Search results

Thanks to everyone for the very thoughtful replies. I still have yet to decide on my ideal set-up and will take some time to mull over this and other information. If anyone else has advice or experience they'd like to share I'd certainly like to hear it... also importantly what you've done...

Hello everyone! I'm looking at moving indoors to an electric setup, using the 3-kettle system. I plan on doing 5-10 gallon batches with my boil kettle being 15 or 20 gallons (still undecided). Most photos of indoor setups that I've seen feature custom designed vent hoods that typically are...

Hops aroma and flavour dissipates fairly quickly. It's not surprising to me at all that the hops were a lot more prominent when the beer was first fresh. You could add some hops to the keg, but most people would probably just suggest that you drink faster.

I'm guessing it was an all-grain batch?

Carbonation doesn't just come all shooting out of beer at once, even if it is meeting with above average turbulence. If the beer is flat underneath the foam (and you can get foam very easily on under-carbed beer) then the first think I would do is check for leaks. Use a spray bottle with soapy...

If they weren't so cheap I'd tell you not to bother, but they really are cheap...

I let desired volume in the fermenter determine what goes in and what doesn't.

This is my go to guide for recipes. Almost all of them are listed as All-Grain recipes, but if you find one you like the good people here can very easily convert it to extract for you. It's award winning homebrew recipes of for the past 10 years or so categorized by style...

People say "don't fear the foam"... and I don't, but I sure find it a pain in the ass. I like to be able to see what I'm doing and that foam blocks any chance of that. Iodine for the win!

Girlfriends are a dime a dozen... but each beer is precious. Do not take the incident lightly! :)

The exbeeriment posted above is probably one of the best experiments I've seen on beer. Not only is it well executed and well documented with lots of beautiful pictures, but the results tell me exactly what I wanted to hear to make my brew day even more fun and less effort!

As far as I'm aware, it is as simple as scaling it to the same ingredient ratios of the original recipe. The only thing that will be a little different is your water-supply, since your boil off rate is the same whether you're making 10 gallons or 2.5

Bring it upstairs. That'll help it clean up after itself. Once it's been in the fermenter for 2-3 weeks you can go ahead and bottle it. Use a hydrometer if you want, although I rarely do any more.

I've not used that one, but I've used raspberry extract. In my case I use half the bottle in a 5-gallon batch and it gives just the right hint of raspberry flavoring without over-powering the beer. I think the bottle is 4 ounces. So if 2 ounces is good for 5 gallons, then in your case 0.8...

Agreed on PBW. I used to use just regular dish detergent and then one day I went to clean a carboy I had left with gunk in it. Multiple washings with dish detergent didn't remove it. One quick blast of PBW and it was spotless.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but you're better off not stacking the snow around that kettle if you're trying to cool it. It blankets the heat in. Instead leave the sides exposed to the air/wind.

You can use them, but the way they are threaded means that they have a better chance of not sealing as well as the other kind. If that happens then you will end up with flat beer. In your case this didn't happen, and will likely not happen most of the time. But when it does happen you'll feel...

If you leave it first in primary for 2-3 weeks, then short of a majorly long temperature drop or a complete dud vial/sachet of yeast, it'll be done. At that time you can check your gravity to confirm your abv and make sure it's done. Whether your transfer it to secondary before, during or...

Best not to tamper with it. There's a 99.99% chance that it's fermenting away... Let it sit in primary for 2-3 weeks before taking a reading.

The beer will "age" faster at room temperature than it will when cold. For an IPA you probably don't want it to age. Other beers you're better to let them sit in primary for 2-3 weeks ideally.