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It was pitched earlier than it should have been (around 80F), but that was almost 2 weeks ago and it's been solidly between 68-71 the entire time after that. I forgot that the recipe included Flaked Corn, which apparently can provide an apple cidery kind of flavor... maybe I added too much...

Took a hydrometer reading to check on fermentation for my very first batch of beer this evening and I'm disconcerted that it smells like apple juice. :confused: It was fermented with Safale US-05 and I'm not sure its quite "done" yet because the sample tasted pretty yeasty, so I'm going to...

I didn't "scratch it all to hell," it looks perfectly fine - it's literally brand new! It's like spraying it with the isopropyl "set" the film somehow - has anyone come across this phenomenon before? It rubs off with soap and water, I just can't get down into the thing to scrub that part...

I am personally holding out for this model because it's inexpensive, well rated, and puts out 100,000 BTUs so it should be reliable for use as I grow my batches from 5 to 10 gallons. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-100-000-BTU-Propane-Gas-Outdoor-Cooker-815-4005-S/202038918

You can take a hydrometer reading at a higher temperature, you just have to use a calculator to adjust it. We took a reading once our wort had fallen to about 180 F, and the sample in the hydrometer tube fell another 40~ degrees while we were doing other things. As long as you know the temp...

I did almost the same thing a week ago and was equally freaking out about it. If it's an opaque bucket, you can use a flashlight to shine on the lid and the sides to see what's going on inside. Happy to report that my airlock is quiet but you can clearly see a krausen ring (and now that...

A carboy brush would be perfect but they're all bent at the end! I'll take it to home depot this weekend and see what I can find.

Can you elaborate more on the hop stuff here? I'm a newb, but I understood FWH to be at the beginning of the boil? If that's the case, wouldn't that transfer all your aroma hops to become bittering hops and defeat the purpose of adding them late?

This weekend we brewed an IPA and I poured it straight into the fermenter once it had gotten below 200 degrees. It sat there overnight until I could pitch the yeast. I'm slightly worried about oxidation from the headspace, but honestly it seems to be going gangbusters now that I've added...

So the water in my basement is apparently not hooked up to our water softener, which means a lot of minerals. So far, hasn't caused a problem (don't brew with it) but I've been using the utility sink down there to clean my stuff before and after brew day and make up my StarSan. I had just...

I went straight in flying by the seat of my pants with all grain, but with a small batch. I used several of the recipes available from BeerSmith's cloud and used the free trial to scale them down to my equipment. I managed to come up with (what I hope) will be a good Cream Ale, but it's still...

Yes, Michigan, so it will snow here. In the winter it will be nice to keep the kitchen warm with brewing and just be able to take the pot outside and put it in the snow :) That's a great idea, I'll just need to ensure there's room on brew day! That's what I purchased the wine thief for...

I was looking at no-chill as well. From what I have seen the premise is that you leave it in the kettle until cool, or you throw it into the fermentor, seal it and wait until cool to continue. Either of those would work for me as I could just take the fermentor to my basement sealed and deal...

Thanks for these guidelines! I brew small batches, so is half pound still applicable here, or would I reduce further for smaller batches? For example, is 3 pounds of grain too high for a 1.5 gallon batch?

Hello! I am relatively new and I have one batch under my belt. It's in the fermentor right now (2 gallon plastic bucket) so I'm not sure if it has turned out yet. However, I experienced some issues with my first batch because it was such a small size, and I'd like to continue to brew small...