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So I am ready to bottle my 1st batch after 7 days in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. I noticed that the primary fermenter bucket still smells very strongly of the last brew. Will this have any effect on my next batch? I am worried becuase if I take a gatorade bottle and empty it and fill...

It's a safe bet to say that you will lose damn near a gallon of water during a 60 minute boil. So right there you're at 4 gallons. After siphoning at least twice, maybe 3 times to avoid trub, you can easily lose more. I'm surprised you lost .5 gallons, but it can happen. You want to ferment...

I put tin foil over the pot and the lid on top of the tin foil in the garage so the water is not exposed and is highly unlikely to pick up any type of infection. I do it the night before so it's cool by morning and brew time. I would think that dumping near freezing water on 200 degree...

After reading this thread, I'm a little concerned with my method. The night before, I boiled 2 gallons and let it sit in the garage at near 32 degrees. By morning a tiny film of ice formed so I know it was cold. I boiled my wort, then dumped the 2 gallons of cold water into the primary...

Read about some people who now claim they are all-grain brewers, and am wondering what benefit you get out of that? Is the beer better? If it is, how so? Also, is it possible to make really good beer from extract kits? My first extract kit is in the secondary right now, and so far so good...

Go to your LHBS and buy an auto siphon. It'll be the best $12 you ever spent. This way you can transfer from primary to "clearing carboy" easily.

Quick question, is it OK if my secondary is in a closet that is about 63 degrees? My fermentation temp was 68-72 degrees. I think I read that a little cooler temperature for the secondary was good, but I can't find that info again to verify.

LD Carlson Red Ale kit made it's way into the secondary 5 gallon carboy after 7 days in the primary. I got an autosiphon today before doing it and it was easy as hell. I did get some trub flowing into the secondary though, more than I thought. I don't think that will be a problem however...

How hot do you plan on letting your house get? I'm curious why this will be a problem. Can you find a dark clost or something to put it in? If you have central air, you should be able have parts of the house down to the low 70s which is fine for ale.

Yeah I am using a secondary, and will do that this saturday if the gravity is right. 2 weeks in the secondary sound about right? Going with the 1-2-3 rule. Swampwater rocks. At least I know I'm on the right track and didn't ruin anything yet. Last question. How important is it to...

I am brewing a red ale. It's been in the primary since sunday morning. Directions said 3-6 days fermentation. I cracked it open today to get a gravity reading, and it looks like swamp water. It smells kind of like what beer should smell like, sort of. There's a bunch of crap floating on...

Brewer's Best Red Ale from a kit. Ingredients: 3.3 lbs. Plain Light Malt Extract 2 lbs. Plain Light Dry Malt Extract 12 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt 60L 1 oz. Crushed Black Patent 1 each Grain Steeping Bag 1 oz. Willamette Hops (Bittering) 1 oz. Willamette Hops (Finishing) 1 each Beer...

I made a bonehead mistake I believe. I poured my 3 gallons of wort into my primary that had 2.25 gallons of cold boiled water. The bottom of my wort boiler was clean as a whistle, so I think all the trub went into the primary, I completely forgot about even attempting to avoid getting the trub...

This may make me sound dumb, but what good does insulating the fermenter do? If the temperature is 64-65 degrees, and your house is around the same temp, then insulating it will do absolutely nothing. Insulating keeps heat in, but since your fermenter is not a heat source, wrapping blankets...

Well I chilled my wort to 70 degrees today and put the airlock and lid on and put it in the closet of our guest bedroom around 3:30pm. The directions for this Red Ale specify fermentation temperature of 68 - 72 degrees. Being my first batch, I checked on it this evening around 9:30pm...

I just chilled my wort today in 15-20 minutes. Here is my process: Night before, boil 2.5-3 gallons of water, cover with aluminum foil and a lid and bring it down to 33 degrees. I put mine in the garage since it got down to 10 degrees last night. Morning of, buy a couple bags of ice...

Hello there, new homebrewer here. Got an LD Carlson Brewer's Best kit for xmas with one kit of Red Ale. It's the kit without a carboy, but I bought one for secondary anyway. Just put that Red Ale into the the primary fermenter about an hour ago, and so far everything looks good. I...

Yes my strainer has elastic, but since I'm using pellets I will not strain tomorrow. I have the 6.5 gallon buckets from the L.D. Carlson kit. I planned on fermenting between 5.25 and 5.5 gallons so I would end up with 5 gallons bottled. Perhaps I should just ferment 5 gallons in the 6.5...

No I wasn't counting on 2.5 gallons of cold water to cool 3 gallons of 210 degree water down to 70 degrees, but it's the best start that I can give it. I am getting 2-3 bags of ice tomorrow morning and piling them around it in my bathtub and using cold water. I've never heard of the nylon...

Do you only boil 1 gallon of wort? I'm confused. I am planning my first batch tomorrow. I already have 2.5 gallons of boiled water sealed/covered in my garage from last night. It can't be more than 38 degrees in there. I plan on boiling 3 gallons of wort, and then mixing it with the 2.5...