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Okay, an update. I just racked my citra IPA last night because I had to dry hop it. The smell was awesome. I mean it made my mouth water. Took my gravity reading and then tasted it. It was very bitter up front (no crap, it's an IPA!) but that is due to my bittering hop, warrior. After the...

This is how I do it. I boil in a sauce pan for 10 minutes. Add that to my starter with the stir bar. Put my oven on low heat and wait for boiling again. Boil for 5 more minutes in the flask. This will sanitize the stir bar and the flask. You do have to watch the flask though because it...

Hmmm, never heard of this happening but if it were me I would still use the starter. The reasoning is that if the yeast did blow out then any contaminted yeast is already out of the starter. A by product of fermentation is co2. The co2 is constently pushing up the neck of the flask and any...

Ivd heard that about chest freezers. From my understaning people will put a CPU fan somwhere in the freezer to circulate the air. This will give you a more consistent temp throughout your freezer

You're correct... I miss spoke. Take readings on back to back days. If the FG does not move chances are the yeast has eaten everything it can. At that point you add sugar back in and bottle. When kegging it is easier to get co2 in solution in colder temps. This means the colder the beer the...

Carbonation doesn't form because a beer is cold or warm. When bottle conditioning it is important to know how much sugar is left so you can add the right amount of sugar to get the correct co2 volumes. This is based on how warm you fermented your beer and your FG reading. When kegging you...

Technically you are suppose to adjust the jumpers. I'm to lazy for that. The way I set mine up is a bit backwards. I have a 2* differiential. So let's say I want to ferment at 65 degrees. I set my set point at 66 degrees. At 66 degrees it kicks my fridge on and cools it down to 64 and then...

Dude, just get some LME (liquid malt extract) dump it in some boiling water and add some hops. That is as easy as it gets. This should take you less than 2 hours to brew. Add yeast and wait a couple weeks. that beer won't be carbonated but is drinkable. If you don't want to invest in...

Just keep following your recipe. Adding dme later in the boil shouldn't do anything to your beer. The only thing you need to make sure of is that all the dme has dissolved into the wort. As mistakes go this is a very, very minor mistake that shouldn't effect your beer.

Well I think I will go with my recipe. I love the citruisy flavor IPA's. I'm using warrior as my 60 minute addition for a clean bittering and using amarillo along with citra in my 30 minute addition. So from the responses it seems that I may have to allow the beer to age a few weeks longer...

maybe I will call this beer cat-piss IPA. Everytime my father-in-law tastes a homebrew he calls it tiger-piss due to the fact it is a beer other than bud light. I will have to correct him and tell him this beer is cat-piss not tiger-piss... lol

I've never had a stuck sparge but I take steps to prevent them. I first wrap my manifold with cheesecloth. I vorlouf very slowly. If I'm making a beer that will have a thick mash then I'll add rice hulls. IMO, the reason why I haven't experienced a stuck sparge is due mainly to the cheese...

I do not like digital thermometers. I've had several and the temps would jump around. For example, I would measure a temp in a particular spot and the thermometer would read 155 degrees and the next moment it would read 145 degrees. It would never find a consistent temp. I went back to my...

I will be brewing a citra IPA this weekend and after a discussion with an employee at my LHBS he said that citra is a strong flavored hop. He used two oz in his IPA and it he said it almost made the beer undrinkable. My recipe calls for 4 oz. 1 oz at 30 min, 1 oz at 15, 1 oz at flameout, and...

Take a gravity reading. Then take another reading the next day. If both readings are the same then it is most likely done fermenting. That being said, if it is done just leave it alone for a few days. This gives the yeast a chance to clean up after itself. The result will be a cleaner...

I typically wait 12 to 24 hrs after my wort is in the carboy before I pitch yeast. I do this to get my wort a couple of degrees below my fermenting temperature and if I'm making a lager 24 hours is enough time to let the trub settle out. I then I transfer my wort off the trub prior to pitching...

They look like yeast rafts. You should be fine.

You are definetly not screwed. I've grossely underpitched some beers on purpose to see what I get. Some of those beers have been very very tasty. I was saying you may not get the beer you were expecting but by no means was I saying it wouldnt be a great beer.

I need to clarify, my comment was coming strictly from a flavor stand point. I agree with erroneous when he said pitch more yeast if it doesn't start fermenting or if you get a stuck fermentation. Also, to help ferment this big beer out add oxygen about half way through fermentation. This...

That is okay if you don't agree with me. What I said was consistant with what I've read and what I've heard from Jamil Zanesheif and John Palmer.