your mash water. I defer to Martin as to whether baking soda or lime is preferable and the pros and cons of each. I've had good luck with lime.

BeerSmith doesn't distinguish between flame out additions and a hop stand. I suspect that's what's going on in this recipe. The first Amarillo/Simcoe addition is at true flame out (i.e. as soon as you turn off the burner). The Simcoe/Columbus addition is probably a hop stand. For a hop stand you...

A couple of suggestions for your next brew. A bottling bucket with a spigot and bottling wand would be good, inexpensive investments to make your bottling process easier. The spigot means you won't have to bottle with your autosiphon and the wand ensures consistent, accurate filling. To reduce...

Looks like you carbed around 2.1-2.2 volumes. With lower carb rates I sometimes find it takes a little while for the carbonation to become evident. The combination of higher alcohol and lower carb may take a little longer. Try rolling the bottles every few days for another week or two and then...

Yes, Primo water at Wal-Mart is RO water - very, very minimal minerals.

The other thing is to make sure the little black specs don't have wings and legs (fruit flies). That would be bad news.

How did you prepare your starter wort? Boil in the flask or in a pot and transfer? The only thing I can think of is a) coffee grounds in the pot (????) or b) bits of burnt extract from lack of stirring during boil.

Gelatin will work on warmer beer but it will take longer and not work as well. Before I had a ferm chamber, I used a swamp cooler and was able to get down into the 50s. You will need a deep tub that will submerge most of your fermenter and it takes a lot of work swapping out ice often to keep...