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I've driven 30 minutes out of my way to hit a HBS. Much more than that and I will just order online. I usually pre-plan my brewing well enough that I dont need last minute items.

WRT: 1. I always use lump as its cleaner burning and I think briquettes impart an off flavor. Most of the flavor compounds come from burning wood. To get the "best" smoke, you need to burn real dry wood, however this takes the most attention and is the least "automatic". Second best is to...

+55 so far this year = 18987

Adding rolled oats can give body and mouthfeel to thinner beers. Could also try higher starting gravity or a less attenuating/different strain of yeast.

Yeast need more than just sugar to grow (and thereby convert your wort). Poor attenuation can be a factor of oxygenation level, mineral levels and lack of other yeast nutrients.

Sounds like things went well! When I started brewing (again) a few years ago I went straight into BIAB AG after two or three extract batches. I now have over 50 BIAB batches under my belt and have tweaked my system such that I can get an entire brew in with cleanup in about 4.5-5 hours. I...

Lots of stuff going on there. I think the most important advice that I repeat to myself is relax. People have been brewing beer for thousands of years surely a couple of points here and there are not going to ruin it. Your preboil gravity is going to depend on a lot of things. You didnt...

Primary #1 has 5gal of BierMunchers Centennial Blonde Primary #2 has 5gal of my own APA made with Cascade Hops that were grown in my back yard (by my neighbor :D)

Bad day brewing is still better than a good day at work! I BIAB so I cannot comiserate with the stuck recirc but double milling would make sense.

Take flight

Also, dont get too wrapped up in efficiency for efficiency's sake. What you should be striving for is reproducibility or consistency (which means you have predictability). for a 5 gallon batch, the difference in efficiency between 70% and 80% is probably less than a dollar of grain cost.

Also, as far as fermentation goes, I would suggest a fermentation chamber of some sort. Its much more straight forward than the glycol systems and you can cold crash with it. Of those, a large chest freezer and a thermostat will get you into very precise and stable temps with the least effort.

I've been very happy with my Barley Crusher. Great control. From a strict $ ROI you are going to be hard pressed to justify a grain mill. For that matter its hard to justify the entire hobby. If I would have spent the amount I have on equipment and ingredients on finished beer, I would not...

I would have to give a +1 to a plate chiller. Have not used counter flow, but have been using a long 30 plate for about 4 years and have been very happy. No matter how you do it, the temperature of your counterflow water is going to dictate how fast you can drop the temp of your wort. In the...

Either way. If you clean it be sure to resanitize it. If you leave it and its not blown all the liquid out, you should be fine to just wipe off the outside.

Just tasted it for the first time after kegging, and chilling. Surprised at how much it tastes like white wine. Dried out a lot. Am going to backsweeten by the glass until I find the proper ratio. Another thing, its been under CO2 for over a week and hasn't carbed up really at all. I...

Thanks! Looks like it could work. I was actually going to use the cooler as the fermenter. Dont see why it wouldnt work.

Okay, here is the great idea I had. Why couldn't I just take a 40Q electric cooler (e.g. Coleman PowerChill) and use that as a fermenter? Add a temperature controller and a spigot and I should easily be able to do ales and probably do lagers. Coolers are often used as mash tuns so why not...

I guess I am a little surprised that its only at 1.022. I am used to ales fully fermenting in a week or so.

Thanks Eric! Was guessing 1040ish. I added no sugar.