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So you have a larger volume than 8 gallons in your boil kettle? I'm unsure from the first paragraph the size of your kettle. Yes, account for dead space in your total volume. Overall your plan looks good. For me, BeerSmith's defaults were pretty accurate on boil loss. I make 5.5 gallon batches...

Never used the yeast, but I'll try to provide some useful info for you. That you had a slow starter is a potential red flag. The age of the yeast is a likely culprit here, but since you did a big starter it's not that much of a concern so long you gave it enough time. There's a krausen...

Air scrubbing will upset the grain bed, the level of which is dependent on the air flow velocity, the nature of the clog, and the manifold. Given the description here, air scrubbing would probably have upset the bed significantly in his case. But good troubleshooting was employed and the issue...

Ok, so after multiple beer judging experiences in the Specialty Beer category, I can give you this advice: Learn how to brew before experimenting or moving too fast. You first need to develop a system where you have everything sanitized, boil correctly, cool correctly, and ferment correctly...

It's partly what you're asking and partly that you didn't use enough water. One big thing could be whether or not you poured the entire contents of the boil kettle into your fermenter. If you want 5 gallons at bottling, then you need 5.5ish gallons into the primary and about 6 gallons of...

I'll support the above two posts. Without grains you'll lose temp faster. Most coolers will lose 1-3 degrees an hour with grains, and that's only in the spot you're measuring. fair78 gives a great way to pre-heat your cooler and hit your strike temp, just heat up about 5 degrees higher than the...

I have the standard JS MaltMill. Since I bought it (and I've changed mash tun equipment in that time) my brewhouse efficiency has been consistently 75% or higher for standard to big 5 gallon batches. Having never owned or used a 3-roller, I can't advise which would be better, but from my...

As far as magazines go... Join the AHA (American Homebrewers Association) and you'll get Zymurgy free. BYO (Brew Your Own) is another excellent magazine. Both of them provide recipes, and it's usually extract based with an all-grain option. These are the only two I've subscribed to, I'm sure...

My brother hates it, but loves a bunch of other Bell's and his standard IPA homebrew is based on Two-Hearted. I'm kinda the same. I think it's too sour, in a bad way, to drink. I think it has a good stout base, but the cherry flavor isn't right for me. A balance between it and Sam's Cherry...

I've been a little MIA recently. I'm gonna toss in 2012 Dark Lord as a brew that was pretty disgusting. Had it fully attenuated, I bet it would have been very good, not as good as 2011, but still good. But it was cloyingly, sickeningly sweet. I don't recall having any other terrible brews in...

I don't think this is so bad if I pour it into a glass first. A lot of the aroma and whatnot goes away then. From the bottle, it's pretty bad, but if you pour it into a glass like it's meant, it's much better.

That's been the case when I've judged. Some competitions require a 30 or better to get a medal. Generally, if you're getting a 35 or better, you've got a really good beer on your hands.

The alcohol already in the beer will help prevent infection, plus the cherries and honey are sterile. However, to be safe, put the cherries and honey into a pot and mix well. Add your spices and mix well again. Bring to 140 deg F and maintain that for 10 minutes. Cool and add to secondary...

Brewing an RIS now and submitting for spring isn't optimal. An RIS needs upwards of 9 months aging to be at it's peak, if not longer. I second the suggestion of entering the same RIS (assuming you have some left) in the spring. Those were good scores, btw. Look at the level of judge and grant a...

Blichmann takes the same burner unit as the Bayou Classic and polishes it along with drilling out all the holes and giving it a different regulator. Then puts it into a stainless steel casing. IMO, it's worth the "tax" since they actually do extra work to make it better.

Dry hopping will only provide aroma and won't affect the sweetness issue. Unless it's cloyingly sweet, I don't think you'll need to worry about people not drinking it. When you brew, you're usually your harshest critic. So, dump it all in if you want some more hop aroma. I usually use 3 oz at...

I think your diagnosis of not mixing is the problem and your questions are moot. By adding it halfway through without stirring, you basically added a bunch of sugar to the bottom of the bucket and then mixed that up with the rest of the incoming beer (and a little with the original amount). So...

The Blichmann burner is the same, but they polish it and drill out all the holes and put a different regulator on it. My brother has one of each, and the Blichmann is clearly superior. If upfront costs are a concern, the Bayou Classic will do you fine, but you will burn significantly more...

The yeasty flavor, IME, comes from a decent amount of suspended yeast. Cold crashing will take care of it. Three packs of dry yeast is a bit much, depending on the OG and whether you re-hydrated. Sprinkling on the wort cuts your actual yeast count about in half, according to multiple threads...

For about 9 months, I used straight tap water here in Lafayette and never had chlorophenols despite our use of chloramines in the local water. This could partially be due to the fact that we have open storage (with caps to prevent bird poo getting in) that the city employees have told a guy in...