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Interested to hear how it turns out. You planning to keg or bottle?

I bought keg locks specifically for that reason. Our cats like to lay on top, and I dreaded the day I came home to 5gal of beer on the floor and an empty CO2 cylinder.

Agreed day_trippr, my situation was not that I can't do math, but the end result taught me not to drop pressure once beer is in the line. When I lived in TX, temp uniformity in my kegerator was poor. Despite my best insulation attempts, the top of the kegerator was always a few degrees warmer...

Can you describe your process a bit more? Sounds like BIAB, but with a recirc pump and heating element? Maybe I'm just confused.

One thing to be careful of (or at least something that bit me when I started kegging). After the beer line is connected, try to avoid reducing keg pressure if at all possible. It can cause in-line degassing, which can create huge bubbles in the lines that don't move. End result... Lots of foam...

I agree mashing low and subbing some sugar will help produce a dry beer to let the hops shine. That said, I have some questions on your recipe... Malt bill looks like maybe a 1.045-1.050 OG? Depending on attenuation, you're looking at about 5% ABV. Hop bill looks geared to a 60-70 IBU beer...

I've heard a lot about pitching only Brett and getting a cleaner fermentation character than desired. Thinking is the characteristic Brett flavors result from working in a stressful environment (lack of simple sugars). Putting them straight into wort may just result in a subdued profile...

Status update this morning... Still zero activity in carboy (36 hrs after pitching). However, in a surprising turn of events,y starter is showing signs of life (60 hrs after initial pitch). Going to let the starter go today and reassess tonight.

Couple of questions - what yeast? How much yeast? And was there any simple sugar in the recipe? Assuming a standard pitch of WLP001 with no sugar, you should be pretty close to terminal gravity (I see 80-85 max). Krausen is not always the best indicator whether or not fermentation is complete...

Maybe they'd like a shandy instead? Brew a nice light pale ale, american wheat, or cream / blonde ale, and then dilute with fresh squeezed lemonade. Another reason to not do your original idea is that a lack of hops will result in rapid generation of off flavors (besides the crappy flavor it...

Better yet... Buy a fermentation fridge and tell her it's either that or put it in the regular fridge! Haha

After a few days in, risk of fusel alcohols and off flavors is pretty low. In brew like a monk, many breweries talk about hitting 80-85 degF during fermentation. If you start there, it would be terrible, but ramping after growth phase should be safe. You bring an interesting point on second...

I would start by gently trying to rouse the yeast. Depending on your method / location of temp control, you may want to ramp a bit more (or just leave in a warm room without temp control). I would hold off on adding yeast / sugar at this point. FWIW... I find Trappist and saison strains work...

One last question...should I A) wait and see if fermentation kicks off? Risk I see here is low pitch rate resulting in off-flavors and poor attenuation. B) pitch some dry yeast to get things going quicker and increase cell count? Any potential downsides of pitching more yeast to get closer...

Flars - is that the main compartment, or the trunk? Would've thought the trunk would get no hotter than ambient with no windows / greenhouse effects. When I got home, the vial was warm but not hot. I assume when I purchase yeast online and have it shipped over a 2-day period that FedEx is not...

Is the 48-72 hr guidance to allow time to decant? I always do 24hrs and pitch at high krausen (unless I'm doing a lager or high gravity beer). Never takes more than 12-18 hrs to get the starter going strong. I plan on being patient, but in the mean time want to come up with a plan B in case...

Thanks flars. Knew I was under pitching with one vial, but it was all I had. Realize the starter may not show signs of krausen, but capping tight and shaking produced no gas at all. Pretty sure it's dead. As far as car temps, I'm not sure. Day got up to 90 and yeast was in the trunk. Guess I...

Pitched at 65 and set temp to control at 66.

Need some help / ideas on a current issue I'm having... Bought wlp001 vial on Saturday (exp sept 2015) and stored it in car trunk while I brewery hopped that afternoon. Made my standard 2L starter Saturday night and brewed Sunday morning (1.052 APA). Checked / shook starter multiple times...

I agree with other posters. Letting temp free rise is my preferred method for d-rest. I have a dual function temp controller. So I'll start my ferment with heating and cooling set to 50degF. Once I'm ready for d-rest, I'll crank cooling set point up to 60, but leave heating set at 50. This way...