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Going to give this one a go today. Rarely do I read through 33 pages of posts' where 99.% are positive results. This one will be known as "Hanging Brains Nut Brown Ale". And to you Mr. Sparky It's guys like you that got me into homebrewing some years ago. I don't post a bunch...

Also joe, the activity you get when you push the top, is just pushing air into the lock. If It's only been a week, that kinda soon to be bottling. If indeed your yeast was crippled and the yeast is stuck, you can always re-pitch with some good yeast and let that go for another week. I don't see...

Well, your gravity reading is showing that fermentation is taking place. As I stated earlier, buckets and rubber stoppers do leak, so don't ever soley rely on the airlock. On your recipe, what is the projected FG? With what you have now, you've got about 2.65abv. I'd assume your final should be...

To form that slush you want in the prechiller bucket, make a slurry with bagged ice, water and ROCK salt. I find that regular salt doesn't work as well as rock salt. My pre chiller is 1/2 copper with a ball valve to regulate the water flow to my immersible chiller which is made with smaller...

Being a spiced beer, I will definitely kick this batch off this year in late September or early October. The longer this beer sits in the bottles, the better it gets.

To see if fermentation is on track, the only "real" way to know is to do a gravity check. Plastic buckets and rubber stops have a good track record of leaking air. Just because you don't see bubbles in the airlock, does not mean it's not active. Check the gravity and that will let you know...

Although I have never used hops the way you described, It seems to me if you had to wait 4 months to make this ale "drinkable" it seems like something went awry early on. It looks like you didn't do a mash out, so tannin should not be causing the tingy off flavor. If your ice bath setup for temp...

Quote from Neco: I'm a novice brewer, and my wife got a pretty cool book for me called The Brewer's Companion by Randy Mosher. 1995 I really like it. Not sure if it's still in print. Mine is a thrift store find. Not really familiar with that publication, but for a good book on homebrewing, I...

For my initial gravity reading, I use a refractometer. No need to cool the wort down to the 60 degrees needed for a hydrometer. Now as fermentation gets going, I use the hygrometer. It is my understanding that as the brew ferments, the refractometer will not be accurate. Maybe someone can give a...

Star San, because It's usually right there when I fill the air lock. Not to really worry about Star San in your brew. My last batch, I accidentally racked on top of about a half inch of Star San in my primary. (guessing maybe a cup or 2) Been bottled for about a week and a green taste test, show...

Drop it in the wort about 15 min. from the end, then hose off any stuck on hops, etc...Put it on the shelf until the next boil. If I have any early down time, I'll wipe it down with a sponge pad and some star san.

Welcome Mark. I'm just a little east of you. If you ever get to the New Orleans area, stop in at the brewstock and give Aaron a shout. So nice to have a full service brewing supply shop so close to home. Happy brewing.

Well I had to sample one only after a couple of days in the bottle to see if what I tasted the other day was just me or not. I must have had a bad taste in my mouth when i did that sample after checking the gravity. Very much flat, but a nice flavor. Although I really cant taste all the spices...

Just bottled up my batch of this beer. I made the tea and racked on top of it. Towards the end of bottling (about 7 bottles from the end) I pulled a sample to check the gravity. It was spot on. I tasted the sample out of the tube and it was nasty tasting. I tasted some out of the fermentor last...

Update!!!! This batch has now been fermenting in the primary for close to 5 days. Very little activity in the airlock and the gravity reading taken today is dead on what the FG should be. (1.015) I guess if it stays that way for another day or so I should be able to move on. Should I rack to a...

To PassedPawn--I pitched the yeast around 7pm and checked it at 6am the following morning and the airlock was going nuts. It's in my garage where the temp was around 70-75 degrees. Today we have a cool front come through, so the temp will be around the high 60's to mid 70's. To Shooter--I...

I am on only my 4th all grain brew, so I don't have enough past experiences to answer this question myself. So here it goes out to you experts. I brewed on Wednesday the 24th. I followed the recipe to the T. I monitored my mash temperature as well as my temps once the chiller went in. Before I...

Thanks McGarnigle, It's an american amber ale (a Stone Levitation)

I have a bag of priming sugar at 4.1 ounces. Should this be about right for a 5 gallon batch. How much water do I need to dissolve this in before adding it to the bottling bucket?

Thanks Homer. I will do just that. The star san is already out for bottling another batch, so now I can get to killing those 2 birds.