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You need to crush finer. I have a Victoria mill and regularly get 85 to 90% efficiency. I have removed the hand crank and just use a drill to crush my grain. The plates are so close to each other that I cannot turn the mill by hand (I would be able to turn the mill if I had the handle, but...

Honey is more like 32 points per lb. 40 is way too high. Are you sure of the 1.030 reading? Honey is fully fermentable and will result in a much drier beer. You might want to add extract rather than honey.

I use 1.25 inch tubing for my blow-off on my fermenters (not BMBs). I get lots of bubbles. I suspect you have a leak somewhere. Since you have active fermentation, there should be no problem with the beer.

I've used the Beerstone remover on a fermenter - didn't help. Ended up tossing the fermenter (it had other issues in addition to a large salt build-up. Have you tried vinegar to get rid of the salt deposits. Vinegar needs to be hot to work (about 80 - 90 C).

General consensus is that unless to have a reason to use a secondary - don't! The act of racking the beer to get it off the yeast for a couple of weeks does nothing to improve the beer and there is some suggestion that it may be potentially detrimental to the beer. That said, I am probably one...

I use gelatin every brew (I can't use Irish Moss due to daughters allergy), and bottle. Never had an issue in many years of brewing.

Why go to the effort to keep O2 out of the souring process? I have never kettle soured, I have only done Lacto sours in closed fermenters, and they have taken a week to get sour at around 95 F. I have never checked or adjusted my starting ph, maybe that is why mine are slow to start. I...

I just woke up my oldest yeast (Trois - sacc, previously listed as Brett). Building up a starter, should be ready to pitch next weekend. I have not been brewing too much recently and am looking for suggestions as to what I should do with this yeast. Last several brews: - Centennial Pale Ale...

Get the 5 gallon. 1 gallon = 10 bottles; ends up being a lot of work for just a few bottles. A little extra effort gets you 5X the beer.

Don't go with Morebeer just because of the free shipping. Morebeer increases their prices to allow them to offer free shipping ..... nothing comes for free. They may have the best package, but check other places before going with them. I would recommend a 5 gallon as a minimum kettle size...

Do you have a propane burner and ability to brew outside. Sounds like you are using stove and doing small boils. If you plan to continue using the kitchen stove, it may not be able to boil a full batch. I have everything I need to boil outside, but haven't done so yet, because once I do it...

If I had to pick 5 things (in no particular order): 1) Extract brewers need to move to partial Mash. With only 2 or 3 lbs of grain, you can make huge differences to the dry/sweetness of the finished beer, and it brings into play a whole lot of new malt flavors. And reduces cost. Eventually...

If you rack to secondary to dry hop, you will still need to rack to a bottling bucket to mix in he sugars. The secondary will still drop yeast that you will end up stirring back into solution. As noted by Lizard, unless you have a reason to use a secondary - Don't! Now I Ignore that advice...

With those ingredients, 1.051 is about right. Possible issues: - Fermenter volumes incorrect. It is a good idea to check this anyway. - Hydrometer not reading correctly. Check with distilled water at calibration temp (should be on the paper with the hydrometer - some are calibrated at...

Any. I think the Mosaic would give it a nice touch.

I am really confused by the .09 reading. Where on the hydrometer did you read that? I don't think I can get that from anywhere on any of my hydrometers. I am wondering if the hydrometer you have is for distillation, and you are reading a potential of .09 alcohol, or 9%. While this would not...

What temperature is the beer at? If it could get down to 60 F or lower, the yeast may have stalled ... just raise the temperature and they will get back to work. 1.020 is not unusual for extract batches, if you do some research you will find a lot of issues with extract batches stalling at...

You are fine. Worst case, you severely oxidized the beer (which you didn't), it will take a while for the beer to actually absorb the O2. Right now the O2 is dissolved in the beer, and not affecting any flavors. Over time the beer will absorb the O2 and react to it. The result of the O2 in...

I gave up for 9 years. Took a couple of batches, but everything came straight back. I would recommend buying a cheap beginners kit and an extract batch to start with, just to get you back into it. Most everything in a beginners kit will continue to be used no matter what set-up you go to. If...

Just buy a beginners kit from one of the on-line stores, and an extract beer kit. Follow the instructions as best you can (come here for any advice or help understanding the instructions), and in a few weeks you will have beer. Don't go for real expensive stuff straight away as you may decide...