Search results

Depends on your yeasts too. With bigger Belgians and knowing I'm carbing up to 4 volumes, I leave it in the primary for 3 weeks. They can explode in the beginning and then continue at a very low level for quite awhile.

Mmm Chillzilla, that's a good one. The kettle looks like ~10 gallon? Probably has a valve on it. I can see a valve on the cooler so it's a mashtun. Plastic tub could be used for storage or for a swamp cooler, and I see an auto-siphon. But best of all is the Secrets from the Master Brewers . ...

No sorry! And no freakouts!

Anything post pitch is a hydrometer, and I don't draw off but do a direct measure in the bucket (huge benefit of using buckets). I use the refractometer on brew day and find it indispensable, but end the brew day with a room / pitch temp hydro reading.

Bottled too early? How long did you wait from pitching yeast til bottling?

This. x10 :mug:

Just be patient. Especially without a starter, the yeast need time to build up their armies before they start eating. You will likely have activity in the next day or so. If you go three days and still nothing, then maybe start thinking about next steps.

I heat my total water volume in the brew kettle, then add to the mash tun(s). After mash, I drain those in collection buckets which allows me to (1) measure the strength of each "running" (2) decide if 2 batches sparges are fine or if I want to do a third (3) keep the strike water separate and...

You are plenty safe. If I understand, you had the airlock barrel and the cap on it. Just not the inner piece. What you most need to protect against is dust falling that has bacteria on it. The beer has a bed of CO2 over it that protects it from most stuff. Lots of people freak out and try to...

Use a refractometer. You can grab quick gravity measurements preboil, which is useful to know exactly how long to boil given your volume - which is critical for knowing when your hop schedule starts. The tiny sample you pull off is essentially insta-cooled when you put it on the plate. You can...

Jerry is proving that when you strap on a black Les Paul Deluxe, even a computer programmer can look cool. ha.

That's genius.

FWIW - you can add sugar as an addition to thin and dry out a beer. I wouldn't do it unless it was true to style, and in Belgians it's usually 15 - 20% of total fermentables. When I add them to Belgian Golden ales or Tripels, I boil it for around 5 minutes with some water and then add it to the...

You guys left me in the dust. I was thinking today that it would be nice to have a phone-checkable baby video monitor aiming at my Tripels airlocks right now just to see if they were exploding or not.

Hey, I know that area, that's near Birchwood. My family went to a fishing camp there every year for most of my life.

welcome! I grew up in MN, and the northwoods are home to me. This is a great place to glean knowledge wether you are in the conversation or reading it. What styles are you typically brewing?

Grind finer, get a second 5g cooler, line your coolers with 5g paint strainer bags (kinda like a mini BIAB). Heat your strike and sparge water in a kettle, then pour into the coolers for mash. When you are done, drain the wort into another 5g bucket or container. Then do a batch sparge by...

2nd the brown malt suggestion. Personally, I'd up the gravity and the IBUs. Doesn't seem very robust to me. I just did one with an 1.065 OG and IBU closer to 45.

DMS doesn't affect dark beers?

Good choice. 3787 is similar and will be a little dryer and fruitier. 1214 or 3522 Ardeness are also nice for dubbels. White Labs 545 made a good one for me but there isn't a Wyeast equivalent.